Empowering Employee Perspectives through a Shadow Board
05.31.23
Team IVC
Empowering Employee Perspectives through a Shadow Board
An organization’s ability to embrace a range of perspectives, insights, and ideas from its key stakeholders is as critical as ever. Gen-Z and millennials comprise approximately 38% of the global workforce today and are expected to grow to about 58% by 2030. Therefore, it is important that companies provide opportunities for these generations to participate. To help move this goal forward, InVision rolled out its first shadow board – a group of millennial and Gen Z employees, formed to help make better, more informed decisions while representing the views and interests of the wider employee cohort. Like many companies, InVision’s leadership team is largely in the 40+ age group, yet our general population is made up of many younger employees. The shadow board helps balance that representation and bridges that gap.
Across industries, many organizations have notably benefitted from a shadow board program. Some benefits include:
Nuanced perspective: Coming from different departments and backgrounds allows for a range of views, insights, and ideas to be shared.
Improved communication: To feel represented, employees must have a clear understanding of who is doing the representing. Offering team updates, general announcements, regular office hours, and open forums can foster open communication with employees and give multiple touchpoints for them to voice any ideas or concerns. Improved communication creates a more open and collaborative workplace culture, leading to increased employee engagement and loyalty.
Increased engagement: When employees feel that they are being heard, they are more likely to be engaged and committed. By involving employees in decision-making and giving them a sense of ownership over the company's direction, a shadow board can help increase employee engagement and keep a pulse on employee sentiment.
Better decision-making: If you’re not embracing the voices of your millennial and Gen Z professionals, you’re leaving valuable insight on the table. By tapping into the collective knowledge and expertise of a diverse group of employees, the shadow board can help to generate new ideas and perspectives that can lead to better decision-making. Organizations are constantly looking to stay agile and adapt to changing market conditions, so championing fresh insight can help identify and capitalize on new opportunities.
Opportunity for growth: The shadow board members gain access to an understanding of how decisions are made in their company. Their experiences also help them to grow their leadership skills while practicing collaboration and consensus-building.
InVision’s first year
After completing an application process last June, five InVision employees were selected as the first members to fill the board for a year term. They set off to work, regularly meeting as a group, as well as with the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) to brainstorm solutions for some of InVision's internal business initiatives. One successful example was their guidance in InVision’s Flex Work campaign, which became instrumental towards maintaining and growing our company culture in an ever-so-remote climate. No mandates or requirements were made; the shadow board focused on recommendations to empower our teams in their own decision-making.
This partnership takes practice and time, but ultimately leads to a strong team dynamic. One member surmised their experience:
“I’d like to think that my overall experience so far leads with the saying, ‘It takes two to tango.’ When I started out on the board, I did my fair share of research, and I found out how vital it is to have the Executive Leadership Team in lockstep with the Shadow Board. Just like learning any new tango, practice is needed to get comfortable in the new partnership. However, so far, I’m happy to say we have a strong team of tango enthusiasts.”
As a relatively new initiative, the program’s impact within InVision is still taking shape. All members agree that the shadow board is promising and provides a vast opportunity for growth. Its board of members remains committed to authentically representing the views and interests of the greater employee population while providing solutions, fresh insight, and feedback to senior management for discussion.
As the first group’s tenure nears completion, they recognize that they have a responsibility to help prepare the next group of leaders. Whether it’s implementing a transitory period for onboarding, creating a GTM (Go to Market) template with best practices, or candidly sharing their key takeaways, the current members continue to build out ways to help prepare the next generation for the greater program and companywide success. As the shadow board footprint continues to evolve, our learnings and best practices will be shared. Stay tuned!
We believe employee engagement is crucial to an organization’s success. We also help business leaders create meaningful change by aligning employees with organizational purpose. From message development to communications planning, to employer branding and DEI strategy, we offer full-service engagement solutions to align every part of your organization. Contact your Account Director or info@iv.com to learn more.