Latest / Edan Haddock - Total Talent / Predictive Engagement: From Feedback to Firepower

Transcript

Predictive Engagement: From Feedback to Firepower · Edan Haddock - Total Talent

• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's get into it.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And this one might ruffle a few feathers.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, that's fine.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because if we're serious about transforming talent functions, if we're serious about workforce 5.0, if we're serious about performance, accountability, impact, then we need to stop treating engagement like a compliance exercise.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And start treating it like what it should have been all along: a strategic weapon.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Eden Haddock, Total Talent.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Eden Haddock, Head of Talent and People Experience at Movember.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: No sponsors, no guests.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just straight talk about talent, people experience, AI, Workforce 5.0, and how we stop playing HR and start building high performance organizations.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're talking about engagement.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And not the fluffy version, not the how happy are you on a scale of one to ten version.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: We're talking about transforming engagement from a survey into a strategic performance engine.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because right now, in most organizations, engagement surveys operate as a reactive feedback mechanism, not a strategic enabler of performance.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel that's a problem.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: But it's also a massive opportunity, especially for us in talent.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So let's go.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Why this matters now?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's what I've been noticing.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: More and more organizations are moving engagement out of OD, out of business partnering, and disrupting the traditional center of excellence models.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And they're embedding engagement into talent teams.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I genuinely love that.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because engagement doesn't belong buried in operational HR mechanics.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: It belongs where workforce strategy lives with talent.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And why?
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's because engagement is not about mood.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's about performance.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's about capability.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's about retention risk.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's about leadership effectiveness.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's about future workforce strength.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if engagement data is sitting in a silo, disconnected from hiring, mobility, performance, succession, critical role risk, then we're wasting it.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Talent teams sit at the intersection of workforce planning, capability building, succession, retention, performance, and culture.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now that's strategic territory.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: If engagement lives there too, it becomes fuel.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: If it stays elsewhere, it becomes a report.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we don't want reports.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: We want leverage.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: So the traditional problem, let's be honest about what most engagement surveys are.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: They are reactive, they are annual, perhaps with pulse, they are retrospective, and they are emotional download stations often.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then we get fragmented action planning.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every team makes their own little plan.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Half of them never follow through.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: The other half may change one thing, like moving a meeting and then call it culture transformation.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's a real unclear impact visibility.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Did that action improve performance?
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Did that action reduce attrition?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Did that action increase productivity?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: To be honest, we we really don't know.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because we don't measure it properly.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's weak data integration, engagement data sits over here, performance data sits over there.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Attrition risk sits somewhere else.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Hiring data somewhere else again.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: And we like to pretend it's all connected, but ultimately we don't actually connect it.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then measurement, it's it's inconsistent.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: Every year we may add new questions, new themes, new focus.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: There's no integrity, and there's no predictive modeling.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Really, it's it's just vibes.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the uncomfortable one.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Employees often use engagement surveys to vent, to push the problems upstream, to say leadership needs to fix this, management needs to do better, the organization should.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Engagement is a two-way contract, not a suggestion box.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: When surveys become emotional dumping grounds, we train people to externalize responsibility.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: We accidentally create victim culture, blame culture, passive culture.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then our leaders get flooded with issues that they cannot individually solve.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: So the shift we need from what is the company doing wrong to what are we emphasize we doing to drive performance.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: That includes leaders, that includes teams, and most importantly, that includes individuals.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Engagement without accountability is noise.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And engagement with accountability is performance energy.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I truly believe talent can drive that shift.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because talent owns performance frameworks, talent owns capability frameworks, talent owns leadership expectations.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: You want engagement to change, then we need to embed it into performance systems, not HR workflows.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: So the opportunity.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because this is where it gets exciting.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine engagement transformed into strategic data-driven performance tooling that aligns to strategic priorities and not generic themes.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if your strategy is innovation, then measure innovation behaviors.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: If your strategy is growth, measure customer obsession.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: If your strategy is transformation, then measure change capability.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: I feel we should stop measuring generic I feel valued, and start measuring strategic alignment.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Engagement should answer, are we culturally aligned to our strategy?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's the first thing.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, evidence-based decisions, engagement data integrated with performance outcomes, retention risk, critical role mapping, hiring velocity, and succession health.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now, now you're not guessing, you're seeing patterns.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, visible impact.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Action plans that are tied to measurable outcomes.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: If we improve X, we expect Y movement in attrition, for example.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then track it.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: For the fourth point, I would I would say focus effort on high impact actions, not 37 micro actions, and not cosmetic fixes.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: Identify the one or two drivers that statistically influence performance most and fix those.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Finally, I feel we need to build predictive capability.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where Workforce 5.0 comes in.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Augmented teams, AI models, predictive analytics, treating engagement as early warning signals, not a post-mortem report.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where it becomes powerful.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's where it becomes strategic.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that's talent territory.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Why does this belong with talent?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go deeper on this.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Why talent?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because talent sees the whole life cycle.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hiring, onboarding, performance, mobility, succession, through to exit.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: Engagement data becomes more valuable when mapped across these life cycle stages.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if new hires in critical roles show lower engagement at six months, then that's an onboarding risk.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: If high performers show declining engagement before exit, that's predictive attrition.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: If succession ready leaders show burnout indicators, that's future leadership fragility.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: OD and people partner teams often focus on interventions, and they have to, and rightly so.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: But talent focuses on outcomes, and that's the difference.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: And when engagement sits with talent, it stops being therapy and it starts being strategy.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Let's move to a practical transformation model, all right?
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's get practical.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: If you're moving engagement into talent, what do you do?
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll go through this step by step.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what I believe.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Step one, I would re-anchor the purpose.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: I would rewrite the narrative internally.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: This survey is not about satisfaction, it's about performance enablement.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Step two, reduce noise.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Shorter surveys, some of them are a mile long, sharper themes, and direct alignment to strategy.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Step three, integrate data sets, overlay engagement scores with performance ratings, critical role maps, attrition data, and hiring quality metrics.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: Build the dashboards that connect them, not separate reports.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: Step four, action governance, no more fragmented team plans.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, identify the top two enterprise drivers and mandate that focus.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: Track quarterly or more regular.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Step five, this is the most important for me, individual accountability layering.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Add reflection questions post-survey.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: What will I personally commit to improving?
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And shift that mindset.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Then step six, predictive modeling.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: Even simple regression analysis.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Which questions correlate more strongly with performance or retention, right?
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Really simple and focus there.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that's transformation.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked about performance a lot, so I want to talk about culture versus performance and why.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think traditionally we talk about engagement as culture.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: But really, culture without performance is just theater.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: And performance without culture is just burnout.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Engagement should sit in the tension between these two.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not measuring happiness, measuring enablement.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Are we removing friction?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Are we enabling excellence?
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Are we rewarding contribution?
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: Are we building capability?
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's engagement.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's not mood.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the rock and roll truth.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Most organizations don't need another survey.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: What they need is courage, the courage to simplify, the courage to integrate data, the courage to stop pretending everything matters equally.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: And the courage, most importantly, to hold employees accountable too.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: High performance teams, as we know, don't just ask leadership to fix things, they fix things together.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Engagement isn't therapy, it's alignment.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then alignment drives performance.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is the exciting bit, the future.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Augmented engagement.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: So now imagine layering AI into this.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Continuous pulse signals.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Sentiment analysis integrated with productivity metrics.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: AI models that are flagging attrition risk increasing in critical engineering roles, for example.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: Or leadership confidence declining in succession pool.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Now engagement becomes live, dynamic, predictive.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: This is Workforce five point oh.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: Augmented teams, human leaders, AI pattern recognition, data driven interventions, this is where talent must lead and we can.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: That's where talent leads, not follows.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Final challenge as I love to do.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Here's my challenge to you.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: If engagement sits in your organization today and it will, ask yourself, is it reactive or strategic?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: Is it fragmented or integrated?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Is it venting or accountability?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is it reporting or predicting?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because talent has a choice.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: We can stay operational or step into strategy.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: And engagement is one of the cleanest entry points into that transformation.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: If we do this right, engagement becomes a leadership tool, a retention lever, a performance accelerator, a strategic dashboard.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: And if we don't, it stays a survey.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we are one talented bunch.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: We deserve better than that, and we can do better than that.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's today's episode.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: If this one challenged you, that's amazing.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: If it annoyed you a little, that's that's even better.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: Because, you know, talent, we're not here to run surveys.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: Talent is here to build performance ecosystems.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: And engagement, it's time to turn it from a feedback loop into a forward engine.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: If this resonated, please share it.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you, everyone who's been following.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe tag someone who owns engagement or tag someone who owns talent or someone that you just feel maybe interested.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps even have an uncomfortable conversation about this.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, remember, Workforce 5.0 isn't coming.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is already here.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: And talent really can be in the driving seat.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Talent can lead it, or we can just watch it happen.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, this is Eden Haddock.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is Total Talent.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't do average.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I hope to see you next time.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.