cipr inside webinar 3 being a strategic business partner 29.11.13

CIPR INSIDE WEBINAR: Being a

Strategic Business

Partner

2013

James Harkness & Jane Mitchell

Positioning internal communications

What do your senior leaders

and executive team think of

internal communications?

How are you perceived?

• Clear purpose

• Right capability

• Strong credibility

Do you have a clear purpose?

“Are you here to actively participate

in and influence critical business

decisions?”

or

“Are you here to execute

communications around decisions that have

been made?

Positioning internal communications

A changing purpose…

Communications “Creator and Influencer” Communication “Enabler”

Doing Enabling

Communications environment:

Largely hierarchical; one-way push; rely

on mass channels and manager cascades

Communications environment:

On employees’ terms; two-way;

participatory; rely on interactive channels

(face-to-face and web 2.0)

Primary objective:

Employees understand and believe in

company and good values

Primary objective:

Employees are mobilised around

company goals

Method:

Inform and inspire

Method:

Provoke and facilitate

Typical success measures:

Message reach; employee attitudes

Typical success measures:

Employee mobilisation; business

outcomes

Communication skill set:

Writing; channel management;

persuasion; shaping strategic agenda

Communication skill set:

Coaching; facilitating; behavioural

phycology; identifying business need for

communication

Source: Communications Executive Council Research

Do you have the right capability?

Internal communications competencies

Beyond traditional skills

• Business acumen

• Bias for action

• Interpersonal awareness

• Dealing with ambiguity

Do you have real credibility?

Use measurement data to make the case

The business

goals and

challenges

Employees

mood and

behaviours

The external

environment

What we

need

people

to do

differently

What’s

influencing

our business

strategy?

What’s

influencing

our

people?

Keeping informed:

• Press

• Competitor websites/

publications

• Campaign groups

• Industry journals

• Networking with industry

peers

• Conferences/seminars

Keeping informed:

• People survey

• Focus groups

• Employee sounding

boards

• Strong internal network

• Company canteen!

• Union contacts

Keeping informed:

• Intranet

• Website

• Annual report

• AGM

• Analysts views

• Executive presentations

• Business strategy

• Conversations with

senior leaders

• Channels from other

areas of the organisation

Fresh knowledge and insight

Top business leader concerns 2013

• Customer relationships

• Operational excellence

• Human capital

• Government regulation

• Corporate brand and reputation

Standing in the shoes of your leader

Chartered Management Institute 2013

Winning the ear of your CEO

• Share a published article that supports your

recommended approach

• Ask questions that lead your ‘client’ to come

to the ‘right’ conclusion on their own

• Provide anecdotes or examples of where

a different approach has delivered results

• Share best practice – use outside world examples

• Find data – research, case studies, benchmarks

to provide evidence for your suggestion

• Be ready to stand by your advice

Making your mark when it matters most

• Business transformation

• Redundancies

• Operational crisis

• System failures

• Executive departures

Great questions…

A great question should:

• Demonstrate your own knowledge of an issue

• Be one that others have not thought of asking

• Be challenging to answer

• Lead naturally to more questions

• Open up new avenues of thought not explored before

• Give you real insight – to the thoughts, and

view point of the leader

• Spark creativity and innovation

• Not expect a straight forward answer

In summary

• Purpose – Define your role and communicate

• Capability – Build your influencing skills and confidence

• Credibility – Learn about your business and give business (not communications)

advice

James Harkness & Jane Mitchell

James. Harknessl@harknesskennett.com

Jane.mitchell@harknesskennett.com

+44 (0)1483 222730

www.harknesskennett.com

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