Your Voice Your Story Pilot Survey Results: Feeling Valued at Work

Etty Burk, Ph.D., Achieving organizational Excellence through Talent Management

The Leadership Difference 1/2014 1
The Survey Results

Creating inclusive environments where employees are respected and understand how they make a
difference has always been my professional focus. Employees that feel valued are more connected to their
organizations. Organizations with connected employees do better financially, are more productive, and have
happier customers. A win-win for both employees and organizations!

To that end, I have developed and piloted a brief survey with 110 participants. The Your Voice Your Story
survey focuses on what may influence our feeling valued at work. The target participants for the survey were
individuals who have a boss and wanted to share what made them feel valued at work. The anonymous survey
has 5 questions and 2 open-ended sections for actual stories that people can share in their own voice. The pilot
was conducted in the Fall 2013. A one-page survey results overview is also available upon request.

!"#$%&'( *+% %'s
Health Care 34 28%
Financial Services 13 11%
Consumer Products 4 3%
Legal Services 4 3%
Pharma 1 1%
Hospitality 3 3%
Real Estate/Construc. 1 1%
Education 10 8%
Insurance 1 1%
Broadcast & Entertain. 2 2%
Manufacturing 1 1%
Telecommunication 3 3%
Transportation 1 1%
Utilities 1 1%
Gov. &Public Admin 3 3%
Religious 2 2%
Scientific or Tech Serv 1 1%
Publishing 9 8%
Consulting Services 11 9%
Other 15 13%

Demographic Overview: Who were the 110 Pilot Participants?

78% of Participants were from the East Coast-US, 11% from other US
locations, and 11% from outside the US.

21 industries were represented in the survey: Healthcare at 28%;
Financial Services at 11%; Consulting Services 9%; and Publishing,
and Education at 8%. (Refer to Industry Table.)

39% work for Private Sector, 32% for Public Sector, & 26% for Not-
for-Profit sector


Please feel free to contact me for additional information at
ettyburk@gmail.com or visit ettyburk.wordpress.com.

Your Voice Your Story Pilot Survey Results: Feeling Valued at Work

Etty Burk, Ph.D., Achieving organizational Excellence through Talent Management

The Leadership Difference 1/2014 2

53% agreed that they feel valued at work

Feeling valued and engaged are directly related to how well
organizations and managers create environments where employees know
that they make a difference.

59% agreed that they could report bad news to their manager,
& only 37% reported that they like their managers
communication and leadership styles

Employees that do not feel comfortable with their manager are less
likely to report bad news to them and more likely to just say, all is fine.


While 78% understand what it takes to be successful, only 25%
agreed that there are clear and fair processes for career
advancement


When organizational processes for career advancement lack
clarity or consistency, participants are able to figure out what it
takes to be successful for current roles. Participants may be
getting help from colleagues, managers, and mentors.




Stiongly
Bisagiee,
9%
Bisagiee,
16%
Neutial,
21%
Agiee,
28%
Stiongly
Agiee,
2S%
u%
1u%
2u%
Su%
17%
22%
2S%
22%
1S%
8%
17%
1S%
Su%
29%
I like my managei's communication anu leaueiship style
I can always iepoit bau news to my managei
u%
2u%
4u%
6u%
1%
6%
1S%
SS%
4S%
19%
2S%
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1S%
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I unueistanu what I neeu to uo in oiuei to be successful at woik
Theie aie cleai anu faii piocesses foi caieei auvancement in my
oiganization
Your Voice Your Story Pilot Survey Results: Feeling Valued at Work

Etty Burk, Ph.D., Achieving organizational Excellence through Talent Management

The Leadership Difference 1/2014 S
Your Voi ces & Stori es Say i t All! Below are word clouds created from participant responses on
what they felt contribute to feeling valued and not feeling valued at work. The stories were consistent with the
survey questions.

I Feel Valued Because

The question, I feel valued at work is strongly related to:
I understand what is expected of me, (Pearson
Correlation = .9), and I can always report bad news to
my manager (Pearson Correlation = .93). 1.0 is the
strongest correlation.

The story themes are consistent with these results and
underscore the importance for managers to clarify
expectations, define success, create environments
where staff can communicate good news and bad
news, and recognize a job well done.

I Do Not Feel Valued Because

Lack of communication and integrity, blaming, bullying,
lack of performance feedback and recognition, and lack
of clarity of expectations are key factors in creating an
environment where employees do not feel valued.

Organizations where employees do not feel valued
will have lower customer loyalty, productivity, and
financial performance. Turnover will also be higher.
Your Voice Your Story Pilot Survey Results: Feeling Valued at Work

Etty Burk, Ph.D., Achieving organizational Excellence through Talent Management

The Leadership Difference 1/2014 4


Key Ti ps for Leaders: Dri vi ng Success through your Talent!

Clarify expectations, roles, and processes, deliver appropriate recognition, provide ongoing input,
reinforce 2-way communication, and consistently apply practices.

Develop and communicate clear professional development processes for current and future
positions.

Visibly model behavior that you would like others to demonstrate and you will be more likely to
observe those behaviors in others.

Hold yourself and your staff (at all levels) accountable to the same standards of excellence, ethical
behavior, and organization mission and values.

The success of your organization hinges on the quali ty of leadershi p at all levels of the
organization. Leadership is not only about having a great vision and developing and implementing
successful business strategies. Leadershi p is about making a di fference through people--The
Leadershi p Di fference.



How can I Help?

Partnering with leaders, I develop and implement integrated strategies to enhance performance at the
organization, team, and individual levels. Focusing on how we attract, retain, recognize, manage
performance, and professionally develop talent at all levels, we can ensure that we have the necessary
bench strength to be competitive the right people, for the right jobs, at the right time!

Please feel free connect: ettyburk@gmail.com or visit ettyburk.wordpress.com.