and launched in 2011 based on a suggestion and was offered again in 2014 and 2018. While most of our benefits are offered to the entire staff, Operations staff receives a few additional perks due to the requirements of their roles. Having to be on call and use their cell phones for client business means PMCs get reimbursement for their cellular service. PMCs can also become eligible for a travel bonus when they are serving out- of-town clients. 5.2 Workforce Engagement 5.2a Workforce Engagement and Performance 5.2a(1) Organizational Culture The Character Elements, Fundamental Values (FV) , and Mission & Beliefs (M&B) , as outlined in P.1a(2) and 1.1a(1) , provide the foundation that guides IPM culture. Open communication permeates all levels of the organization (1.1b) . Management utilizes multiple avenues to communicate strategy and direction; from reaching all resources at the quarterly Staff meetings, to individually through the weekly one-on-ones between supervisors and their reports. There is an open-door policy that encourages all staff members to engage in dialog with anyone in management. All employee surveys and open discussions are pathways for continual, meaningful two-way communication and help ensure the organizational culture benefits from the diverse ideas of the IPM workforce. Additionally, Initiative teams are staffed to be cross-functional to ensure diverse thinking. High performance is consistently reinforced through discussions during one-on-ones. Additionally, management at all levels looks for opportunities to reinforce excellence. Promoting IPM’s focus on excellence is pervasive in our literature , with numerous articles in The Pulse reaffirming its primacy. Impressing clients, as evidenced through direct client feedback, is publicized and celebrated in personal ways, such as congratulatory email messages, and in public settings to help drive engagement in the workforce. The Customer Service Person(s) of the Year (C-SPOTY) award is used to recognize exceptional service, while the yearly Project Excellence award acknowledges the best of our high- performing projects. Senior leadership communicates expectations, maintains high standards, and creates an environment of excellence by example. The Performance Summary and Development Plan (PS&DP) process fosters alignment of expectations as well as opportunities for further engagement by employees. The basic tenets of project management dictate that IPM’s workforce be empowered, lest individual projects fail. A fundamental component of project success is the lack of bureaucratic control. Too much oversight—either by key project stakeholders or IPM management—will grind project progress to a halt. Additionally, IPM employees are empowered through Greenhouse, our innovation arm, Centers of Excellence (CoEs), which have the freedom to determine the delivery of
their offerings, and Project Mercy, where every quarter the teams get to select a new partner charity. While the IPM Way is consistently reinforced, IPM’s workforce is further empowered to tackle engagements in the ways our members see fit. 5.2a(2) Drivers of Engagement IPM’s workforce engagement drivers (organizational behavior consistent with our M&B and FV , communication and transparency, professional development, and organizational support) were initially identified through senior leader communication methods (1.1b) . The drivers are validated through the AP and Great Place to Work (GPTW) surveys. Because the AP survey is not anonymous, we can discern if there are differences between offices or various other workforce groups and segments. No significant differences have been identified. Additionally, the value of the identified drivers was validated during the 2016 AP survey, when each question was partnered with a query about its importance. The average value attributed to each AP question was just under nine (on a 10-point scale). 5.2a(3) Assessment of Engagement IPM formally assesses workforce engagement through the deployment of the AP and GPTW surveys for all workforce segments. An informal component of the AP survey process occurs when employees discuss their responses during a one-on-one with their supervisors, to ensure that the input and its context are fully understood. Both explicitly through what a respondent says and implicitly through how vested they are in the conversation, this discussion provides insight into each employee’s engagement level; as, in fact, do all conversations during manager-report one-on-ones. Every year, the AP survey is evaluated and improved prior to its distribution by adding, removing, and clarifying questions, ensuring that it remains relevant to and resonates with employees at all levels. Since 2010, in acknowledgement of the need for external validation of employee satisfaction and engagement, IPM has participated in the GPTW survey, which assesses the culture, work environment, and employee level of trust within the organization, so that an external survey is also used to calibrate the engagement of the workforce. The results of this survey are anonymous. Each year, questions pertaining to workforce engagement have received overall higher-than- standard results as demonstrated by IPM’s listing as a Top Workplace for eight consecutive years. The methods and measures do not differ across workforce groups, because when the data from both surveys is parsed, there are no statistically significant differences between them. Additional informal methods to assess engagement, including the open discussions that are part of the ongoing PS&DP process, lead to a deeper understanding of each employee’s aspirations, strengths, and development needs—all
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