Fuelling Advocacy: Employee Activation During Organisational Change.
In times of change, employees don’t just need reassurance – they need empowerment. This session introduces Employee Activation, a concept championed by Josh Bersin, which goes beyond traditional engagement by giving employees the tools, voice, and autonomy to actively participate in an organization’s success.
According to the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, 80% of employees would choose a job based on the opportunity to achieve personal empowerment. This makes trust, transparency, and growth opportunities critical factors in talent management.
HR Leaders Will Gain:
- Strategies to turn employees into active advocates for company culture and transformation
- Communication techniques that build trust and confidence
- Practical applications of Employee Activation principles
- Change management frameworks with advocacy integration
Key Concepts:
From Engagement to Activation
- Engagement = Employees are satisfied and committed
- Activation = Employees take action – speaking up, sharing insights, and driving change
- Moving beyond listening to empowering employees as catalysts for change
- The Active Employee Communication Roles Framework
Trust-Building Communication
- Why trust is now the #1 factor in employee retention
- The “Clarity Over Comfort” principle during change
- Two-way communication strategies that foster transparency
Social Media Advocacy for Accelerating Internal Change & Innovation
- A framework for creating advocacy programs aligned with business goals
- Measuring the impact of employee advocacy initiatives
The key takeaway: HR’s role isn’t just to engage—it’s to activate. By giving employees the trust, tools, and autonomy to champion change, organizations create a culture where advocacy and resilience thrive.
BIO
Cosmina Coman has more than 30 years of professional experience out of which 10 years in the banking system where she has led, as Executive Director of the Knowledge Management Division, BCR, a member of Erste Bank Group, all the processes and activities of Training and Development for all BCR employees. She also initiated and led a project to transform learning processes from BCR and was heavily involved in coordinating each of the 42 transformational projects of all processes in BCR, with the integration into the Erste Bank Group. She was also a member of the HR Task Force of BCR, whose objectives were to solve all problems arising from the transformation and integration of BCR staff (10,000 employees) into the Erste Bank Group.
She coordinated the implementation of the first e-learning platform in the Romanian banking system and launched and led for three years the first corporate university in Romania – BCR University.
She initiated, established the curriculum, planned and led the first leadership program in BCR, called the Executive Development Program, and developed in collaboration with HEC Montréal Canada, through which 120 executives from BCR were trained in an MBA format. She recruited, implemented and led the largest network of internal trainers in the Romanian banking system (45 retail trainers throughout Romania).
Cosmina Coman has an Executive MBA and has obtained many international certifications in the field of human resources, of which the most important is the Advanced Certificate in Strategic Learning & Development Management obtained as a result of the graduation of the program at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) in London. Cosmina Coman leads Learning Pro, the consulting company for increasing human capital capabilities. The developed projects are focused on changing performance indicators that produce sustainable change in organizations in both private and public domains. Developed and delivered with impact training and consulting for the development of various employee skills in companies from various industries.
Cosmina Coman is invited as a speaker at various internal or external corporate events like the 3 HRD Squares organized by the HRC Community from Rome, Italy, as well at interviews of the various economic media agencies’ broadcasts.
