8:00 a.m.
Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m.
Chairperson's Welcome and Opening Remarks

David Jackson, Worldwide Partner
MERCER

8:45 a.m.

Leading In The 21st Century: From Exhausted To Effective

In this informative and enlightening session, you will hear about an innovative, research-based approach designed to increase employee engagement by building and exercising 21st century leadership competencies. Managers continue to play an important and vital role on employee performance and retention. Now, see how a long list of possible managerial activities and competencies can reduce to "vital few accelerators" that have the most impact on improving both employee engagement and leadership effectiveness. This approach ensures that managers remember fundamental activities that create positive energy by recognizing and appreciating what is working (success), which produces greater engagement and momentum for change; ultimately achieving "breakthrough" increases in organizational results.

• The "vital few accelerators" that drive outcomes of employee engagement and leadership effectiveness
• How to apply the "vital few accelerators" on-the-job
• The value of using an appreciative inquiry based approach to leadership

Jim Trinka, Director, Air Traffic Organizational Training and Development
FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

9:35 a.m.

Speed Networking

You'll have a chance to meet and greet fellow attendees in this fun and fast-paced forum.

10:35 a.m.

A Spoonful Of Entertainment Helps The Engagement Go Down... How To Use Info-tainment To Engage Employees

A great communicator, Mary Poppins, once said, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." These days, many employees are sick of hearing about transformation, culture change and workforce development ?\ it sounds like medicine to them. However, if we want engaged employees, they need to know and understand the organization's vision, business objectives and the answer to key questions such as, "What's in it for me?" So how do you provide information that employees need, but may not necessarily want?

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has learned how to communicate important business messages along-side items of interest to employees using two new communication channels ?\ a weekly intranet poll and link, a system of screens placed throughout the workplace.

• Learn how GPO is using these new communication tools to engage traditionally hard-to-reach employees
• Hear about the surprising results that GPO has had so far
• Discuss the rationale for GPO?fs approach and how it can work for your organization

Jeffrey S. Brooke, ABC, Director of Employee Communications
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

Terri C. Ehrenfeld, Employee Communications Specialist
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

11:25 a.m.

How To Achieve Results And Maximize Impact Through Collaboration

Today's workplace is clamoring for a stronger sense of community both inside and outside the boundaries of our traditional organizational lines. Since there really is very little that can be accomplished on our own, initiating and maintaining effective teams and partnerships is a critical element to our success. This session focuses on the how-to's of starting up and sustaining relationships with those essential to bringing your vision and plans to life.

You will leave this thought-provoking session with insight and ideas for identifying which areas would most benefit from partnership; when to seek opportunities for partnering; how to select partners for the best results; and how to engage others to support your efforts.

• Using collaboration to engage employees, stakeholders and key decision makers to ensure ownership for your plans
• Enabling your most important strategies and plans through collaboration
• Making the most of "do more with less"
• Expediting progress by understanding the predictable phases of collaborative efforts and how to work through them
• Starting up and sustaining long-term, mutually beneficial relationships
• Achieving results and building relationships even when interests vary

This session, co-presented by the U.S. Department of the Interior University and StrategyWorks, Inc., will illustrate a real success story that required building cooperation across organizations, obtaining high level support for the effort, mastery of significant organizational transformation and getting significant buy-in and commitment. You will leave the session with practical ideas and tips for making collaboration, engagement and transformation work for your organization.

Lynn McPheeters, President
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNIVERSITY,
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Jo Ann Romero, Owner
STRATEGYWORKS, INC.

Join a group of your colleagues for lunch with an informal discussion facilitated by one of our expert speakers. Take this opportunity to join others in a small, interactive group setting to network and brainstorm solutions to your most pressing employee engagement and change management concerns.

1:45 p.m.

How To Focus Your Employee Communications Throughout Your Organization While Building Your Community And Brand

During this session, you will hear about the development and maturation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) employee communication program and its award-winning cornerstone product CDC Connects, the employee focused inTRAnet portal and online newspaper.

• Focus employee communication on what is important
• Make your intranet a popular must-read news channel
• Make fresh news and accessible enterprise tools work together
• Build community using fresh content, photos, video & more to promote your internal brand
• Introduce an internal blog and use it to encourage employees to deliver your brand promise
• Engage employees in a two-way conversation: the pitfalls & payoffs
• Work toward synergy with external communications (media and marketing) for a united brand message

Kay Golan, Director Employee Communication
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION

3:05 p.m.

How To Improve Your Employee Engagement Operations Within A Tight Budget And Successfully Measure The Results

A focus on management strategies that engage the public sector workforce is critical as departments and agencies strive to improve their operations within tight budgets. They face increasing numbers of retirement-eligible employees in a labor market where there is intense competition for top talent.

• What engages employees?
• What segments of the Federal work force are more engaged than others?
• How is employee engagement related to measurable outcomes including: Employees' intent to leave their organization, sick leave use; and, most importantly, an agency's programmatic results?
• How can managers increase the engagement level of their workforce?

Doug Nierle, Senior Research Analyst
U.S. MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD

3:55 p.m.

How To Use Internal Branding And Strategic Communications To Engage Employees And Improve Organizational Performance

The Science Directorate at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center embarked on a "branding" and communications endeavor to ensure that internal employees and external partners and stakeholders fully support and recognize the effectiveness of the Science Directorate in performing work in support of agency goals. At the same time, the executive management team began efforts to develop and institutionalize a strategic plan reflecting significant change in culture and performance for all organizations at the Center utilizing the Balanced Scorecard methodology.

In early 2008, the Science Directorate began developing an articulated vision and plan that aligns with agency missions and center strategic objectives. Because of the earlier internal branding efforts, the Science Directorate was able to develop and begin implementation of its strategic plan quickly and with less resistance than most organizations experienced.

This presentation will provide insight into the experience of combined team members in this effort which will support fostering the mission-focused culture required to sustain such a high level of performance in a competitive environment.

• The value of using the "storybranding" technique for internal branding
• How the internal branding results simplified the Strategic Planning
• The value of using the "Balanced Scorecard" methodology

Lelia Vann, Director, Science Directorate
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER

Debrah Whitaker, President
THE BALANCED SCORECARD FOR GOVERNMENT, INC.

4:45 p.m.

End of Day One

5:00 p.m.

Networking Reception: Please Join Us!

We invite you to join us for a drink as you relax with your peers. All conference attendees and speakers are welcome to join us for this special opportunity to continue networking. Don't miss this chance to benchmark new ideas over complimentary drinks!

Sign up during the day for dinner with a group. Take advantage of DC's fine dining while you continue to network with your colleagues.