【哈佛商业评论】为什么微软要衡量员工的繁荣而不是参与度

AnalyticsAndDataScienceWhyMicrosoftMeasuresEmployeeThriving,NotEngagementbyDawnKlinghofferandElizabethMcCuneJune24,2022FrancescoCartafotografo/GettyImagesSummary.Asthepandemiccontinuesandmanypeopleworkhybridschedules,peopleanalyticsresearchersatMicrosoftrealizedtheyneededtomovefrommeasuringemployeeengagementtomeasuringemployeethriving.Deinedas“tobeenergizedand...moreOnethingisclear:Noneofusarethesamepeopletodayaswewerepriorto2020.So,asouremployeeschange,thewayswecanbestempowerthemneedtoevolve,too.AtMicrosoft,whereweworkonthePeopleAnalyticsteam,thatmeanslearningwhatthedatacantellusabouthowouremployeesaspiretolivetheirlivesmeaningfully.Inparticular,welandedonanewwayofmeasuringthriving,atbothworkandoutsideofit,thatgoesbeyondengagementonly.Inthisarticle,wesharehowandwhywecametothismeasurement—andhowyourowncompanycanlearnfromourexperiences.WhyThrivingIstheNewNorthStarPriortothisyear,weconductedonelengthy,annualsurveythattrackedemployeeengagement.Itoftentookmonthstodigestandplanactionsaround.Yet,weconsistentlyencounteredchallengesinbuildingashareddefinitionofengagementacrossthecompany.Andoften,despiteemployeeengagementscoresthatwouldseemtoindicatethatthingsweregoingwell,itbecameclearthatemployeeswerestrugglingwhenwediveddeeperintotheresponses.Tous,thiswasareflectionthatwehadn’tyetsetahighenoughbarfortheemployeeexperience,anditmotivatedustodobetterinmeasuringwhatmatters.So,westartedaskingemployeesforfeedbackthroughashorteryetmorefocusedsurveyeverysixmonths,forwhichwepartneredwithemployeesuccessplatformGlint.Thisnewapproachishelpingusstayclosertoemployees’feedbackandtakeclearerandmoreimmediateactioninresponse.Wealsosoughttodefineanew,higherbarthatwentbeyondengagementonly,drawinginspirationfrommanysources.OnewaswhatOurChiefPeopleOfficer,KathleenHogan,calls“The5P’s.”SimilartoMaslow’sHierarchy,itbreaksdownemployeefulfillmentintofivekey,successivecomponents:pay,perks,people,pride,andpurpose.Inatimethathaspromptedmanytoreflectontheroleofworkandcareerintheirlives,itfeltcriticaltorecalibrateourlisteningsystemstomeasureourprogresstowardsthatendgoal—asenseofpurpose.WewerealsoinspiredbyRossSchoolofBusiness’sGretchenSpreitzerandcolleagues’researchonthrivingastheantidotetolanguishing.Aswemovedbeyondemployeeengagement,wedecidedtofocusonourownversionofemployeethriving.AtMicrosoft,wedefinethrivingas“tobeenergizedandempoweredtodomeaningfulwork.”Thisisthenewcoreaspirationwehaveforouremployees,onethatchallengesustopushourselveseverydaysoeveryemployeecanfeelthey’repursuingthatsenseofpurpose.Ourfocusonthrivingisn’tjustaboutrecoveringfromtheimpactofthepandemicormatchingpre-Covidemployeesentimentscores.It’saboutcomingouttheothersideanddoingevenbetter.WhatItLooksLiketoThriveWhenourfirstemployeesurveydatacamebackearlierthisyear,webeganbenchmarkingourthrivingforthefirsttime.Welookedatnotjusthowmanypeoplereportedtheywerethriving,butcalculatedcompany-wideaveragesbasedonresponsesfromafive-pointscale—ifanemployeeselected“stronglydisagree,”thattranslatedtoanindividualscoreofzero,and“stronglyagree”wouldbetheequivalentofa100.Thisensuredourinsightstookintoaccountallpositive,negative,andneutralsentiment.Afteranalyzingtheresults,wefoundthatthrivingaverageda77acrossthecompany—anumberweseeasstrong,butonewecanstillworkon.Whenwebrokedownthrivingintoitsthreecomponents,wesawthatmeaningfulwork(79)andempowerment(79)bothscoredhigheramongemployeesthanenergized(73).Tounderstandtheemployeeexperiencesbehindthenumbers,wedoveintotheopen-endedsurveyresponses.Threekeythemesstoodout.Culturematters.Whatwesawwasthatemployeeswhowerethrivingandnotthrivingwerebothtalkingaboutculture,butinvastlydifferentways.Thrivingemployeestalkedaboutacollaborativeenvironmentandteamworkwithcolleagues,aninclusiveculturewithautonomyandflexibility,andwell-beingsupport.Thesecommentsreferenceexamplessuchasbeingabletohavehonest,non-judgmentalconversationsondifficulttopics,withafocusonfindingsolutions.Employeeswhoweren’tthrivingtalkedaboutexperiencingsiloes,bureaucracy,andalackofcollaboration.Inthesecommentswehearalackofagencyandasenseforbeingacoginamachine.Inotherwords,theoppositeofbeingempoweredandenergizedtodomeaningfulwork.Thrivingtakesavillage.Divingdeeperintothenumbers,it’sclearthateveryonehasaroletoplay.AtMicrosoft,we’velongstudiedimportanceofmanagers,andweknowtheirrolehasbeenmorecrucialthaneverastheyhelpedtheirteamsnavigatethroughuncertainty.It’shearteningtoseeourmanagersshineduringsuchadifficulttime.“Mymanagertreatsmewithdignityandrespect”scoreda93,meaningalmosteveryemployeeselected“stronglyagree”—butthisalsomeanswestillneedtoensurethat’stheexperienceforeverysingleemployee.Wealsosawhighscoresinconfidenceinmanager’seffectiveness(87)andmanagers’supportforcareers(85),showingstrongsentimentthatmanagersarehelpingtheirteamssucceedatthecompany.Whileweseethesescoresasstrengths,they’restrengthswewanttokeepbuildingtoensureapositivelivedexperienceforallemployees.Thrivingandwork-lifebalancearenotthesamething.Aswethinkabouthowtosupportthriving,it’simportanttodistinguishitfromwork-lifebalance.Whilethrivingisfocusedonbeingenergizedandempoweredtodomeaningfulworkinyourrole,work-lifebalancereflectsemployees’personallives,too.Employeesratedtheirsatisfactionwithwork-lifebalanceasa71,andwhileit’sencouragingtoseework-lifebalanceimproving,ithasn’tfullyrecoveredyettopre-Covidlevels.Andtherearetimeswhenthrivingandwork-lifebalancecanmoveindifferentdirections.Forexample,anearly-in-careeremployeewhofeelsunderutilizedintheirrolemayhavegreatwork-lifebalancefromaperspectiveofhoursandworkload,butnotfeelenergizedwhilethey’reatworkorinspiredbythemeaningandimpactofwhatthey’reworkingon.Ontheotherhand,therearetimeswhenpeoplecanthriveandfeelsofulfilledbythehardworkittakestomakeprogressonabigprojectthattheycanmakeashort-termtradeoffonwork-lifebalance.Weknowthatwork-lifebalancemayebbandflow,butwantedtolearnfromemployeeswhobothratedtheirwork-lifebalancehighlyandsaidtheywerethrivinginthatwork-focusedportionoftheirlife.So,wecomparedthe56%ofouremployeeswhosaidtheywerethrivingandreportedhigherwork-lifebalancetothe16%whowerethrivingbuthadlowerwork-lifebalancescores.Bycombiningsentimentdatawithde-identifiedcalendarandemailmetadata,wefoundthatthosewiththebestofbothworldshadfivefewerhoursintheirworkweekspan,fivefewercollaborationhours,threemorefocushours,and17feweremployeesintheirinternalnetworksize.Thisreinforceswhatweknowfromearlierwork-lifebalanceresearchandnetworksizeanalysis,whichshowedusthatincreasedcollaborationdoeshaveanegativeimpactonemployees’perceptionofwork-lifebalance.Italsoconfirmsthatcollaborationisnotinherentlybad—formanyemployees,thosetimesofcloseteamworkandstrivingtowardacommongoalcanfuelthriving.However,itisimportanttobemindfulofhowintensecollaborationcanimpactwork-lifebalance,andleadersandemployeesalikeshouldguardagainstthatintensitybecoming24/7.ChallengesforThrivingontheRoadAheadAsmoreandmorecompanieslookcloselyathowtheylistentoandhelptheiremployees,it’simportanttospendtimeunderstandingwhatyournorthstaris—andtomakesureit’sconnectedtotheoutcomesyouaretryingtodriveasanorganization.Thisneweraofhybridworkwon’tworkforemployeesifyou’renotlistening—orifwhatyou’relisteningfordoesn’tevolvealongwiththemandhowtheydotheirjobs.Thereisn’tasingularone-size-fits-allsolutionoutthere,butpayingcloseattentiontohowyouremployeesthriveisonepathforward.Weknowthisisjustthebeginningofourjourneytounderstandthisinourownorganization.Lookingholisticallyatthewrittenresponsesfromthosewhoweren’tthrivingoffersmorecluesaboutwhereelsewecanimproveforouremployees.Forexample,whileemployeesscored“Ifeelincludedinmyteam”highlyat86,byfarthemostcommonthreadamongthosewhowerenotthrivingwasafeelingofexclusion—fromalackofcollaborationtofeelingleftoutofdecisionstostrugglingwithpoliticsandbureaucracy.We’llcontinuetofocusonensuringinclusionisfeltaspartofourcultureacrossallteamsandorgs.Ultimately,everyscore,whetherhighorlow,g