Why it belongs at the center, and how to get it there
Hi there,
Here's a quick test: if you asked employees across your organization to name your top strategic goals, could they? And could they explain how their daily work connects to those goals?
At most organizations, the strategy is crystal clear at the executive level. But by level three or four, the story has gotten lost. And that's a problem because change – be it digitalization, expansion, cultural transformation – none of it happens in the boardroom. It happens through the people who have to execute it every day.
Yet in most annual plans, the employee strategy still sits in its own corner. A separate pillar. An HR responsibility. Disconnected from the goals it's supposed to power.
It's time to change that.
Get inspired 💡
You're tracking the wrong signals (and it's costing you)
If you're managing your people strategy based on absenteeism and turnover, you're navigating by staring at the wake behind the boat instead of the horizon ahead.
In his latest article, our CMO Sander van Gelderen argues that these are lagging indicators, endpoints of a long chain of missed signals. The real question is: are people engaged? Do they have the right tools? Do they understand where the organization is heading?
He shares a telling example: a construction company discovered through feedback data that IT was a major blocker. Employees on-site needed to submit digital information but were stuck with laptops that didn't work in the field. By listening early and providing handheld devices, they removed the obstacle and boosted both satisfaction and engagement in the process.
Sander also lays out four building blocks of a people strategy that actually connects to business outcomes, plus three questions every leader should ask themselves today.
About 70% of change initiatives fail, and it's rarely because the strategy was wrong. It's because leaders lose sight of what's happening inside their teams while change is unfolding. By the time it shows up in KPIs, the drift has been going on for weeks or months.
Our latest guide explores why early signals from employees go unnoticed, how that visibility gap quietly undermines organizational effectiveness, and how continuous employee insight helps leaders and HR stay aligned with reality, not last quarter's snapshot of it.
SanoRice: From "nobody listened" to "I know they heard me" in one year
HR teams working in isolation. Limited cross-site coordination. Leadership running on instinct instead of data. Sound familiar?
That was SanoRice before they made employee feedback the foundation of an organization-wide transformation. HR was redefined from isolated local teams into a coordinated function, acting as a strategic partner to the business. Employee listening gave leaders the data to make confident decisions across four factories in Europe, instead of relying on instinct alone.
The number that says it all? Alignment scores jumped from 6.5 to 7.4 in a single year. That's not an engagement win. That's strategy actually landing across the organization.
Good news for survey participants: respondents invited by email can now review and edit their submitted answers via Your Feedback — as long as the survey is still open. Original answers are saved, so nothing gets lost. They just need to resubmit when they're done.
No more "can you reopen my survey?" requests. Just more control for your people.
We've upgraded the effectiveness matrix in My Effectory with two powerful additions:
Compare underlying groups at a glance: A new tab in the matrix side panel lets you see how all underlying groups within a team are plotted in the matrix, so you can instantly get an overview of how effectiveness is distributed across your organization. This makes it much easier to see which teams may need extra support, which are performing well, and where to focus your follow‑up efforts.
Contextual follow-up advice: Based on where a team lands in the matrix, you'll now see tailored guidance on the level and focus of follow-up that makes sense, because not every team needs the same approach.
Looking to build a feedback strategy that actually fits your organization? Book a 1:1 session with our experts, we’ll help you explore the right approach for your needs, so you can reach your HR goals faster.
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