Two ROI Measurement Experts Join EEA Impact Council
By Bruce Bolger
A Proven Strategy to Address Fundamental Failures in People Management
Types of Engagement Practices Covered
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Having launched their firm in 1983, no one more than Jack and Patti Phillips, co-founders of the Birmingham, AL-based ROI Institute have contributed to the science of return-on-investment measurement. Based on their conviction that effective people impact metrics remain early stage, they have joined the Enterprise Engagement Alliance’s Impact Council to help create and maintain a list of open-source metrics organizations can use to support greater return-on-investment of stakeholder engagement efforts across the enterprise.
For decades, organizations have perfected measuring the return on investment of factories, buildings, and research and development; yet, when it comes to people—the employees, distribution and supply chain partners, customers, and communities who create the value—most companies are still “driving with one eye on the road.” That is the central message from Jack and Patti Phillips during a recent Enterprise Engagement Alliance YouTube show. In the world of ROI measurement and stakeholder management, they say, your stakeholders are in fact your biggest and most important investors, because without their commitment, there would be no returns for those who contribute the money.
The Phillips, widely recognized as pioneers in measurement and accountability, have dedicated their careers to helping organizations prove the value of investments in people. With more than 100 books, a similar number of global practitioners in their community, and a methodology applied in 70 countries, they remain at the forefront of a movement they admit is only now beginning to gain traction.
To address the warm and fuzzy image that continues to bedevil investments in people, the new Enterprise Engagement Alliance Impact Council draws upon already available total quality management and ISO human capital and related standards needed to treat stakeholder engagement as a tangible source of value creation rather than a cost center.
The Impact Council actively promotes the use of effective impact measures as well as develops open-source metrics based on already established standards organizations can use on their own. The ROI Institute serves the community of management specialists serious about going beyond basic reporting to fully apply the principles of ROI measurement to any business process.
According to Bruce Bolger, a co-Founder of the Council, the metrics and effective practices are based on holistic processes proven for years to enhance quality in manufacturing. "Nobody I know of better understands the mechanics of ROI measurement than the ROI Institute. Their contributions speak for themselves."
A Proven Strategy to Address Fundamental Failures in People Management
For decades, hundreds of books and experts, education programs, not to mention hundreds of companies and technology firms, have sold ways to enhance employee and customer experiences and engagement, andyet engagement scores continues to go down, according to Gallup and the American Customer Satisfaction Index.
The EEA Impact Council, co-chaired by Darwin Hanson, CEO of TM Evolution and the of the International Center for Enterprise Engagement stakeholder management advisory firm, and Dr. Heiko Mauterer, Board Member, Senior Partner at 4C Group, a Frankfurt-based human capital advisory firm, and Bolger, will focus specifically on:
- Developing open-source impact metrics for every key engagement tactic,
- Updating effective practices in all key areas of engagement.
The deliverable of the effort is a series of free reports available at no cost on the Enterprise Engagement Alliance web site outlining recommended metrics for different types of stakeholder engagements.
Types of Engagement Practices Covered
Hanson, a veteran compensation practitioner, whose company will itself use the metrics to evaluate impact and effective practices, explains that the effort will start out with the areas in which companies spend the most money when it comes to people engagement:
- Sales, channel and employee incentives
- Employee recognition and engagement
- Customer engagement
- Training
- Communications
- Social media
According to Mauterer, “Of course we are going to start by going over all the publicly available metrics being used today in disclosures. We suspect a lot of these are process metrics. We will be focused also on looking at outcome metrics. It’s nice to know the level of stakeholder engagement, but more importantly, what does it mean in terms of impact to have more highly engaged employees and customers."
The growing number of EEA Impact Council members consist of veterans in all areas of engagement. Their role is to review the effective practices and impact metrics developed by the EEA and identify improvements before they are published, explains Bolger.
Enterprise Engagement Alliance Services
Celebrating our 16th year, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance helps organizations enhance performance through:
1. Information and marketing opportunities on stakeholder management and total rewards:
ESM Weekly on stakeholder management since 2009; click here for a media kit.
RRN Weekly on total rewards since 1996; click here for a EEA YouTube channel on enterprise engagement, human capital, and total rewards insights and how-to information since 2020.
2. Learning: Purpose Leadership and Stakeholder
Management Academy to enhance future equity value and performance for your organization.3. Books on implementation: Enterprise Engagement for CEOs and Enterprise Engagement: The Roadmap.
4. Advisory services and research: Strategic guidance, learning and certification on stakeholder management, measurement, metrics, and corporate sustainability reporting.
5. Permission-based targeted business development to identify and build relationships with the people most likely to buy.
6. Public speaking and meeting facilitation on stakeholder management. The world’s leading speakers on all aspects of stakeholder management across the enterprise.
