No matter what, there is always going to be change in the workforce - is your company adopting a new technology? Going through rapid growth in a competitive market? Or being acquired? How well (or poorly) you engage your employees during times of change could determine your company's future. Your job is to help your executives move from "analysis paralysis" to "catalytic action." Keeping employees engaged during times of change is not easy, but when done right not only will minimize risk and attrition, it can even boost performance! Join Pure Storage's Director of People and Org Effectiveness Maria Cespedes as she discusses leading practices to retain and keep your employees engaged during times of internal and industry change.

1. Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement During
Times of Change
Maria Cespedes Naba Ahmed
With: Moderated by:
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People-Driven Engagement
Webinar Series
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2. Glint is committed to helping people-driven organizations increase employee
engagement, develop their people, and improve results. We are in the
business of people. We know that great companies are fueled by great
cultures, and great cultures are built by great teams. We’re obsessed with
building a happy, thriving team because our people not only power the Glint
culture but also build products and experiences that help power
organizational cultures around the world.
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3. Click on the Questions panel to
interact with the presenters
https://www.humanresourcestoday.com/webinar-series/people-driven-engagement/
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4. About Maria Cespedes
Maria Jimena Cespedes (M.S.) is an Organizational Psychologist with a record of effectively integrating employee
engagement insights into systematic executive action planning, organizational change management, and
innovative talent solutions. Her accomplishments include effecting meaningful change through data-driven insights
during tenure at LinkedIn, including significantly mitigating the effect of the Microsoft acquisition on employee
engagement, productivity, and retention and transforming performance management at Pure Storage through
quarterly conversations that boosted employees trust and development.
About Naba Ahmed
Naba went to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and majored in Journalism and minored in Integrated Marketing
Communications. After working as Editor-in-Chief at the campus newspaper, she became interested in developing
content across multiple platforms, and now works as a Content Marketing Specialist at Aggregage, providing some of
the most interesting thought-leaders across a wide variety of industries with a space to celebrate the diversity, depth,
and experience of their professional cultures, personalities, and passions.
People-Driven Engagement
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What is Maria’s specialization?
(and what’s not)
• Progressive Talent and Organizational Development based on organizational
psychology, research and people analytics.
• Rapidly growing Tech companies.
• Managing disruptive change and transforming organizations.
• Talent and business focused HR that strives to attract, engage, leverage and retain
highly skilled talent in a very competitive and always shifting environment.
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
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Transformational Scenarios
• Adopting a new technology or entering a new market?
• Experiencing disruptive growth or leadership changes?
• Being acquired or acquiring culturally different organizations?
How well (or poorly) leaders engage employees during times of change will determine
your company's future.
Your job is to help your leaders leverage people insights to take strategic action!
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
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What will we discuss today?
• How to identify the right questions to ask to understand what’s truly important
• Drawing insights to assess organizational health and propel executive action
• How to engage employees to successfully navigate change
• Leveraging surveys to foster awareness and organizational trust
• “Must haves” to succeed at all of the above!
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
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Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
Finding the
right
questions…
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Know what you are searching for!
What is your company’s situation?
• Business and talent strategies
• Market positioning and competition
• Organizational culture
• Leadership strength and style
• Major recent events impacting employees
Based on all of this, what is it that you are solving for?
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
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Know what you are searching for!
Steady Tech.Co
• Scale current model and talent retention
• Market domination
• Strong teamwork focus
• Leaders who delegate/empower
• Expect slow down growth (20% to 5-10%)
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
David Tech.Inc
• Enter new markets through innovation
• Striving to disrupt the market
• Strong teamwork focus
• Leaders who delegate/empower
• Aggressive hiring/acquisitions (30-35%)
GOAL: Maximize efficiency, increase
talent retention and sustain engagement
amid slow down of career
opportunities/growth
GOAL: Attract diverse and entrepreneurial
talent, sustain engagement amid frequent
reorganization, rapid onboarding to speed
delivery of results
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Know what to ask employees…
Steady Tech.Co
• Scale current model and talent retention
• Market domination
• Strong teamwork focus
• Leaders who delegate/empower
• Slow down in hiring (30% to 10%)
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
David Tech.Inc
• Enter new markets through innovation
• David to Goliath in the market
• Strong teamwork focus
• Leaders who delegate/empower
• Aggressive hiring/acquisitions
SURVEY QUESTIONS:
Organizational effectiveness
Career and Development
Drivers of Retention
SURVEY QUESTIONS:
Innovation
Alignment & Purpose
Scaling Culture
Drivers of Retention 11

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Know what to ask your leaders…
Steady Tech.Co
• Scale current model and talent retention
• Market domination
• Strong teamwork focus
• Leaders who delegate/empower
• Slow down in hiring (30% to 10%)
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
David Tech.Inc
• Enter new markets through innovation
• David to Goliath in the market
• Strong teamwork focus
• Leaders who delegate/empower
• Aggressive hiring/acquisitions
LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS:
Is our culture consistent enough across locations?
Is our EVP evolving? How should it evolve?
What are our strengths and weaknesses on execution?
How/where should we create more efficiency?
LEADERSHIP QUESTIONS:
How do you envision culture to scale/evolve? What role
do you see onboarding playing in it?
Is there an adequate sense of urgency across all levels?
How prepared and diverse is our leadership team?
What type of talent do you deem crucial in our future?
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From analysis paralysis to catalytic action
• Robust surveys are great for organizational analysis, if you can get pass the overwhelming
amount of information and turn data into actionable and relevant insights.
• Finding the signal through the noise is a mix of art and science…
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Case Study: Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
What does this have to do with employee engagement?
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
• Diversity and Inclusion = Futile?
• Leaders found it hard to prioritize it.
• Belonging added confusion.
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Case Study: Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
Is there something else there?
Throwing away the book, and opening a new one…
• Year over year, found unexplained differences among groups
• Academic research on the impact of belonging on performance.
• Could not find clear definitions for corporate inclusion, then belonging???
• Months of studying, debating and trying to put the puzzle together…
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Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
A NEW FRAMEWORK:
• Diversity: New and different ideas, backgrounds are welcomed:
• Safe to be self, Respect.
• Inclusion: Culture values and rewards differences:
• Speak up, Agency, Manager Attention.
• Belonging: Do not question my place in team/company:
• I matter, Integral part of team, I don’t question whether I belong at Co.
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What we discovered…
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
D + I + B =
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Engaging employees to successfully navigate change
• Know your audience (language, culture and
values, shared experiences)
• No victims rule (a.k.a., shared ownership)
• True leadership (clarity, conviction,
communication, vulnerability)
• Remove roadblocks by clearing the path and
giving them new tools – your job.
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During Times of Change
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Case Study: LinkedIn (acq. by Microsoft)
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
What happens now?????????
Summary of scenario:
• Art + Science: How are we changing? Will I still belong?
• Leadership muted by contracts.
• High (highest ever?) stakes = Risk
• Industry research: Expect two years! of lost engagement and
productivity/talent drain.
• Overwhelming worry, paralysis
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Case Study: LinkedIn (acq. by Microsoft)
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
Summary of approach:
• Art + Science = Address uncertainty – Communicate*
• Actions to help navigate change:
• Courage: Leaders empathize, listen, and help employees
• Ownership: Leaders demonstrate authenticity, more available when harder
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Results?
Recovered in 9 months!

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Surveys increase awareness
Leverage surveys to foster trust and shared accountability:
• Underline message = expectations
• Keep leaders accountable with a cadence
• Opportunity to trigger an active mindset
• Examples?
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
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Case Study: Pure Storage
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
• 1,500 growing 30% yoy, many employee triggered surveys without ownership
• Low trust and satisfaction with career opportunities
• Confused, helpless managers
• Culture at risk
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Case Study: Pure Storage
Sustaining (or Boosting!) Engagement
During Times of Change
The act of deploying AND reporting back on employee voice insights…
• Increased managers’ awareness of employee’s mindset and desires
• Triggered action: powerful 1:1 conversations
• Reinforced partnership over aligned goals
• Reinstated management accountability on new behaviors
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5-7 point increase
year over year!

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To summarize…
• Know to ask the right questions and measure what’s important
• Use art and science to draw actionable insights
• Engage employees to navigate change
• Surveys help increase awareness, actions and trust
• What about the other must haves?...
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What will help you be successful?
• Exec sponsorship – a must have!
• Technology to speed up insights (e.g., Glint)
• Trust on your recommendations / to take risks
• Communication effectiveness
• Persistent and resilient HR team
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During Times of Change
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26. Q&A
Naba Ahmed
With: Moderated by:
Director of People and Org Effectiveness,
Pure Storage
Linkedin page: in/mariacespedes/
Email: mjimenacespedes@gmail.com
Maria Cespedes
Editor, Human Resources Today
Linkedin page: linkedin.com/in/naba-ahmed/
Twitter ID: @hrposts
Email: naba@aggregage.com
Website: humanresourcestoday.com
https://www.humanresourcestoday.com/webinar-series/people-driven-engagement/