2011 Conference Agenda

In 1999, at the age of 24, Tony Hsieh (pronounced Shay) sold LinkExchange, the company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million. He then joined Zappos as an advisor and investor, and eventually became CEO, where he helped Zappos grow from almost no sales to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually, while simultaneously making FORTUNE Magazine's annual 100 Best Companies to Work For list. In November 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon.com in a deal valued at $1.2 billion on the day of closing. His first book, "Delivering Happiness", was published on June 7. For more information, please visit www.deliveringhappinessbook.com.

In this interactive learning session, you will:

• Receive coaching from Great Place to Work® Institute experts on how to identify and leverage your organization's unique employer brand
• Learn how FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies have crafted and utilized their powerful brands
• Work with your conference colleagues to explore and articulate your employer brand

Facilitators:

Leaders of great workplace efforts often utilize multiple sources of data to gain a clear picture of the organization and direct their actions, including business metrics, department/team performance metrics, individual performance metrics, workplace culture surveys, and more. In the face of comprehensive information gathering practices, it can be challenging to bring findings together in an integrated and consistent way to understand the culture of your organization and drive positive change.

This session will support you in linking feedback from multiple sources to understand how to most effectively improve your culture and raise levels of trust.  Key questions will be explored:

• Do you solicit feedback in a myriad of different ways, but find it challenging to understand how the different sources are related?   
• What are actions are you taking to understand the culture of your organization? 
• How do you manage data you receive, after you've built your action plan and have begun taking action? 

In this interactive learning session, you will:

• Hear what FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies are doing to listen to employees, understand their culture, and consistently improve their workplaces
• Understand how to identify key themes from varying data sources and how to link those themes
• Explore how to build and maintain action plans that support you in building a great workplace

Facilitators:

In this interactive learning session, you will:

• Explore and understand your role as a change champion
• Learn tips and tools for making trust a shared priority among managers and employees
• Learn how to nest your next steps within the ongoing life of the organization
• Network with others and plan to stay connected

Facilitators:

This session is designed for senior leaders who want to make a difference in their organizations by inspiring greater trust with their employees. As a participant in this workshop, you will have an opportunity to consider your personal leadership style and influences, and exchange ideas with other leaders interested in making their organizations great places to work. We will discuss leadership characteristics common among senior leaders at Best Companies, and address common challenges. Designed to be highly interactive, this session will allow you to consider how your unique leadership abilities position you to build a stronger workplace.

In this interactive learning session, you will:

• Consider your personal leadership style, and how you uniquely build trust with employees
• Connect with other senior leaders, and share best practices and challenges
• Learn commonalities among great workplace leaders, and consider your next steps to creating a  strong, trust-based culture in your organization

Facilitators: