The Coffman Organization

The Coffman Organization, Inc. continues to break all the rules and earns another consecutive year on our top 10 employee engagement firms of 2019 list for their innovative and high impact solutions. Their NEXUS Experience is more than a survey, it’s a way to bring every respondent into solution mode by delivering a personal insight report to each individual upon survey completion and that distinguishes their approach from the competition. “People are your culture,” say co-founders, Curt Coffman and Dr. Kathleen Sorensen, “and traditional approaches (survey and wait) cast employees in a passive or victim role rather than emphasizing their legitimate role in building high performance culture. Each individual is the expert in what brings out the best of their talent and performance - and similarly in what drains their energy and passion. Leaders cannot create culture for people, but they must create it with them!”

Curt Coffman is a New York Times bestselling author, researcher and consultant. Having spent 30+ years reinvigorating the employee engagement space, he is adept at creating engaging work environments. “His books have revolutionized the way we think about engagement and brought forth a new dimension for defining great managers in every industry,” says Managing Partner, Dr. Sorensen.

Both Coffman and Sorensen spent more than two decades with The Gallup Organization, Coffman studying the work culture of hundreds of organizations, thousands of employees and customers and Sorensen leading the strengths selection and development practice. That foundation was the starting point to their own research, development and practice, featured in their book, Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch.

“As an organization, we are laser-focused on helping organizations build their cultures to world class levels, to better deliver on their brand promise to customers,” states Dr. Sorensen.

“We are constantly exploring new approaches to stay relevant with the changing business climate – such as the generational workforce and specifically millennials”, says Kathie. “Our ongoing R&D has given rise to a host of complementary services including culture assessments and exit surveys.” Curt adds, “Through new analytical techniques, we are now able to assist our clients in understanding the root causes of turnover among the most critical segment of their workforce – high performers. Unemployment is so low that we are now in a war for talent. Our analysis yields the key metrics that predict turnover and provides interventions for leaders and managers in a pre-emptive mode with high performers, before they seek other opportunities.” “Engagement connects the employee to the manager and the organization at emotional levels so strong that they can’t imagine another place to work.”

Dr. Sorensen has an eye on 2019 and beyond stating, “Transformational change within organizations dictate the need for transformational services. Our Manager Experience is a fully inter-active dashboard allowing managers to receive survey results in real time, request surveys ‘on-demand’ and access a range of tools for manager development and impact.”

The Coffman Organization works with clients globally across a broad spectrum of industries like financial services, hospitality, manufacturing and professional services. In addition, unique work environments such as veterinary hospitals are benefiting from their innovative approach to building great workplace culture.

Awarded their GSA certification in 2018, the organization serves federal, state and local governments as well. “Every workplace faces challenges engaging their employees and building productive cultures. Through our experience, we know our approach benefits employees in every industry.”

“Employees leave managers rather than companies. The foundation of employee engagement starts with having great managers. A great work culture carries over to impact families and communities says Curt. This is what drives me to work every day.”