Future of Work + Simplicity = Yesssss!!!

1. Building Simpler
Corporate Cultures
Simplicity Drives Engagement
The Future of Work Demands Simplicity
Report by The Jensen Group
Building Simpler Corporate Cultures research findings are a partnership
in exploring simplicity’s role in employee engagement and the future of work
© The Jensen Group, 2015

2. The Future of Work Demands Simplicity
Creating a simpler company culture is not a “nice to do.”
With ever-increasing volatility in change, technology, market
and customer demands causing ever-increasing complexities…
Building simpler companies and simpler cultures is the only way
to survive and thrive in the future.
To better understand how to create simpler corporate cultures,
SAP partnered with The Jensen Group, a recognized global leader
in corporate simplicity. This ebook reports our findings.
Simplicity is the New Competitive Advantage
There is a crucial difference between marketplace complexity
and company culture complexity.
Complexity in the marketplace is an opportunity to be seized.
Increased change, volatility and disruption in markets create
ongoing opportunities for entrepreneurs and companies to
create market value — new ways to take friction and costs out
of the system and new ways to delight customers. Breakthrough
innovations always make things simpler and most senior teams
are quick to jump on these opportunities.
There is no corresponding upside to complexity within one’s
corporate culture. Complexity within companies is the elephant
in the room: Everybody knows the damage it causes —
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3. “Simplicity is
the next big thing
in business and HR.”
Human Capital Trends Research,
Deloitte, 2015
Large companies are
losing 10.2% of profits
(EBITDA)
due to complexity
Global Simplicity Index,
Henley Business School, 2015

4. destructive implementation friction, demoralizing impact on
hard-working managers and employees — but talking about it
raises inconvenient truths. We must face how hard we make it
for many of our people to succeed and do great work. And no
one who experiences cultural complexity will be patient while
we work it out. “Solve it now, or I’m out of here!”
Simplicity Is Power
The only way to succeed in creating simpler corporate cultures
is to understand this timeless dynamic: Simplicity is power.
Since the dawn of civilization and differing stakeholder needs,
those with more power have had things made simpler for them.
Those with less power experienced far greater complexities.
This is a universal rule of human interaction. Simplicity is
always about power – how easy or hard it is to control one’s
destiny and make a difference.
This makes simplifiction so important to employee
satisfaction, that it becomes an HR issue in and of itself.
For the workforce, making things simpler is about the power
to get their work done, the power to make a difference and
the power to control their own destiny. This begins with
listening with empathy, understanding ease or difficulty through
their eyes.
Simpler company cultures make it easier for everyone
to do and be their best.
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5. Only 13% of employees
around the globe are
fully/actively engaged
Gallup, 2013
(Jensen Group studies found decreased simplicity
correlates to decreased engagement)
Highly engaged employees
are 87% less likely to leave
their companies
Gallup, 2013
(Jensen Group studies found increased simplicity
correlates to increased trust, engagement)
81% of Millennials
believe that simplification
leads to
higher engagement
Simplification, Engagement, Trust Study
SAP and Baylor University, 2015
Only 49% of employees
trust
senior management
Leadership Now, 2009
(Jensen Group studies found increased simplicity
correlates to increased trust, engagement)
67% of business leaders
believe simplicity will be
strategically important
in the future
Future of Work Study,
SAP, 2014
Simplicity is vital to
removing the remaining
friction within
internal tools, processes
Future of Work Study,
The Jensen Group, 2015

6. Simpler Culture Defined
A company’s way of doing things
that creates the most value
and engagement for all,
with the least effort by all.
A work environment
that makes it easier
for people to be their best
and do great work.
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7. Three Drivers of a Simpler Culture
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Most Value and Engagement,
with Least Effort for
The Difficult Truth
Current State
for Most Large Companies
Most Value and
Engagement,
with Least Effort for
Most Value and
Engagement,
with Least Effort for
Ideal Balance
Currently, simplicity for every individual
lags behind company and customer needs —
leaving very little room for simplicity
as an organizational competitive advantage.
Each stakeholder gets equal attention
to its needs,
maximizing simplicity as an
organizational competitive advantage.

8. Creating a Simpler Culture
What’s Different
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Commitment to Designing and Maintaining Balance
in Ease of Use, Ease of Effort
PERFECTING THE ART AND SCIENCE OF DESIGNING FOR...
ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY Least amount of resources, effort, energy and time required
to produce maximum value for customers and the company
PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY Least amount of personal effort, energy and time required
to produce maximum value for self and others
We are just beginning the era of designing for each individual worker’s simplicity needs.
A simpler company culture is one that strives to keep all ease-of-use
and ease-of-effort needs in balance,
dedicating itself to meeting all three sets of stakeholder’s needs equally.
Understanding and Commitment That Personal Productivity
is as Valuable as Organizational Productivity

9. Simplicity Is a Purification Process
“You are filtering out all the unnecessary
things until you get to the essence of
what’s really important and necessary.
“It’s a user-centered process.
Understanding who you are designing for
and then making that the focus of all your
designs.”
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SAM YEN
SAP
Chief Design Officer
Simplicity Creates Clarity, Saves Energy
“Simplicity begins with each individual’s
actions which either complicate or
simplify other people’s work.
“In a simpler culture, everyone must be
able to answer: ‘This is why we’re in
business and this is how I add value
to why we’re in business.’ Role clarity
is an important part of simplicity.
“Simplicity gives and saves people
the energy they need to keep on
keeping on.”
EILEEN McDARGH
Chief Energy Officer
The Resiliency Group

10. Creating a Simpler Culture
Cultural Impact
Simplicity for Every Individual Matters
As we move deeper into the knowledge and service work and digital economy,
every individual has the power to quickly create new value and innovations and
to satisfy customers — as well as the power to, unknowingly, create problems through missteps
due to complexity or confusion.
We must make it easier for every individual to do the right things and make
the right decisions, in the right way, at the right time.
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Current State
for Most Large Companies
Ideal Balance

11. 11 / 24
Simplicity Is Easy to Use Structures
“Culture is an outcome that comes from
processes policies and structure.
How those are designed, implemented
and perceived drive how employees
and organizations behave.
“A simpler company culture is one that
has an easily defined, easy to use
structure.”
DARREN GIBSON
EY Partner,
Global People &
Organizational
Change Leader
Simplicity Lets Go of Where Power Sits
“It’s not about going three levels up
the chain of command to get approvals.
“People come to work because they
want to see that their contribution
matters and see how they directly
contribute to organizational outcomes.
If they see that, they’re more engaged
and more courageous in making a
difference.”
SINA WENDT-MOORE
CEO,
Leadership New Zealand

12. When Individual Simplicity Shrinks:
Trust, Diversity, Innovation
Also Shrink
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GREATEST CHANGES REQUIRED IN HR STRATEGIES, 2015-2018
Employees’ lack of interest in assimilating organizational values (cited by 60% of HR execs)
Conflicting values across multi generational workforce (cited over 50%)
Unrealistic expectations from millennial employees (cited by 47%)
Value-Based Diversity Study, SuccessFactors, 2014
Overall: Only 4 in 10
employees trust their boss
But trust-leaders enjoy
more innovation,
better performance
Interaction Associates/IDG,
Building Workplace Trust, 2014-2015
65% of managers
are not engaged
in their jobs
Gallup, State of American Manager
(Jensen Group studies found decreased simplicity
correlates to decreased trust, engagement)

13. 13 / 24
Simplicity Is Trust and Empowerment
“That includes diversity of thinking
and ways of being and working.
Let’s be honest: In the beginning,
diversity adds complexity. In the
beginning, we need a little more time
to understand different and unique
points of view. But in the long-term,
that diversity helps us to be more
innovative and more successful.”
ANKA WITTENBERG
Chief Diversity and
Global People &
Inclusion Officer,
SAP
It’s Time for Different Conversations
“We have to educate people on how
to have conversations with end-users
of corporate systems — how work
is getting done.
“Design thinking is a major solution.
We need to use more tools that help
us get to the bottom of the problems
we need to solve, and how best
to solve them.”
GEOFF SCOTT
CEO, ASUG

14. Measuring a Simpler Culture
Success
Top Quartile (or better) in Three Core Metrics:
1. Satisfaction 2. Ease of Execution 3. Success
for All Three Stakeholder Groups
Most Value and Engagement,
with Least Effort for
Most Value and
Engagement,
with Least Effort for
Most Value and
Engagement,
with Least Effort for
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INDIVIDUAL SIMPLICITY METRICS
• Individual Engagement/Happiness Score
• Measurement of Ease of Accomplishing Work
• Achievement of Personal, Career and Learning Goals
CUSTOMER SIMPLICITY METRICS
• Customer Satisfaction Scores
• Product/Service Ease of Use Scores
• Customer Success Scores
COMPANY SIMPLICITY METRICS
• Organizational Engagement Scores
• Productivity Scores
• Achievement of Organizational Goals

15. Creating a Simpler Culture:
Most Crucial First Step
Open and (Possibly) Difficult Conversations
About Designing and Maintaining Balance
in Ease of Use, Ease of Effort for All
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Meeting all stakeholder’s simplicity needs will require tradeoffs,
willingness to take empowerment and employee-focus to new levels,
and a deep dedication by the executive team that this approach
is required to succeed in the future.
For some companies (not all), this may require a new and different set of deep conversations.

16. Launching a
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SENIOR EXECUTIVE
ENGAGEMENT, ALIGNMENT
Will a simpler culture
yield sustainable
long-term advantages?
Degree of change/effort
required?
SWOT ASSESSMENT
What are our current
simpler culture
strengths/weaknesses?
What is our organizational
readiness?
Identify potential roadblocks
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17. Simpler Culture
TOOLS, STRUCTURES,
PROCESSES
How must we modify
our current tools/processes?
What new training/development
is needed?
ORGANIZATIONAL
CHANGE ROLLOUT
Whose roles/responsibilities
will change?
Whose will stay the same?
What is our change
communication plan
and development plan?
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18. Starter Checklist
Individual Driver
Designing With Empathy
Understanding Workforce Needs, Wants, Desires
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Senior executive alignment and commitment that ease-of-use,
ease-of-effort creates corporate ROI
Train mid-level managers to make simplicity for all a priority
Evaluate all current people management systems using simplicity criteria
Design work tools, communication, training and development
using simplicity criteria
Design new assessments, feedback and measures using simplicity criteria
All technology must reflect new Consumerization of IT /
user-centered standards
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Most Value and Engagement,
with Least Effort for

19. Starter Checklist
Organizational Driver
Enhancing Ability to Change,
Innovate and Succeed
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Create an environment that values diversity of thinking, of being,
of communicating
Create an environment that values and encourages risk-taking
and innovation
Create an environment that constantly eliminates approvals
and reduces bureaucracy wherever possible
Make it easier for people to stop doing low-value activities
Create an environment that values learning from failure
and makes it easier to fail forward
Recognize and incorporate multi-generational needs,
values and perspectives
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•
Most Value and Engagement,
with Least Effort for

20. Starter Checklist
Customer Driver
Listening and Designing With Empathy
Helping Customers Succeed More Easily
20 / 24
Eliminate friction in every area of the customer experience
All technology must reflect new Consumerization of IT /
user-centered standards
All solutions/products/services must save customers time,
attention, energy and effort
Make it easier for customers to manage constant change and make
transitions from what they have to what’s next
Make it easier to maintain and enhance relationships with customers
Make it easier for customers to share their ideas, stories and
experiences with others around the world
•
•
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Most Value and Engagement,
with Least Effort for

21. Creating a Simpler Culture Takes
Discipline
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SIMPLER COMPANY CULTURE
A company’s way of doing things
that creates the most value and engagement
for all
with the least effort for all.
An environment that makes it easier
for people to be their best
and do great work.

22. The Hard Work of Creating
a Simpler Culture is the
Future of Work
While there are many drivers and changes leading organizations into the future of work —
Jensen Group’s study, Future of Work: 2015-2020, found two over-arching changes
crucial to creating simpler organizational cultures…
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Reimagining Organizational Hierarchies
Simplicity in all work begins with how people and
work are structured. Organizational hierarchies,
and how they coordinate and control resources,
must be reimagined for the 21st century.
As long as we maintain 20th century hierarchies,
work complexity will likely continue.
Reimagining the Relationship
Between the Workforce and Companies
The future workforce is changing the lens…
They see companies as vehicles to achieve
their goals and dreams — vehicles that can amplify
their passions, achievements and community
relationships beyond what they could have done
on their own or elsewhere.
Many corporate definitions of engagement do not
currently incorporate this view.

23. Creating a Simpler Culture
Building a Simpler Culture research findings are a partnership
in exploring simplicity’s role in the future of work.
The Jensen Group and SAP have created a workspace of multiple Simpler Culture tools,
including additional research to support the findings in this report,
for your use at http://bit.ly/SAP-Engagement
© The Jensen Group, 2015
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Report by
The Jensen Group
www.simplerwork.com
Bill Jensen, bill@simplerwork.com

24. The Future of Work
Demands Simplicity
Building Simpler Corporate Cultures
Report by
The Jensen Group
www.simplerwork.com