The Dark Side of Data: Avoiding Costly Pitfalls with Jenni McNeil

Engagement surveys and team data are tools for understanding and supporting teams, not targets to achieve or sticks to beat people with.

Simply gathering data for the sake of a good score is counterproductive and potentially disengaging. This information should be used to genuinely understand team dynamics, spot trends, and identify areas where support is needed to build authentic engagement and commitment to the organisation.

Jenni McNeil is the head of Information Security at Contact Energy in New Zealand. She leads a geographically diverse team focused on protecting the cyber resilience of the organisation. Jenni started in sales and became a manager at 25, switching to technology as an IT support technician before pivoting to cybersecurity.

Her current team includes a mix of experience levels, from recent graduates to industry veterans with 25 years of experience, spread across different locations.

Three reasons to listen

• Learn how to effectively monitor team dynamics in a remote work environment through digital listening and virtual water-cooler spaces
• Understand the true value of engagement surveys as tools for understanding workforce trends and identifying areas for support, not just scoring metrics
• Discover strategies for managing geographically dispersed teams while maintaining connection without micromanaging

Episode highlights

• [00:08:53] Leading a geographically-spread team
• [00:11:21] Pros and cons of engagement surveys
• [00:18:24] Ethics of AI in employee engagement
• [00:24:17] What to read when gathering data
• [00:26:30] Holding the data lightly
• [00:29:17] Jenni's media recommendations
• [00:30:32] Takeaways from Pia and Dan

Links

• Connect with Jenni via LinkedIn
• A Court of Thorns and Roses, by Sarah J Maas
• In Pursuit of the Secure Board (Spotify-only show)
• Track and improve your team performance with Squadify
• Leave us a voice note