Continental Breakfast and Registration

Melcrum Remarks

How do managers inspire top performance in employees? How do they generate enthusiasm, unite disparate personalities to focus on a common mission, and motivate teams to achieve ever-higher goals?

During this keynote session, Rodd Wagner, author of 12: The Elements of Great Managing, will share the insights from Gallup's research with more than 10 million employees and managers around the globe to identify the most important aspects in sustaining workplace excellence. Rodd will use examples from a wide variety of industries to demonstrate what every company needs to know about creating and sustaining employee engagement.

Rodd Wagner Principal, Gallup, and Author, "12: The Elements of Great Managing"

The ideal brand ambassador is an employee who shares his positive work experience with his friends and neighbors - boasting about their work environment and the products/services of their employer. An even better ambassador is one that understands the business conditions, including the business units that are unrelated to their own. In today's unpredictable and information-overload economy, is this even possible?

The Communication team at Newell Rubbermaid has set out to create a team of informed and engaged employees - a large task when half of their employees are outside the U.S. and speak more than a dozen different languages. Their approach involved a serious commitment from senior leadership to educate employees about the business and the current business landscape, as well as an employee branding effort that captures the contribution of their diverse workforce. Discover how this complex organization is moving towards a powerful team of global representatives.

Kerry Parker Manager, Corporate Communications, Newell Rubbermaid

Front-line managers have the opportunity to be employees' primary communicators and preferred change facilitators. But they often need to be coached for this role and trained to be more effective. This session will look at Celanese's influential approach to help managers in the field become effective communicators. As a result of this approach, managers in plants and the global supply chain are now prepared with communication plans, resources, calendars and a clear sense of accountability. This approach improved managers' skills, but it also allowed the communication team to get more involved at a functional level and demonstrate their direct connection to the business.

Dave Jackson Manager, Global Internal Communication, Celanese Corporation

Gretchen Rosswurm Director, Global Communication, Celanese Corporation

Companies can no longer rely on vertical communication cascades to effectively influence employees' attitudes and behaviors. Employees can be suspicious or immune to these types of communication. But peer-to-peer communication is quickly becoming a powerful alternative.

This session will explore ING Insurance America's innovative approach to supplementing their corporate messages with a grassroots approach. Discover how ING's strategy for a weekly blog, written by a non-communication employee, has become a trusted method for getting information to employees and creating authentic dialogue. Learn how a peer spokesperson can influence your employee audience and create community.

Adena Puchalski Director, Internal Communication, ING Insurance America

Blue Care Network bases much of their highly engaged workplace culture on consistent two-way communication with employees. Named by Gallup for the past two years as one of the Great Workplace Award winners, Blue Care Network (BCN) understands that employee engagement is a force that drives real business outcomes.

This session will explore how BCN builds their employees' business knowledge and continually provides opportunities for employees to contribute to the organization's future. Learn how BCN boosted their engagement even further by fostering more employee accountability and empowerment.

Joan Morehead Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Administration, Blue Care Network

How does UPS get their employees to do the communicating and branding on their behalf? UPS has built a company culture and set of leadership and organizational practices that focuses on engagement, and as a result, has achieved outstanding engagement levels among employees. With 425,000 "UPSers" around the globe - many who are on the road delivering packages for most of their day - this is not a simple task. But it is grounded in the company's legacy that is shared with every employee.

This session will explore the communication and branding efforts that contribute to sustaining high engagement levels. Examine the important steps you can take in order to establish this type of culture in your organization.

Tom Pizzuti Employee and Brand Communications, UPS