Action Planning Webinar September 12 th 2013

Your speaker today Matt Roddan Director, Employee Research ORC International

Communicating with us

Outline for today’s session Action planning: key success factors Developing an action planning approach Identifying key focus areas Developing action plans Maintaining momentum Next steps and support

Key success factors Gaining active buy-in and commitment from senior managers/leaders/survey champions Ensuring survey results are made available to staff Ensuring survey results are easy to interpret at all levels of the organisation Involving staff and seeking input for workplace improvement initiatives Linking any actions taken relating to workplace improvement to the Working for Queensland Employee Opinion Survey (where possible) Ongoing communication through team meetings e.g. as a standing / regular agenda item and or other media or forums including newsletters

Developing an action planning approach

Developing your action focused strategy Communicate initial outcomes Further investigation/ involvement Collection of feedback Defining final actions Communicate final plan Measure and communicate progress

A corporate and local approach Success requires action both at the Agency and Local level:

Developing your action focused strategy Agency action plan Division 1 action plan Branch 1 action plan Branch 2 action plan Branch 3 action plan Branch 4 action plan Division 2 action plan Division 3 action plan

Developing your action focused strategy Agency action plan Division 1 action plan Branch 1 action plan Branch 2 action plan Branch 3 action plan Branch 4 action plan Division 2 action plan Division 3 action plan

Identifying key focus areas

Getting the most from your data Step 1: Put Results into Perspective Step 2: Understand the Underlying Issues Once the key focus areas have been identified, we need to understand how to improve or maintain engagement

Creating key focus areas Celebrate xxxx Improve xxxx Investigate further xxxx

Your results may show areas where you perform better than the agency average or where a large proportion of your team are positive. Ensure you celebrate your strengths and learn from positive aspects of working in your team How do we ensure we continue to build on success? How can you record what you do well and possibly lead to share this with other parts of the business?

Focus on a few issues and do them well rather than try to tackle everything of concern. Think about what the data is telling you and think about key questions to ask to explore the results further with your team. Begin to think up ideas and solutions to take action and share these with your team. You can also begin thinking about who the best champion might be to drive particular actions forward and to keep momentum.

There might be some issues in the results which strike you as surprising or as ones that may or may not be a key area to improve How can further discussions within your team help you understand these issues? What other methods can you use to understand these issues? Employee forums and focus groups. Brainstorming?

Prioritising action areas: top tips Focus on 2 to 3 things that you can do, and do them well Avoid writing a long laundry list of action areas, you can’t solve everything! Focus on the key drivers These are the issues that will have the biggest impact on workplace outcomes (agency engagement, job engagement, intent to leave) But allow some flexibility for local issues The results are likely to highlight some agency, division or branch-specific issues to be addressed. Don’t ignore them, but see the first bullet above! Think about longer term actions and quick wins Ideally you want a mix of both – a few big impact actions and a number of quick wins to really make a difference Be aware of effort vs. impact Think about how much time, effort or resources an action might require vs. the return you are likely to get. Avoid actions that are a waste of time or a lost cause!

Developing action plans

So, these are my results – what’s next? 1.Share the results with the team 2.Form an approach within the workgroup i.e. focus group 3.Explore and understand what the results are saying. Identify what actions you and the team will take to address the feedback 4.Develop a draft action plan 5.Check in with the team, seek feedback on suggested actions 6.Take action and make sustainable changes that are reflective of what our employees are saying. Be sure to keep the team involved and up to date on the progress of your action plan

Be SMART when developing plans Specific Measureable Achievable Relevant Time-bound Clearly defined action that outlines exactly what we plan to do e.g. NOT “we plan to communicate more” Does it address the… Who, When, Why, What? What’s the expected outcome for the action? Give your action a success measure… could be the next survey results but equally could be other targets/ measures Is the action realistic and achievable? What other constraints do we need to consider? E.g. organizational change, time, resources, business location? Does it address the issue? Will it have an impact for employees? Or, are we developing a lost cause/ waste of time? Actions need a deadline and an owner Even if we can’t set out the full action at this point, tell employees the timescales for action plan development and implementation

Action Planning Template

Maintaining momentum You said… we did…?

Collate, review and track action Consider a method to collate action plans centrally Spreadsheets? Database? Existing processes/ structures? What works well for collating other types of information across the organisation ? This will help you to: Keep a record of action being taken across the organisation Ensure plans are SMART Provide support where managers may be struggling ‘Buddy up’ managers who are working on the same area to share expertise Track progress Communicate successes and learn from failures Adjust plans over time Note: collating action plans can be an overwhelming task if not managed effectively.

The importance of a strong communications strategy Effective action Successful outcome from survey The communication of actions can often be where successful action planning can fall apart. It is important to have a plan in place to communicate your actions so that employees are aware of the work which is underway.. Effective communication

Next steps, resources and support

Next Steps Task/ itemTiming Highlights reports and online tool availableNow! Executive management team (EMT) briefingsSept – Oct 2013 Staff briefingsASAP after EMT briefings ACTION PLAN DEVELOPMENTBy Nov 2013 Develop agency action plan strategy Prioritise areas for action Formulate action planning workgroups Further investigation (as required) Develop action plans (agency and sub-organisational level) Communicate actionsFrom Nov Implement action plansFrom Nov Track and communicate actionsFrom Nov

Available Resources Highlights reports Available in accesspoint For the agency overall and by sub-groups Online reporting tool Available via accesspoint Further investigate results, export your own reports Action planning materials Available for download in accesspoint Tips on communicating results Action plan templates Ideas for action Tips for managing action sessions This webinar Slides available to download in accesspoint Recording of the webinar

Need more help? Contact the Working for Queensland team Philippa Sutton:

Questions?