strategic communication management
TRANSCRIPT
Leadership communication – theAstraZeneca way
The communication climate change at RCMP
Inspiring colleagues to makeSainsbury’s great again
Lights, camera, action: A fresh start at ITV
New Year’s resolutions for theprogressive communicator
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT
BEST PRACTICES, CASE STUDIES AND STRATEGY FOR COMMUNICATORS
Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
The nextmove: fromtactician tocoach
The nextmove: fromtactician tocoach
Leadership communication – theAstraZeneca way
The communication climate changeat RCMP
Inspiring colleagues to makeSainsbury’s great again
Lights, camera, action: A fresh startat ITV
New Year’s resolutions for theprogressive communicator
Stuart Z. GoldsteinManaging DirectorCorporate CommunicationsThe Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation,USA
Ruth Webber KelleyHead of Group Internal CommunicationsINGThe Netherlands
Fraser LikelyPresident and Managing PartnerLikely Communication Strategies Ltd.Canada
David MoorcroftSenior Vice PresidentCorporate CommunicationsRBC Financial Group, Canada
Bill QuirkeManaging DirectorSynopsis Communication ConsultingUK
Chris GayPartnerBridge ConsultingUSA
Per ZetterquistConsultantOccurro Strategy & CommunicationSweden
EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor: Kelly [email protected] Editor: Sona [email protected] of Content: Mandy [email protected] Manager: Jasmine [email protected] Manager: Emma [email protected] Direction: Wesley Corbett
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No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted in any form or by any means,including photocopy and recording, without theprior written permission of the publishers. Suchwritten permission must also be obtained beforeany part of this publication is stored in a retrievalsystem of any nature. Articles published inStrategic Communication Management are theopinions of the authors. The views expressed donot necessarily reflect the views and opinions ofthe publishers.
scm is published six times a year. ISSN 1363-9064
scm is printed on paper that’s obtained fromcarefully managed, sustainable forest reserves.
Printed in the UK byThe Magazine Printing Companywww.magprint.co.uk
Published by Melcrum Publishing Limited© Melcrum Publishing Limited 2008
Editorial board members are respected communication practitioners and thought leaders,and are an integral part of the editorial direction of scm.
About the publisherMelcrum is a research and information company with offices in London and Chicago. Through ourpublications, research, training materials and seminars, we gather best practices from businesses aroundthe world to help practitioners make better business decisions. Melcrum has clients in over 80 countriesand has an international reputation, not only for editorial and research products of the highest standards,but also for tracking important trends in organizational communication, corporate communication,knowledge management and human resource management.
How to contact our editorsIf you have comments, criticisms, suggestions for articles, or articles to submit, our editorswould like to hear from you. We will be glad to send you our guidelines for authors whichgive further information on the editorial mission of scm. If you have an article proposal,send a 200-word synopsis to:Kelly [email protected]
Elizabeth ArmstrongHead of Marketing and CommunicationsStandard Chartered BankSingapore
Ayelet L. BaronDirector, Emerging Markets Cisco SystemsUSA
Rob HallamVice President, Internal CommunicationPitney Bowes Inc.USA
John G. ClemonsVice President, CommunicationsRaytheon Technical Services Co.USA
Roger D'AprixAuthorCommunicating for ChangeUSA
Linda DulyePresidentL.M. Dulye & Co.USA
Charlie NordblomVice President, Strategic InternalCommunications Volvo GroupSweden
scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
In Touch2 Useful resources for internal
communicators
The Communicators’Network4 The latest hot debates and
shared advice
People6 PROFILE: Kathryn Pallant7 THOUGHT LEADER: Jeremy Starling
Technology8 Coaching your intranet
contributors9 Technology update
Research &Measurement10 Measuring to achieve a common
aim11 Breaking down departmental
barriers
LeadershipCommunication12 Inviting TNT’s employees into the
CEO’s virtual office13 Coaching your leaders to
communicate with impact
ProfessionalDevelopment14 Self analysis: what signals do you
send to leaders?15 Take to the water for career
success
Calendar36 Upcoming events
Directory ofServices38 A list of useful service providers
16 Leadership communication – theAstraZeneca way By Dominic Walters and David Norton
20 The communication climate change at RCMPBy Dr. Eli Sopow
24 Inspiring colleagues to make Sainsbury’sgreat againBy Jacki Connor
28 Lights, camera, action: A fresh start at ITVBy Penny Lawson
32 New Year’s resolutions for the progressivecommunicatorBy Martha Finney
FROM THE EDITOR
If you have any comments about any of the articles published in this issue,or if you have an idea for a future article, please contact:[email protected]
Dear Reader,I’m delighted to be writing to you as the neweditor of SCM and I look forward tocontinuing to bring you features, case studies,news and reviews of the highest quality.
Please do get in touch if you have interesting feedback or viewson the articles that we publish. Equally, I’d love to hear fromthose of you who may have put into practice the techniques ortips as reported in our features. I also hope to meet many ofyou in due course at future events, which present a perfectopportunity to discuss your current projects and issues in orderto keep track of the challenges that you’re facing.
In this issue, we examine how the internal communicatorcan find themselves in the position of communication coachto their senior leader. This can be extremely beneficial forboth parties as Synopsis’ Dominic Walters and DavidNorton reveal from their experience with globalpharmaceutical leader AstraZeneca (page 16).
Also in this issue Penny Lawson from the UK’s largest commercial televisionnetwork, ITV, shares with us the strategy employed by theinternal communication department to engage and involveemployees during an extremely public change of CEO (page 28).
And as it’s that time of year again when we all look to make,and stick to, resolutions, Martha Finney interviews a number ofleading figures in the communication world and presents theirsuggestions for how you can make 2008 the best year yet forinternal communication (page 32).
Seasons greetingsI’d like to wish all our readers a very happy and peacefulholiday season and a prosperous New Year.
Kelly DyerEditorE-mail: [email protected]
P.S.In volume 11, issue 6 of SCM, the author of Seeking Solutionsat Volvo’s Benchmarking Event, Sue Dewhurst of CompetentCommunicators, was inadvertently omitted. We apologize toSue for the misunderstanding.
From tactician to coach – theevolving role of thecommunicator
FEATURES
SECTIONS
Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
contents
2 scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
EMPLOYER BRANDING A VITALTOOL FOR SUCCESS
A new guide from the Chartered Instituteof Personnel and Development (CIPD)aims to help organizations explore andfully develop their employer brand formaximum impact. The practical guideEmployer branding: a no-nonsenseapproach includes case studies fromlarge organizations such as Lakeland,Orange and ScottishPower on the topic of why and how they developed theircorporate brand.
In today’s marketplace wherecompanies compete for the cream of thetalent, it’s vital for a company to have astrong brand with which to attract,engage and ultimately retain the highestcalibre of employee. This is backed up byrecent research carried out by the CIPDthat shows approximately 75 percent ofcompanies that use employer brandingas a tool for recruitment find it effective.
Understanding your workforceThis isn’t just a concept for recruitmenthowever. Rebecca Clake, CIPDorganization and resourcing advisor, saysit will aid employers in understandingwhat makes their workforce tick. “It’s anopportunity to gather intelligence to helpemployers better understand what makespeople stay with their organization andbe prepared to go that extra mile.”Teamwork, says Clake, is imperative inmaking the brand a success: “Workingtogether with other departments such asmarketing, internal communications andPR is important if branding initiatives areto be successfully implemented.” KD
For more information go to:www.cipd.co.uk/surveys
CORPORATIONS SHOULD TACKLEWORLD’S WOES
Corporations and CEOs should take moreresponsibility for helping to solve majorsocial problems, such as poverty and theenvironment, according to aninternational study of the roles ofcorporations and CEOs, conducted byglobal PR agency, Ketchum.
The researchers polled 2,750 “influentialcitizens” (defined as the 10 to 15 percentof the population who initiate changes intheir community or society) across 11countries. Most of those surveyed saidcorporations are falling short asenvironmental stewards and aren’tmeasuring up in honesty or ethics.
The survey also revealed that whilehonesty, ethics and fairness are seen as themost important personal characteristics fora CEO, they’re the ones that seem to beleast often fulfilled.
Influentials in Canada, the UK,Germany and the US gave the lowestmarks to CEOs for being/seeming ethical.
Environmental stewardshipRespondents in most European nationssay that corporations should focus moreattention on environmental protection,while those in the US and the developingnations – India, China and Argentina –attach near equal significance toenvironmental issues and profits.
On a worldwide basis, environmentalstewardship is the area where the gapbetween expectations and performance isthe greatest, followed closely by honestyand ethics. AW
For more information go to:www.ketchum.com
A ROUND-UP OF USEFUL RESOURCES FOR INTERNAL COMMUNICATORS
intouchTRUE PARTNERSHIP ENDURES
Recent research from US-based attitudespecialist, Sirota Survey Intelligenceshows that organizations with a truepartnership culture between employerand employee are more likely to emergefrom crisis situations in better shape thanthose without.
During periods of economic downturnwhen members of staff need to be maderedundant, for example, employers whoactively seek to connect with theirconstituencies, in other words theiremployees, business communities andsuppliers, will stand themselves in goodstead once the situation resolves itself.This is as a result of a partnership beingforged based on mutual trust and benefit,qualities that should enable theorganization to have a long life.
Sincerity equals satisfactionThe research also demonstrated that thedegree to which workers perceive thattheir organization has a sincere interestin the communities in which it’soperating affects their overall satisfactionrates. For example, 82 percent ofemployees who feel that their employershave a genuine interest in theircommunities are satisfied overall withtheir employer. But this figure drops toan overall satisfaction rate of 49 percentwhen they don’t believe their employer isa good “corporate citizen”.
Douglas Klein, president of Sirota SurveyIntelligence, says, “An employer that treatsits employees as true partners makes everyeffort to avoid layoffs. When it becomesnecessary to reduce costs, many steps canprobably be taken as an alternative toinvoluntary layoffs.” Klein continues to say,“Employees themselves can be a source ofmany useful suggestions about how to besthandle the situation, and they are one ofthe best monitors of the effectiveness ofsteps taken.” KD
For more information go to:www.sirota.com
EVENTS & RESEARCH
“TEAMWORK ISIMPERATIVE IN MAKINGTHE BRAND A SUCCESS.”
3scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
BLOG: ALL THINGS WORKPLACE
3 http://www.allthingsworkplace.com
All things workplaceis authored bySteve Roesler whopresents ideas andresearch on avariety of
organizational issues. The blog is hometo over a hundred posts under severalcategories relevant to internalcommunicators such as leadership,organizational effectiveness,communication and creating change andsmooth transitions, with an archivedating back to August 2006.
Most recently, Roesler has beenposting a series of self-written articles onchange. In the latest post, “Change andhurry sickness at work” Roesler says,“When we make organizational changes,
everyone’s ‘inner drummer’ startspounding out a different beat until thegroove comes back. Does yourorganization allow time to regroup,rehearse and learn the new arrangement?If not, the very people wanting to initiatechange may very well get in the way ofsuccess.”
Roesler incorporated organizationeffectiveness firm Roesler Group, basedin the US, in 1977. SH
DEATH TO INTERNAL MARKETING
3 http://kevinkeohane.wordpress.com/
Kevin Keohane isclient partner andhead of brand andemployeeengagement atEuropean
communication agency SAS. His blog
Every year there are new books out andit can be difficult to know what’s worthbuying. Here are some to consider:
EVALUATING PUBLIC RELATIONS:A BEST PRACTICE GUIDE TOPUBLIC RELATIONS PLANNING,RESEARCH AND EVALUATION
3 by Tom Watson and Paul Noble,Kogan Page, 2007
The authors of this new version havetaken note of my criticisms of the firstedition (SCM Volume 10, Issue 6October/November 2006), so the secondedition promises to be an excellent onefor PR practitioners.
THE CEO: CHIEF ENGAGEMENTOFFICER
3 by John Smythe, Gower,2007Speaking of change, afteryears of waiting, 2007 sawthe publication of JohnSmythe’s The CEO: ChiefEngagement Officer:
Turning Hierarchy Upside Down to DrivePerformance (Gower). In my review(SCM, Volume 11, Issue 4 June/July) I
BOOKS EVENTS RESEARCH REPORTS BLOGS SURVEYS URLS
said “this is the most significant book forinternal communicators in 25 years” andso far no-one has disagreed with me.
MANAGING UNDERSTANDING INORGANIZATIONS
3 by Jorgen Sandberg and AxelTargama, Sage, 2007This book was the surpriseof the year (SCM Volume11, Issue 5,August/September). Awonderful description ofhow to move to a more
humanistic, knowledge-based, dialogue-driven approach to make internalcommunication effective. It’s toughreading, but one for serious internalcommunicators who’ve mastered Smytheand want more.
THE SECRET LANGUAGE OFLEADERSHIP
3 Steve Denning, Jossey Bass, 2007I first heard global storytelling guru,Aussie Steve Denning, at the IABCConference in Vancouver in 2006. Anamazing speaker with wonderful content.Anything by him would have to be worth
BLOGS & URLS
BOOKS
paying attention to. His new book TheSecret Language of Leadership (JosseyBass, October 2007) promises to begood. Denning has been published in theHarvard Business Review and is probablythe best in the world at explaining how tocommunicate with various types of storiesdepending on the situation. Never beforehave I read such an array of glowingtestimonials from truly famous people.Definitely one for those interested intransformational change.
Compiled by Rodney GrayEmployee Communication & [email protected]
looks at employer branding, engagementand stakeholder communication but alsodiscusses social media, categorized byKeohane as “digital engagement”.
In his most recent blog, Keohanewrites about the relationship betweenHR, marketing and internalcommunication. He says, “When internalcommunication, marketing and HR don’tplay well together, the business sufferscommercially and its employees sufferthe results. Employees suffer at theexperiential end at the outset, sincefunctional turf wars reduce organisationaleffectiveness and generally damage theculture.” Keohane blames the failure ofthese three functions working together onone thing – politics.
In his About Me section, Keohane says“What gets measured might getmanaged, but that model isn’t going toinspire a changing workforce in thecoming decade.” SH
“DENNING IS PROBABLYTHE BEST IN THE WORLDAT EXPLAINING HOW TOCOMMUNICATE WITHVARIOUS TYPES OFSTORIES”
Ken MilloyStrategic Connections IncMany people believe thatmarketing is just aboutadvertising or sales.
However, marketing is everything acompany does to acquire customers andmaintain a relationship with them. Eventhe small tasks like writing thank-youletters, playing golf with a prospectiveclient, returning calls promptly andmeeting with a past client for coffee canbe thought of as marketing. The ultimategoal of marketing is to match acompany’s products and services to thepeople who need and want them, therebyensuring profitability.
Many people believe that internalcommunication is just about sharinginformation with staff and keeping theminformed. Based on what we have seen ina number of organizations, many alsobelieve that internal communication isabout fancy newsletters that let us knowwho has been around for how many yearsand who plays what sport. An equalnumber believe internal communicationis about disseminating information.
However, internal communication isabout much more – it’s about everythinga company does to build awareness,understanding, commitment andalignment to the overall goals andobjectives of the company; it’s abouteverything a company does to build staffawareness and understanding whichleads to an ability to live the behaviorsassociated with the service strategy andvalues of the firm.
The ultimate goal is to align and
engage people – from the very top of theorganization to the very bottom – to thestrategy and to ensure that the strategyreflects or at least considers theknowledge held by staff from the verybottom up to the very top – and tofacilitate change on a daily basis – so asto ensure profitability that is sustainable.
Emma LohmeierPeople PassionOften, getting eachdepartment to answerthese questions will give
you the opportunity to see where keysynergies lie.• Audiences: Who is the department’s
key audience? Marketing: Theexternal, paying customer. Internal communication: Theinternal, paid employee.
• Insights: Who is the departmentlooking to understand? Marketing:Customer segmentation. Internal communication: Employeesurveys into work life quality.
• Departmental strategy: Where/whatdoes the strategy of the departmentfocus on? Marketing: To improvecustomer spend by £x. Internal communication: To improveemployee retention, morale,performance.
• Measures: What are the keyperformance indicators for thedepartment? Marketing: Gainingmarket share.Internal communication: Becomingthe employer of choice.
4 scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
Q How can the internalcommunication function helpmanagers take ownership forchange, new initiatives andnew processes?
Aileen RitchiePfizer inc.What’s worked well in myown organization ismaking sure that managers
(and indeed colleagues) are “involved” inthe change and decision making process;which in turn leads to “ownership”.
For example we hold a leadershipforum every six weeks. The leadershipteam and project team leaders (orindeed team members) present to thegroup on change topics. The team arethen encouraged to “so what” theinformation i.e. ask themselves, whatdoes that mean for me, my team and theorganization? We also share some toughmessages with this group i.e. step up andhelp embed the change or new culture.
The group were very quiet at first butthe level of challenge, questions anddebate has increased over the months.Our leadership team helped byfacilitating the sessions and investing thetime face to face.
In addition, we also have acomprehensive transformational changeprogram currently in place. As such wehave five “workstream leaders” (all arekey managers in the business), eachrunning several improvement projects.(Each workstream leader has a memberof the leadership team assigned to themas sponsor – they also act as a coach.)
Each project has a manager who hasthe role of project leader and each teamis made up of a cross-functional/diagonal-cut group of people (i.e.operators, administrators, team leadersand senior managers).
The purpose of this is to encouragemany positive aspects of large changeprograms, for example:• Ownership• Involvement• Engagement• Building capability• Culture shift• Encouraging challenge• Continuous improvement
The most difficult aspect of thisapproach is trying to ensure that those
the communicators’
NETWORK
A ROUND-UP OF THE LATEST HOT DEBATES AND SHARED ADVICE
A recent question on the Comms Network about the difference betweenmarketing and internal communication implies that ambiguity continues tosurround the latter function in some organizations. In response, one networkersuggests an easy method to spot where the key synergies lie. Also, read aboutinnovative ways to reinforce your company’s business strategy and how toencourage managers to take ownership of new initiatives.
Q Does anyone have a definitive statement or view of the difference betweenmarketing and internal communication?
QA
5scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
who are not directly involved still achievea level of engagement.
Q What innovative things haveyou done, or plan to do, toreinforce your company’sbusiness strategy during the year?
Aygun SuleymanovaAzercell Telecom JVWe’re having videointerviews with key peoplein the company on our key
priorities and placing them on ourintranet and hanging information boardsdirecting people to watch theseinterviews.
We’re also planning to prepare asimple template of our 2008 strategypresentation and handing it to topmanagement for top-downcommunication and then auditingwhether the presentation was deliveredand whether employees have a clearunderstanding of the strategy.
But the most important thing isincluding “strategy implementationstatus” into the agenda of all inter-departmental coordination meetings(which are held weekly), whereimplemented or on-going projects orprocesses’ status – either within thedepartment or company-wide – can beshared and presented, aligned to aspecific strategic priority.
Kate RedfernCoca-Cola Amatil (Aust)Pty LtdWe’re new in the internalcomms space and using
comms in a strategic way to “reinforcebusiness strategy” is a brand new way ofthinking for us. But this is exactly thetype of thing I’m focused on doing. Someideas I’ve had around this are: • Structuring our monthly MD
e-newsletter around our strategicdrivers i.e. all stories/all activitydiscussed in this must clearly link toa strategic driver.
• Having focus months – each monthon a different strategy, for example:Branding. We could promote/reward/recognizeinitiatives/individuals/business unitswho are doing a great job at driving
one of these.• Use a footer (based on that month’s
strategic focus) in all e-mailsignatures asking people to thinkabout how their day-to-day workcontributes to this and submitnominations for themselves/peers towin prizes.
• Podcast/webcast something from theMD/executive team talking aboutthis particular part of the strategy inthe focus month.
• Invite guest speakers/external expertsto give lunchtime lectures about thisparticular topic eg. if “Customer” isa strategy, there are plenty ofinteresting speakers that could give afresh perspective on this.
• Make it fun and interactive – includean activity in all team meetings thatemphasizes the importance of thatparticular part of the strategy.
Q What are the essential “laws”of communication?
Linda DoyleUniversity of Salford• Clarify your briefcarefully before drawing upyour comms plan.
• Identify the change required or call toaction when preparing yourcommunications.
• Communicate in ways to suit audienceneeds/learning styles/culture.
• Often you can never communicateenough, but you can also over-communicate – maintain the balance.
• Aim for “good-enough”communications. Often we don’t havesufficient time to do the bestcommunicating and have to settle for a“fitness for purpose” approach – or a“good enough” approach.Communication may result in asurprising or negative response, butthe “good enough” communicatordoes not take it to heart and learnsfrom this.
• Aim to engage not just inform.• Communications is both art and
science – utilize both left and rightbrain in the delivery.
• Aim to project WIFT “what’s in it forthem?” – most people won’t botherreading unless you do this
• When the outcome is not as youintended, learn and move on.
JOIN THE COMMUNICATORS’NETWORK NOWAs a valued SCM subscriber, you are entitledto join The Communicators’ Network, an onlinediscussion forum for communication practitionersworldwide. It’s a lively community that helpsyou find answers to your communicationquestions fast. The discussion is monitored soyou will receive no unsolicited e-mail, and wewill seek your permission first if we would liketo print any of your ideas in SCM.
E-mail [email protected] join and gain instant access to a globalnetwork of your peers.
LATEST ON THEMELCRUM BLOG
Want to engage people? Start having morefunCreating a fun working environment can payserious dividends, says Mandy Thatcher,Melcrum’s head of content. Reporting fromMelcrum’s Comms Canada event, Thatcherwas commenting on the presentation from oneof Canada’s top 100 employers, airlineWestJet. They made clear how the values “fun,friendly and caring” are an integral part of thecompany’s staff policy. This could go someway towards explaining how the company hassurvived some tough times that have causedother airlines to disappear off the radar. As aresult of this happy ethos, staff remainengaged, motivated and committed to thecompany’s aims, which shows itself insatisfied and loyal customers.
Forgot to say, “hello”!Alex Manchester, editor of the Internal CommsHub (Australia) and KM Review brought to ourattention the existence of a day dedicated tosaying “hello”. On November 21, peoplearound the world were asked to mark “WorldHello Day”, by saying hello to ten people. Nota task requiring intense amounts of effort, onewould imagine, or is it? Manchester recalls histime working in a large organization where thereception staff would ignore colleagues as theyentered the building. Even in the smaller officeblock where he currently works, saysManchester, people often fail to greet oneanother with a simple hello. Obviously adesignated day is required after all.
www.melcrumblog.com“Thoughts and revelations on internalcommunication and beyond”
6 scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
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Describe your role and responsibilities.In my role, I’m responsible for helping stafffeel informed about the department’s aimsand objectives, and the way we’re workingtowards them, including any changes to theway we work. This can meancommunicating about a range of issuesfrom Defra’s strategy to the introduction ofnew technology in the department. Ourinternal communication team has a greatmix of skills, both editorial and advisory.
What are your current projects?Exceptionally, I’m devoting all my time toRenew, a big internal change program.This will change the way we’re organized,how we allocate people to activities, ourmethod for ensuring our activities arehelping us meet our overall objectives, andmore. People in Defra are understandablyinterested, excited, anxious and everythingin between. It’s a major comms effort.
The internal comms team is alsoworking on other projects including aninternal version of our “Act on CO2”campaign. This aims to establish the linkbetween personal behavior and climatechange. The internal campaignencourages staff to practice what we as adepartment are advocating to others.
What’s your biggest communicationchallenge at the moment?Communicating Renew is a big task. We’re putting enormous energy intoface-to-face communication, with our
senior team leading as manyconversations as possible. Also, we’rereally striving to make the changes asreal to people as we can, for example bycommunicating as widely as possible theoutcomes of trials of our new way ofdoing things.
What are your most effectivecommunication vehicles to reachemployees?We’ve got a diverse audience so we need touse a mix of channels to reach everyone,including events, briefings throughmanagers, and electronic comms like ouronline news service. Our staff really don’tlike printed material for environmentalreasons and we have to respect that.
Is your organization using social mediatools?We’ve used a range of them for bothexternal and internal purposes. DavidMiliband1 had a blog on our internet, forexample. Members of our managementboard regularly have live online Q&Asessions with staff, and we’ll use bloggingto support Renew.
Renew will result in people movingaround the organization a lot more too, so
I think social media tools are one way wecan help build and support communities inthe department. We’ll soon be introducingthe latest version of Microsoft’sSharePoint, which includes onlinecollaboration and social networking tools.
How would you describe the culture at Defra?Like lots of government employees, ourstaff really believe in what they do – they’llreadily say they come to work to make adifference, whether it’s to climate changeor animal health. That’s a huge benefit,and makes comms here a rewarding job.We feel the challenges of working in a bigorganization, though, as much as anyone.And we’re making headcount reductions(as are many departments), so while thereare some really exciting changes comingup, there are difficulties too.
How does the internal communicationstrategy support that culture?We keep our communications asenvironmentally sustainable as possible,using e-channels where they’re effective.And we always try to represent thediversity of what the department does, sopeople working in one area have anawareness of their colleagues’achievements elsewhere.
What achievement in your current roleare you most proud of?I’m proud of building a talented – androwdy – team that the Board hasconfidence in. I think a big part of my roleis creating opportunities for them to showwhat they’re capable of. They impress meregularly, so I hope that means I’msucceeding.
What are your future plans for internalcommunication within Defra?Our priorities are to build on our channelsfrom events to blogs, online content andour staff magazine, to help support staffthrough the cultural changes ahead. Wealso have some great data on employeeengagement, so we’ll be building morecomms campaigns around the issues thatreally matter to our staff.
1. UK Secretary of State for environment, food and rural affairs,
May 2006-June 2007.
RENEWING WORKINGMETHODS AT DEFRA
Kathryn Pallant is head of internal communications for Defra. Previous experience inUK government departments includes working for the Department of Trade and Industry(now known as BERR, Department for business, enterprise and regulatory reform) andHM Customs and Excise (now known as HM Revenue and Customs).
As head of internal communications for the UK government’s Department forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Kathryn Pallant communicatesregularly with staff on topics as diverse as bird flu, foot-and-mouth disease andclimate change. Here, she discusses her role in “Renew”, a major internal changeprogram that will impact on all core Defra employees.
PROFILE : KATHRYN PALLANT
Initiating a majorchange program to
help meet overallobjectives
THOUGHT LEADER : JEREMY STARLING
7scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
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“it’s unreasonable to expect all people towant to”, “it would take too long”, and “itwould cost too much”.
But how can you afford not to haveinvolved employees? Customers expectyour employees to take personal ownershipof their problems and solve them. CEOsneed their strategy to be brought to lifeglobally; managers want to be empoweredto own change; employees want to feelthey can make a difference. This will onlybe achieved with an involved workforce.
An involved cultureThe culture change challenge of the last 20years continues in many businesses, wherethe leaders continue to ask, “what culturedo we want to be?” The simple answer is“an involved culture”.
This requires businesses to build aninvolving culture – one that encouragesand supports active participation from thetop down and bottom up. This means:• Making involvement a key part of the
leadership agenda.• Encouraging employees to be involved
in defining and delivering the How.Making it their right.
• Committing to the long-term – it takestime, effort and commitment to delivera truly involved culture
One example – the GE “Work-Out”Former General Electric CEO Jack Welchfrequently cited his employee action plan,“Work-Out”, as a key catalyst in theturnaround that increased GE’s marketvalue from US$14 billion to US$410 billionin two decades. Overnight, thousands ofailing processes changed with solutionsentirely proposed, scoped out and driventhrough by the 290,000 employees.
No more middle groundSo, with business decisions increasinglyfocused on the current financial quarter,can the longer-term benefits ofinvolvement ever be achieved?
The answer is yes, but only if businessleaders stop opting for the middle groundof employee engagement, with its limitedresults and unknown business impact.Instead, there needs to be commitment tomore workforce participation in a trueinvolving culture.
Involving employees in running a businessisn’t a modern phenomenon – the businessworld’s first employee suggestion schemewas launched in 1771 by shipbuilderWilliam Denny in a Glasgow shipyard.
More than 200 years on, too fewbusinesses seem to have evolved beyondthis fairly limited model of employeeengagement, where people are asked toinput perspectives, without truly beinginvolved in making change happen.
In today’s increasingly competitivebusiness environment, the battleground ispeople power. The winners will be thosebusinesses that find quicker, morepowerful ways to help their people make adifference. True employee involvement isneeded so employees get it, believe in itand get on with it.
Compelling numbersThe phenomenal gains made by businesseswith involved employees have beenhighlighted by Collins and Porras in theirbook Built to Last. Their research showed amassive 16-to-1 long-term stock marketdifferential between those organizationsthat sought active involvement fromemployees and those that didn’t.
Similarly, Buckingham and Coffman atGallup, authors of First, break all the rulessurveyed over 1 million employees and80,000 managers worldwide and found thatpositive employee involvement correlateddirectly with business profitability.
Involvement is not a soft issue, it’s aboutprofit, share price and results.
Why, then, aren’t more businessesactively encouraging it?
Engagement versus involvementOne reason may be the profusion ofjargon. Definitions are key and it’simportant to differentiate clearly betweenengagement and true involvement.
Engaged employees have bought intothe direction of the business, feel positiveand motivated, but won’t do anythingdifferently.
Involved employees, however, are activein the business, participate in change andown initiatives.
Engagement is passive, involvement isactive.
The “What? Why? How?” see-sawBusinesses are often unclear on when toinvolve. Getting the right balance betweenWhat, Why and How is key. Employeeswill come up with great answers and, moreimportantly, they’ll take ownership.Undersell the What and the Why and youget loose cannons. Tell people How andthey won’t own it.
Not a matter of choiceToo many excuses are put forward for notactively involving employees, including:
WHY ENGAGEMENT IS NOLONGER ENOUGH
Ensure employeesare involved, not justengaged, to achieve
business success
Although employee engagement is an important hot topic, Jeremy Starling,managing director of INVOLVE argues that engagement alone is no longer goodenough. He believes that in order to win today, businesses need employees to benot just engaged, but truly involved.
Jeremy Starling is managing director of INVOLVE (previously The Eventworks). Clientssuch as GE, AXA, RBS, and Mars use the team to get employees to believe, ownchange, commit and act. Starling speaks regularly in the UK, Europe and US aboutthe power of involvement. For more information visit: www.involveuk.com
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If your organization publishes its intranetusing a content management tool, thenthe chances are you’ve got subject matterexperts, instead of professionalcommunicators, on the front lines ofyour information quality and usability.
While working in a decentralized waydoes have benefits (such as providing apipeline of information direct from senderswithout a bottleneck), it can create afragmented user experience. Tosuccessfully change this, you can’t control,you have to coach.
It’s impossible to lock down yourintranet and control every piece ofinformation that gets posted. Instead, ascommunicators, we can set-up supportivetraining programs and offer a strongpeople-driven process to manage the issue.
At IKEA we use a contentmanagement tool to publish our intranet.In the US retail part of our business, weestimate that upwards of 90% of thecontent on our US intranet isn’tproduced by our professional group ofwriters and designers. Instead it’spublished by more than 50 “publishers”or subject matter experts. Publishers areco-workers from every part of thecompany who have taken on the task ofpublishing intranet content in addition totheir daily roles. Very few haveprofessional writing or editing abilities,let alone web publishing skills, yet everyone of them plays an important part inproducing a quality intranet.
Focusing on peopleMany communicators recognize theparadigm of “People, Processes, andTechnology” when it comes to workingwith their intranets or other technology.
While there is certainly more that canbe done, here are some coaching tacticsthat have worked for us:
1. Begin with the right training We find that short, one hour or less, one-on-one training is best. Focus on what thepublishers need, rather than teaching themevery aspect of the tool. New publishersleave the session with a customized videoclip showing the process, step-by-step.
2. Regular communicationWe produce an e-newsletter updating USpublishers on tool upgrades and comingchanges, and what effects they will have ontheir everyday publishing. The newsletter isalso a place to share good publishing ideas.
3. Annual “seminar”We host an annual, one-day “seminar” toget all our publishers on the same page.Some of this year’s sessions included“Publishers Unite!”, an interactive sessionwhere publishers told us what they found
rewarding and frustrating about being anintranet publisher. This helped usunderstand what they need, and helpedthem recognize that together they make astrong network.
The session “Think like a User”brought in an external expert to share thebasics on web usability. These basics can’tbe skipped when working with groupswho have little experience.
In the “Consistency” seminar, wedefined 10 simple areas (such as namingconventions and use of links) that we wantall of our publishers to be using. The realgoal of the session was to help publishersshift their thinking from “This is how I’vealways done it” to “This is how we’ll all doit going forward.”
An evaluation at the end of the dayrevealed overwhelmingly that it had beenbeneficial and there was a demand forsimilar events in the future.
4. Audit/measurement and steeringAnnually, we assess sections of our intranetto get a snapshot of its overall health andnecessary improvements. The processincludes using a “scorecard” of five simplecriteria and a rating system that gives thesite a green (good), yellow (some caution)or red (needs immediate improvements).
The results are then used to drivediscussions with the individualpublishers, helping them recognize wherestrengths and weaknesses lie.
5. RecognitionWe recognize that our publishers aretaking on an additional role and weappreciate it. Publishers receive a copy oftheir scorecards and audit to share withtheir managers at performance evaluationtime. Publishers also receive from us, onbehalf of our intranet users, a small tokenof our thanks around the holiday season.
Don’t forget how people will supportyour channel managementIn working with these five coaching tactics,we’ve started to see for ourselves thepower of focusing on people, rather thansimply the content we write, edit, andpublish ourselves. The learning has openedour eyes to the bigger impact that we canhave within our organization.
COACHING YOUR INTRANETCONTRIBUTORS
Beth Gleba is the US internal information manager and Karla Shafer is theUS intranet editor for IKEA North America Services, LLC. Furtherinformation on developing practices to engage your intranet publisherscan be found by contacting [email protected]
Why coaching, notcontrolling, intranetcontributors results
in great material
The intranet is a popular method of communicating with employees and easilyfacilitates the sharing of information and best practice. Beth Gleba and Karla Shafer from IKEA North America Services discuss the most effective ways they’vefound of coaching contributors to ensure the publication of consistent and user-friendly material.
BETH GLEBA AND KARLA SHAFER
NISSAN LAUNCHES “N-SQUARE” FOR STAFFGlobal car manufacturer, Nissan, is tolaunch a new social networking site for itsemployees. The site, called “N-square”,will connect up to 50,000 of the company’s180,000 employees globally. Users will beable to create online profiles, blogs,communities and discussion groups andshare data files.
Innovating and formal channelsIn an interview with websiteBusinessWeek, Simon Sproule, the NissanUSA executive overseeing N-Square, saysthe site will provide employees with a wayto avoid bureaucratic channels and createnew partnerships, citing the inefficiency oftraditional tools and channels as a mainreason for launching the site.
“If you want to talk to your boss or yourboss’s boss or your boss’s boss’s boss, youset up meetings, you ‘cc’ everyone, you layout an agenda and maybe even have a pre-meeting to discuss the topic. There’s anenormous amount of time spent just to getto talk to somebody,” says Sproule.
The basis for N-Square developed froma visit to IBM’s headquarters in New York,where Sproule saw IBM’s web-basedsoftware that allowed employees to shareideas. He believes the social networkingsite will be worth it because it will connectemployees with others who can provideexpertise so they can do a better job. “IBMwas the biggest inspiration,” says Sproule.“That, and the 100 million people usingMySpace.”
Improved job engagementN-Square could also offer further indirectbenefits, such as making employees feelmore connected to their jobs. “What weknow from research is that one of theprimary reasons people stay at the samecompany is that they’re well tied into thesocial fabric of the place,” McKinsey &Company consultant Leigh Weiss told WebPro News. “Companies will often lose topperformers because they aren’t sufficientlymentored or connected.”AW
http://www.internalcommshub.com/open/news/nissan.shtml
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CEOS STAND DIVIDEDON SOCIAL MEDIAMelcrum’s recent report, 21st CenturyLeadership Communication finds thatCEOs greatly differ in their opinon onsocial media.
The report, based on interviews with 18senior leaders across various organizationsin the US, Europe and South Africa, foundthat although some leaders are enthusiasticabout the potential of social media andkeen to know how to use new channels,others are skeptical. Perhaps moresurprising is that some still barely knowwhat common social media tools such asblogs and podcasts are.
Technology is limitedOne such skeptic is Rona Fairhead, CEOof the Financial Times Group, who said:“There is, particularly in globalorganizations, more of a need to reach outand touch in a personal way. You canmake it feel more personalized throughtechnology, but technology has its limitsand nothing beats people being in a roomtogether.”
However, Jean-Pascal Tricoire, CEO ofSchneider Electric, feels that leadersneed to get on board the social mediachanges, “I don’t think it’s possibleanymore to have CEOs using three pagesof paper to say what they want. It has tobe done now with things like intranetvideos and live webcams, because peopleare just bored by the old methods ofcommunication,” he says.
The report does acknowledge thegenerational aspect of these findings.Today’s CEOs are likely to be of an olderaverage age, which means they’re alsolikely to be better accustomed totraditional communication channels, andless so to new technologies that are morefamiliar to younger age groups. SH
www.melcrum.com
WORKERS NAIVE OVERONLINE PRESENCENew research by recruitment firm,Manpower, has found that over half of allsocial network users would consider itunethical for employers to use the sites,such as Facebook and Myspace to researchpotential and existing employees.
Manpower’s research has found that:• 43 percent would feel “outraged” if an
employer used a social networking siteto find out more about them.
• 56 percent consider it unethical foremployers to research them usingsocial networking sites.
• 28 percent of social networkers havelimited their personal informationavailable on the internet, 78 percentexpect to do so in the future.
In contrast, the research reveals that asignificant number of people are usingsocial networking sites for work-relatedtasks:• 17 percent use the sites to research
potential employers;• 10 percent for networking and
generating new business;
Employers must beware of online conductThe data suggests a worrying level ofnaivety among those surveyed and a lackof understanding about online visibilitywhen participating in such networks. Inturn, this also presents problems forcommunication teams concerned withthe way employees are conductingthemselves online and what they may besaying about their organization.
Blurring the line between work and playThere were some positive points from theresearch, however. Jason Greaves, directorof commercial staffing at Manpower UK,says the world of work is changing.“Theexplosive growth of social networking sitesprovides a new way for people tocommunicate with each other and,although the primary use of these sitesseems to be for personal reasons,employers and employees alike are nowusing the sites for work purposes, whichcan save both time and money.” AW
http://www.internalcommshub.com/open/news/manpower.shtml
TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
“TECHNOLOGY HAS ITSLIMITS, NOTHING BEATSPEOPLE BEING IN A ROOMTOGETHER.”
Although staff surveys have run since 2002,the NSPCC has just begun to properlymeasure engagement. Called It's Your Say,surveys take place every two years,interspersed with mini online “pulse”surveys to monitor how the organization isdoing on the issues staff identified in thefull survey. Each full survey is followed bya series of focus groups to further exploreareas of concern or celebration.
The most recent survey, our third, wasrun in October 2006, hosted and facilitatedby ORC International. Having decided onour set of questions – mostly tracking,some to help us measure our ability toachieve Investor in People status, andsome for benchmarking purposes – thetiming of the survey was debated. In 2006,the NSPCC was undergoing great changeas ChildLine joined us and a number ofreviews and refocusing of services wasunderway. Some people were naturallyunsettled and demotivated as a result, eventhough the changes were ultimately for thebetter. The decision to test the water wasright – the survey achieved a higherresponse rate than before, along with somevery useful comments.
Looking deeper into colleague responsesThe benchmarking aspect was new to usfor the 2006 survey. We chose a number ofspecific organizations we wanted to bebenchmarked against, from the private,public and charity sectors, ones of similar
size, or geographical spread, or values, orrange of departments. Of the questions inour survey, some were direct matches forother organizations, and some were justsimilar – the remainder were particular tothe NSPCC and so irrelevant forbenchmarking. The comparisonshighlighted through the benchmarkingprocess were very illuminating, and vitalfor identifying what is important tocolleague engagement.
Putting value to scoresA very low score from staff in any questionhad previously drawn our attention andconcern, and similarly a high score hadencouraged us to celebrate. Benchmarkingenabled us to put a relative value to thosescores. A low score may be low across mostorganizations, and therefore not such anarea of concern for us, but the same goesfor a high score – somewhat deflating!However, even with the relative valuesidentified through this method to some ofthe results, we still couldn’t be sure whichof those elements really contributed tostaff feeling engaged with the NSPCC, andmade them want to stay and strive. Thiswas further explored through statisticalanalysis, resulting in a grid explaining the
key areas for our staff in terms ofengagement, and how we were doing inthose areas. This narrowed down the focusfor the senior management team andenabled them to look at what reallymattered, such as communications andpeople feeling valued. Some aspects wereexcellent, some not. The focus groups, ledentirely by ORC International to allow formore freedom of speech from NSPCCcolleagues, were divided into managersand staff and held in every geographicaldivision. Discussions were based aroundthe engagement factors, as well as a coupleof results that the senior managementteam had wanted to understand better, andthese sets of comments supplemented thedata already collated.
The final set of results was broken downby division, by department and by level ofstaff. Any cross-section was possibleproviding it contained more than 10 staffto retain anonymity, all of which helpedindividual managers understand their ownparticular issues and successes.
Addressing the issuesSo now the senior management team wasin a position to create its action plan. Theywanted to look deeply into how to respondto the results and any underlying themes.It’s Your Say results took over the topics fordiscussion at a management conferenceearly this year, featured in all departmentalmanagement meetings and were a focus atthe annual series of staff roadshows. Theplan of action developed is not isolatedfrom other initiatives underway across theNSPCC – it feeds into Investor in Peoplenews, updates on reviews and restructures,and a new pay scheme being introduced,and is woven into many othercommunications through the staffmagazine, intranet and e-mail.
We want colleagues who feel valued andappreciated and we will continue to listen,measure and communicate to ensure weattract and retain the most motivated andtalented staff to help realize our purpose ofending cruelty to children.
MEASURING TO ACHIEVE ACOMMON AIM
Catherine Easey is head of internal communications for the NSPCC. This role involvessupporting senior management with internal communication and the changemanagement program, managing the production of a staff magazine, communication forvolunteers, a daily news service via the intranet and staff roadshows.
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) was founded in1884 in the UK and has since grown into a large, high-profile charity with 2,500 staffand 1,500 volunteer workers. The internal audience is very diverse, explains CatherineEasey, and keeping colleagues engaged and informed is key to ensuring staff remaintuned in to the organization’s shared aim of ending child cruelty.
CATHERINE EASEY
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Act on key learnings to unite a diverse internal
audience
Cross-department communication isusually the territory of operationalmanagement, not corporatecommunications. Yet, while othermanagers are responsible for single-department “silos”, our work takes usacross and through those silos. This helpsidentify any missing connections betweenunits that might be cutting into potentialrevenue or increasing costs.
To conduct an operationalcommunication assessment, map out thechronological flow of your products orservices through the various work units.Then interview or work beside individualsin those units in the same sequence as thework flows. Ask questions about whatinformation needs to be sent and receivedat each stage. Ask how well it’s currentlyworking and what could make it better.
Case studyIn employee focus groups at a home healthcare company, I asked which subjectsemployees wanted to know more about.Few mentioned traditional communicationtopics like strategy or financial results.
Branch employees wanted to know whathappened to the patients’ paperwork theyexpress mailed every day to the corporatebilling department, so they could invoiceinsurance companies for reimbursement.Yet each week, faxes would arrive fromnameless persons in billing asking branchesto immediately fax a number of documentsthat the branch had already sent daysearlier. Then, inevitably, the next week new
faxes asked for the same information to besent for yet a third time.
Corporate billing office staffers wantedto know why the branches didn’t sendpaperwork to them on time.
Enjoying a good mystery, I exploredfurther to understand where thecommunication breakdowns wereoccurring. I started by watching paperworkbe inserted into express mail packages,waited for the delivery at corporate, andfollowed the paper trail as far as I could.
The problemsBranch paperwork was being processed atleast a week after it arrived by expressmail, which made daily deliveries anunnecessary expense.
Temporary file clerks receiving thepaperwork often threw away documentswhen they couldn’t find a relevant folder inthe file room. A particular patient’s filecould be on a tall pile on the desk of anyone of 200 billing and collection clerks.
Faxes from the branches came throughon three different fax machines. Thepaperwork requested by a single fax wasneeded by a number of different billingclerks, who were never identified by name,so they never knew if their documents hadarrived. Plus, no one monitored theincoming fax machines. Pages were literally
falling to the floor and being mixed up. Employees in corporate weren’t allowed
to phone or e-mail branch employeeswithout a signed permission slip. This wasapparently an over-reaction to a previousproblem when field employees were beingbombarded with requests from too manycorporate employees.
The solutionsThe company hired regular-status filingstaff and moved the fax machines to anattended location. It also reorganized thebilling and collection departments soindividuals working on the same patientpool sat together. The billers could havefiles on their desks only if they wereactively working on them, otherwise theyneeded to be returned to the file room.The company abolished permission slipsand encouraged conversation betweenbilling clerks and branches.
The outcomesHere, the most easily quantified outcomewas about US$100,000 saved in annualexpress mail charges when the dailypackages to corporate were reduced totwice a week.
More importantly, “days salesoutstanding”, or DSO (the averagenumber of days between the service beingprovided and the payment being received)dropped from a high of 186 to under 100.DSO has a significant financial impact interms of cash flow and the ability to earnas much return on “banked” money aspossible. Plus, the longer it takes to sendout a bill, the less likely it will ever be paid.
When putting together findings from anoperational communication assessment,you should work with operationalmanagers individually to identify possibleimprovements. This way you’re workingtogether to solve a complex issue, ratherthan publicly pointing out problems thatmake other managers look bad.
Identifying and straightening out costly,dysfunctional organizationalcommunication processes across silos canprovide another benefit. Thecommunicator’s role begins to be viewedby senior leaders as one that directlycontributes to the bottom line. Projects likethese give substance to the “business” partof being a business communicator.
BREAKING DOWNDEPARTMENTAL BARRIERS
Angela Sinickas, ABC, is president of Sinickas Communications, Inc., an internationalcommunication consultancy specializing in helping corporations achieve businessresults through targeted diagnostics and practical solutions. For more informationvisit: www.sinicom.com
Corporate communicators typically focus on top-down and upward communication.Here, Angela Sinickas describes how to influence the bottom line by identifying andfixing communication breakdowns that occur as information tries to travelhorizontally through an organization.
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After the report of our annual alignmentresearch, where clear intent, transparentcommunication and decision making cameup as areas for improvement, our CEOwas looking for ways to close the gap. Hewanted to engage colleagues in a dialogueon building capabilities for the future andfacilitate continuous feedback. He wasespecially interested in the people beyondhis direct line of sight who are executingstrategy on a day-to-day basis. CEOs arebusy people and we needed to leverage histime as best as possible.
In addition to the regular cascademanagement meetings and “toughquestions – straight answers” sessions, wedeveloped a virtual CEO office on thegroup intranet. The office was named “InTouch With Peter” and became the secondmost popular section of the site. Followingour first live-chat at the end of 2003, ourvirtual CEO office still combines thefollowing applications:
CEO agendaAt the beginning of each year, followingthe annual senior management meeting,we publish the priorities for that year.These priorities are based on strategy andthe results of the alignment andengagement surveys and are the center ofthe virtual office.
Online 90-minute chat sessionsEvery two months, we’ll select one of theitems from the CEO agenda (for example:embedding values or growth in China) and
organize a 90 minute on-line chat session.These chats always follow a rigid process.Before the chat, people are invited toparticipate in a short on-line pulse checkwhich serves two objectives:1) It gives us the chance to get feedback
from the company and prepare themain focus of the chat session.
2) We stimulate people to think throughthe implications of a specific issue andenable them to prepare for it.
Eighty percent of a typical chat consists ofdiscussing questions from the CEO and 20percent answering questions fromemployees. It’s basically a real-timequalitative survey. A week after the chat, acomplete transcript and summary ispublished on the virtual CEO office andhighlights, actions and next steps areshared.
Personal blog: “On my mind”Given our CEO’s busy schedule, wemanage to get an entry out every otherweek. People have the ability to reply andare enthusiastic about the process. EveryFriday our CEO receives an overview of allresponses and often on Monday we can seehis responses online.
Running the blog and chats for so many
years has taught us a few tips that are goodto keep in mind when managing a trulyinteractive environment.
Focus on the contentAlthough the processes of internal blogsand CEO chats (hundreds of concurrentparticipants) are very energetic andengaging to employees, it’s paramount tomanage the content and get the outcomesof virtual dialogues back in to the real-timebusiness. This doesn’t mean that after thechat you need to chase people to deliveron promises or actions, but that you investin communicating (or better still – enableparticipants to communicate themselves)what came out and what has been done.
The day the cynics stop saying thatpeople should “get back to work instead ofspending their time in the blog section”,you know you’ve succeeded.
Engage the less engagedThese tools appeal to those alreadyengaged. Engaged employees are willing togo the extra mile and get involved in blogdiscussions and chats. More importantly,they communicate (on a personal level)and speak their minds. Disengagedemployees tend to put their ambitions inanonymity (surveys) and refrain fromspeaking out in the open.
That is why special care is needed whencynical or complacent remarks enter intothe discussion. Only by dealing with theseremarks with openness and respect for theindividual can you set the example thatthere really is room for a constructivedialogue, paving the roads for other lessengaged or cynical colleagues to join thedialogue in the future.
The influence of the engaged I’m always surprised to see the relief whenwe report our findings of (pre-chat)surveys. “Some 88 percent of theemployees understand and support thenew strategic direction” or “People’sbiggest concern is the impact XYZ willhave on our growth objectives instead ofjob security”. As communicators andmanagers, we tend to focus too much onsmall negative groups. In a constructivedialogue, engaged employees will sharetheir engagement with the less engaged.
INVITING TNT’S EMPLOYEESINTO THE CEO’S VIRTUAL OFFICE
Let engaged employees convert the cynics among
the workforce
At TNT, the CEO knows that open dialogue with front-line staff is crucial if the businessstrategy is to be understood and delivered well. Here, Job van Harmelen explains howthe CEO runs a virtual office – offering interactive chat sessions, a blog and hisstrategic agenda to ensure clear communication with the 157,000-strong workforce.
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Job van Harmelen is principal consultant at MeyerMonitor and currently works assenior communications manager for TNT Group Communications. He’s responsible forthe Virtual CEO Office on the Group Intranet and Internal Communications of Planet Me:the global initiative of TNT and its employees to radically reduce CO2 emissions.
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So what can you do? Unless you’ve already built up a strongrelationship with your CEO, it’s never easyto go into the lions den with an aim to givefeedback and provide coaching – unless it’sbeen asked for in the first place.
Whatever the circumstances, you need agood reason to start the coaching dialogueand in my experience, having soundqualitative feedback is always helpful.Getting this feedback is not as hard as itmay seem. Next time your CEOcommunicates to your employees, thinkabout the kind of feedback you need inorder to prompt a coaching conversation.Whether it’s an e-mail or a town-hall styleaddress, try and avoid using “happy sheets”to gain quantitative data but consider moreopen questions that will give you themeaningful insights about the effectivenessof the communication.
Another technique is to get leaders tosee and hear themselves so that they canwitness what their audience hasexperienced. It’s a powerful way ofillustrating strengths and weaknesses. Fewpeople like seeing themselves perform andrarely hold a mirror up to themselves. It’spart of an approach that The CompanyAgency uses when we coach CEOs. Onone hand you can find leaders who engageimmediately with this approach and on theother (certainly the minority) there arethose who find it extremely uncomfortable.
The golden rules of feedbackIn summary, coaching people and inparticular leaders is never easy. Within anorganization, there are very few peoplewho are brave enough to give toughfeedback to their boss, let alone theirCEO. Hence it’s often easier to leave it toa third party to give the tough messages. Ifyou do find yourself in the privilegedposition where your relationship with yourleaders allows you to coach them with theircommunication, just remember the goldenrules of giving feedback. Always start withthe motivational stuff first (“you did areally good job here by...”) and close withthe formative comments last (“next time,why don’t you try it this way…”).
Good luck! 1. For more information about the report 21st Century Leadership
Communication, please visit: www.melcrum.com
In the world of business, Dale Carnegie,the well known American communicationtraining guru once said “there are fourways, and only four ways in which we havecontact with the world. We’re evaluatedand classified by four contacts: what wedo, how we look, what we say and how wesay it.”
Equally in the sports world, winningcoaches have a way with words, whethereducating or motivating. They never fail tolet their players know what is expected,what they’ve done right and where theycan improve their performance. They canmove individuals and teams to greatheights with a few chosen words spoken atthe right time. The interesting fact is that agreat coach is also an effectivecommunicator.
The coaching challengeOver the years, internal communicatorshave struggled to take on the role ofcommunication coach for businessleaders. This may in part be down toresistance from managers who see noneed for coaching. The normal responseis that they wouldn’t be where they aretoday if they were a poor communicator.Or it could be down to the fact that someinternal communicators aren’t seen ascredible communicators themselves.
The encouraging news is that our recentCEO research with Melcrum1 hashighlighted that many senior leaders arenow seeing the virtues of being coached on
their communication. Our evidencesuggests that they want feedback and thatthey’re prepared to listen; though we allknow that saying they want to listen andthen actually listening can be two differentthings. Sadly though, we found thatinternal communication continues to facean uphill battle. It’s a fact that many CEOsand senior leaders primarily get theircommunication counsel and in turn theircoaching from their direct reports and nottheir internal communication professional.
So the big question is: what can you doto become the communication coach forthe leadership team?
The principles of a successful coachIn our experience being a coach doesn’tmean being the best at what you do. Ithelps of course, but it isn’t a pre-requisite for success. Going back to theanalogy of sport, great footballers don’talways make the greatest coaches.
Being a good coach is about painting aclear vision of success, challengingperformance and motivating people torealize their full potential. In other words,the same principles of good leadership.We’d say communication leadership.
COACHING YOUR LEADERS TOCOMMUNICATE WITH IMPACTHow many communicators want to find themselves in the position where they have totake on their CEO and risk providing feedback that may not be wholly positive? Butbeing able to coach senior leaders to improve their communication technique is anencouraging step forward for a component of the internal communicator’s role that haspreviously faced resistance. Darren Briggs explains how best to approach the challenge.
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How to become the starcoach of a winning
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Darren Briggs is partner at The Company Agency, where he advises and coachessenior leaders to be more effective communicators. He has 20 years’ corporateexperience working at chief executive and board level with companies such as BritishAirways, Microsoft, Nike, PepsiCo and Vodafone.
Internal communicators are oftenfrustrated that their customers don’tappreciate them or understand the valuethey could add, if they were given theopportunity. We all have times when wewish people would ask for advice earlieror realize we can do more than correctPowerPoint slides and write e-mails.
But, when you think about it, it’s notreally surprising that colleagues mighthave a problem understanding our role.Internal communications is a relativelyyoung profession. When we’ve askedpractitioners on training courses whatfriends or relatives think they do at work,answers have ranged from “organizeoffice parties” to “read the news”.
So it’s really up to us to helpstakeholders see what our role is aboutand how we can add the most value.
Choosing your words carefully First things first, what do you say whenpeople ask you what your role is? One ofour favourite exercises is to pair upinternal communicators and ask them topretend they’ve just met at a social event.Their new acquaintance knows nothingabout the internal communicationprofessional and asks them what they dofor a living. What do they say?
Usually, it reminds everyone that weourselves often struggle to explain whatwe do. No wonder other people have aproblem. So if you don’t yet have a 60second (maximum – time yourself!)explanation you can use next time
somebody asks you what your role is allabout, now’s the time to develop one.
Setting out your stallTaking it further, do your senior leadersknow how you plan to add value to theirorganization this year? Do you have awritten strategy that sets out the businesspriorities you’ll support and how youintend to go about it? Have you involvedyour stakeholders in putting it together,through asking simple but pertinentquestions about their priorities and whatwould help achieve them?
An internal communication strategydoesn’t have to be a weighty,complicated document. There are noright or wrong ways of doing it. What’smost important is that it’s built onconversations with stakeholders abouthow you can support the businesspriorities, it sets out clearly where youplan to focus and why, and yourstakeholders have seen it, debated it andsigned up to it.
So the next time they try to drag youoff in the opposite direction, you canremind them what they said the prioritieswere and offer them the choice abouthow you spend your time and where youwill add the most value.
Action stations Of course, actions speak louder thanwords. If you say you’ll focus on one set ofpriorities but stakeholders permanentlysee you fill your days doing somethingelse, that’s what they’ll think your role isreally about. Building credibility comesthrough demonstrating through youractions that you can make a difference.
Every day brings unplanned activitiesand crises. That’s life. But once you’veset out your priorities, it’s important tokeep coming back to them. Timemanagement is all about makingdecisions about what activities are moreor less important, relatively speaking. Ifthe activities from your IC strategy keepfalling off your priority list, take a look atthe decisions you’re making about howyou spend your time.
Gathering evidenceWhen you achieve good results, makesure you gather the evidence. Consultantsregularly put together case studiesshowing how they helped clients achievebusiness results. They set out the clients’objectives, the strategies and tactics usedto achieve those objectives, and themeasures demonstrating the results.
When you’re under pressure, it’stempting to run straight from one projectto another, but take the time todocument your own successes in this wayand use them to show internalstakeholders you can do the same thingfor them too.
Educating stakeholdersIt’s easy to blame stakeholders forchaining you to the e-mail andPowerPoint treadmill and not allowingyou the freedom to add the value you’dlike to. And yes, there will be certainpeople who probably just never will “get it”.
But before you set the blamecompletely at their door, take a look athow your own words and actions couldbe helping them to form their opinions.Little by little, you’ll probably find waysto start turning things around.
SELF ANALYSIS: WHAT SIGNALSDO YOU SEND TO LEADERS?
Sue Dewhurst and Liam FitzPatrick run Competent Communicators, acompany specializing in professional development for internalcommunicators and Melcrum’s official training and developmentpartner. For more information go to: www.competentcommunicators.com
How your words andactions shape how
others perceive you
As the role of the internal communicator is still in its infancy compared to otherfunctions in the workplace, you may often find it a challenge to be understood andappreciated. Here, Sue Dewhurst and Liam FitzPatrick suggest ways of clarifying toyour stakeholders, including senior leaders, how you add value to your organization.
SUE DEWHURST AND LIAM FITZPATRICK
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also subscribe to www.SearchCIO.com.Other tips: Consider job rotations, if
not for you, then for your staff members.A three to six month assignment inanother department, eithercommunication-related or sales, HR orIT can be very mind-expanding for theindividual as well as the departmentthat’s hosting the individual. Manyorganizations are so committed to theirsilos and the status quo that they oftendon’t think about job rotations as a low-cost, high-benefit way to train and retainkey staff members.
3. Play in water fountains Situation: Other worlds besides businessand the communication profession canoffer ideas as well as introduce you to abroader network. You’ll also improveyour peripheral vision, which is criticalthese days. For example, Mark Parker,CEO of Nike, turns to interior design,cuisine, art and music for inspiration. Heconsults his global network of friendsand associates for tips on who can helphim maintain Nike’s standing as the“influencers of influencers,” as recentlyreported by the Wall Street Journal.
Your actions: Follow your interests andpassions. Track experts and trend-setterswho are pushing the boundaries in thoseareas. Also take time to seek out diversefriends and associates with whom youcan discuss a range of topics andparticipate in different activities.
Other tips: Be focused first onenjoyment rather than careeradvancement. The more open andcurious you are, the more you can learnand make connections. And be sure toask for help and introductions.
Reap the rewardsThe benefits from these three actions canhelp you regain your energy, give younew perspectives and equip you with newskills that will help you in your currentrole or in any new challenge you want totake on next. And remember, you can’tjust wade in. Jump and be buoyant!
If you want to improve your skills andfurther your career today, you can’t stay onthe shore, you’ve got to get into the water.
Consider taking these three actionssimultaneously and see if you can effectchange as a result.
1. Dive deeply into your industrySituation: C-suite executives appreciateand expect their communicationcounselors to know the business as wellas their communication specialty.
Your actions: Besides immersingyourself in on-the-job training, takeadvantage of formal training, such ascompany classes, industry trade shows,professional meetings, continuingeducation and technical seminars. Also,join professional associations gearedtoward your industry. Even if you don’thave a formal speakers’ bureau at yourorganization, invite subject-matter expertsto your communication staff meetings.You and your staff can learn industry andcompany specific information while thespeaker gets presentation skill practicewith a new audience.
Other tips: If you’ve not been in thejob market lately, be prepared that manyrecruiters prefer talking to potentialcandidates with industry expertise. Ifyou’re contemplating switching jobs,think hard about your commitment toyour industry. If you like it, assess thedepth of your knowledge and determineif you have any gaps. If you want toswitch industries, think how you’ll apply
your expertise to a new industry.
2. Swim across lanes Situation: Your colleagues in otherfunctions, in all likelihood, also count onyou having more than a superficialunderstanding of their area.
You may not be in their “swim lane” intheir official process map, but if you’reworking with them you need to “pass thebaton” at some stage. You and your staffmembers are more valuable if youunderstand their work, can easily swimbetween lanes and make the proper andtimely hand-offs.
Your actions: Spend time withcolleagues in other functions. Ask themnot only about their work, but also aboutwhat trade publications they read, whatprofessional associations they belong toand what training programs they attend.And consider taking part in one or twothat interest you.
For example, my clients includecommunication professionals, as well asHR and IT leaders. As well as belongingto the usual suspects of professionalassociations (IABC, PRSA and CCM[Council of CommunicationManagement]), I’m a member of SHRMand the Organization Design Forum. I
TAKE TO THE WATER FORCAREER SUCCESSIn order to propel your career to the next level, an element of bravery is required. LizGuthridge explains why remaining on the shore as an observer is unlikely to help youreach the career heights to which you aspire. Instead, says Guthridge, you have tosummon your courage and enter the fast flowing channels of the communication ocean.
LIZ GUTHRIDGE
Sink or swim, butdon’t stay on the
shore if you want toget ahead
Liz Guthridge is the founder of Connect Consulting Group LLC, a workforcecommunication and change management firm based in the US. Guthridge specializes inlean communications – using communications to do more with less to improve results.Visit www.connectconsultinggroup.com
16 scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
The whole pharmaceutical industry is facingchange – cost pressures, new markets, outsourcingand changing regulations are just a few of thefactors. Like its competitors, AstraZeneca isresponding to these broader changes in theindustry and research and development (R&D) isa key area of focus. Pharmaceutical R&Drequires a huge amount of investment and effortto bring about greater innovation, greaterproductivity and new discoveries will result in realand worthwhile savings.
Engaging employees in this change, particularlyafter earlier waves of productivity improvement,constant process improvement and change was akey task for Alex Kalombaris, global head, R&DCommunications. Working with leading Europeancommunication specialists, Synopsis, he and histeam adopted an approach which focused oncoaching leadership teams and equippingcommunicators to support them.
This case study will help those communicatorslooking to:
• Engage leaders in being effectivecommunicators.
• Raise communication up their leaders’agendas.
• Work with leadership groups to align them,help them understand their roles andresponsibilities and play to their combinedstrengths.
• Show leaders how communication can helpachieve real solutions to key businessproblems.
What did AstraZeneca R&D do?“It’s extremely important that we strengthen ourleaders’ capabilities in how they communicate,”says Alex Kalombaris. “They recognize that beinga leader requires more than just technical ability.They’re our most important channel and the bestway to engage and inspire our employees,especially during times of change. Our leadersknew they had to get this right but they neededsome tools and training to help them. Employeeslook to their leaders to inspire and engage them.Our leaders in AstraZeneca R&D had to step upto the plate in a consistent way. The tools andtraining we provided through Synopsis helpedthem do just that.”
AstraZeneca R&D based their approach on theSynopsis FAME model of effective leadershipcommunication. FAME is based on Synopsis’experience of successful leaders in all aspects oflife. It concentrates on four key communicationskill areas that make leaders effective:1. Focus – effective leaders identify clearly what
they want people to think, feel and do and
Leadershipcommunication – theAstraZeneca way
Faced with major and sustained change, theResearch & Development organization ofpharmaceutical giant, AstraZeneca, decided to
coach, equip and support its leadership teams to engageemployees in what was happening. To achieve this, theyworked in tandem with communication consultancySynopsis. Here, Dominic Walters and David Nortonexplain the process and the lessons learned on the way.
Coaching leadership teams to engage employeesduring change
BY DOMINIC WALTERS AND DAVID NORTON
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AstraZeneca is one of theworld's leadingpharmaceutical companies,with a broad range ofmedicines designed to fightdisease in several areas ofhealthcare. It’s active inover 100 countriesincluding the UK and the US.
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plan how to achieve this.2. Articulate – effective leaders can turn a vision
into compelling words that people rememberand repeat.
3. Model – effective leaders lead by example,know their weaknesses and can flex theirnatural communication style to play to theirstrengths.
4. Engage – effective leaders help people seehow they fit into the bigger picture andinvolve people effectively.
Practical workshopsEach leadership team in R&D participated in aone day workshop. A total of 200 senior managerstook part.
The workshops were practical and focused eachteam on what they needed to do to bring aboutthe necessary changes in their area. The entireday looked at how each group of leaders shouldarticulate the direction for their teams, alignbehind the messages to their people and prepareto engage their people in the changes ahead.Many participants were delighted that not onlydid they acquire new skills and techniques butalso practical approaches to real communicationsituations that they were due to face.
A major aspect of the workshop was helpingleaders understand their preferredcommunication style. A key distinction waswhether the leaders were extroverts – lively,persuasive and entertaining, or introverts –accurate, logical and factual. We used a detailedanalytical tool to help leaders understand theirnatural styles and what this meant for the waythey communicated.
Looking at communication styles helped theleaders in three ways. Firstly, they could plan tomake the most of the strengths of their preferredstyle and minimize the impact of its downsides.Secondly, they could spot other people’s preferredstyles and shift their approach to match andtherefore increase their chances of getting ontothe other person’s wavelength quicker. Thirdly,looking at communication styles helped themunderstand that different people were likely toreact differently to the messages they were puttingacross, and that more than one approach wasneeded to reach everyone.
Early in the program, we also ran a workshopfor the R&D network of communicators whowould be working alongside the leadership teams.In this workshop, communicators learned the keyleadership communication skills, and practicedways to support their leaders long after theworkshops were over.
Ten lessons learned1. Understand different communication styles
Communicators and their clients often havedifferent styles which can cause misunderstanding.At AstraZeneca, communicators tend to have adifferent set of values and priorities from theirinternal clients. Whereas the communicatorstended to be upbeat, spirited and considerate,their clients, most of whom were trainedscientists, were by nature more likely to be lowerprofile, systematic and considerate.
Understanding more about communicationstyles helped the communicators change theirapproach to get onto their clients’ wavelength andachieve common ground from which they couldagree a way forward. Without this understanding,it was easy for the scientists to dismiss thecommunicators as “all show” and for thecommunicators to see the scientists as too fact-focused and both parties coming away frommeetings frustrated.
2. Leaders should cater for their audienceMembers of leadership teams have different styleswhich can result in mixed messages. In one teamin particular, different styles were reflected indifferent strategies for communication. A spiritedand direct, energetic and charismatic member ofthe team was keen to talk to people in anunscripted and interactive way. More introvertedmembers of the team were, however,uncomfortable with what they saw as anunstructured and undisciplined approach. Therisk here was that different members of the teammight take different approaches. Theinconsistency that was likely to result couldundermine alignment, and send mixed andconfusing signals.
This was addressed by working with the team toagree the key messages and the “story” and alsoreinforcing that the leaders needed to consider thepreferred communication styles of their audiencesand flex their approach to cater for them. Theyshould be energetic and upbeat for those in theiraudiences who were extrovert, but also make sure 3
KEY POINTS• The pharmaceutical industry is undergoing major change and as a
leading player, AstraZeneca embarked upon coaching its R&Dleadership teams in engaging employees during the change process.
• Working with communication consultants, Synopsis, leaders andcommunicators took part in practical workshops to focus on their ownand others’ communication styles to establish the most effectivemethod of transferring information.
• R&D leaders are now more confident with their own communicationstyle and better appreciate the value of their communication teams.
Dominic Walters is a seniorconsultant with Synopsis. Heleads on coaching andtraining and has coachedleaders in a range ofinternational clients to bemore effectivecommunicators.
David Norton is a consultantwith Synopsis. His workincludes coaching and trainingleaders and communicators,helping clients put in placethe most effectivecommunication channels andmeasuring their return oncommunication investment.
Leadership communication – the AstraZeneca way
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own merits and be tested for itself. Scientists mayalso want time to reflect on information, to processthrough its implications and to have a lateropportunity for challenge and discussion. They’reused to informed argument, to establishinghypotheses and then gathering data to test them.
6. Leaders may be affected by proximity to infoLeaders can be too close to the information andtoo far ahead in their thinking. Many of theleaders were so close to the information that theyforgot what their people did and didn’t know.This can cause difficulties when communicatingchange as an unwise word, or unhappy choice ofphrase could trigger concerns that had not existedbefore. Leaders can also become impatient withteams that are grappling with facts and detail theythemselves digested some time ago andmisinterpret their slow take up as resistance.
7. Leaders can project their concerns onto staffFor many leaders, the toughest objections toanswer were those with which they privatelyagreed. Sometimes leaders would raise issues andconcerns which their people may not haveconsidered because the leaders didn’t want to beseen as corporate propagandists, or because theyhad their own concerns about how change hasbeen rolled out, and the degree of detail whichwas available to them. Often, the end result canbe extra confusion and concern.
8. Consistency is achievable, despite mixed viewsConsistency is possible even when people seethings differently. One of the group heads wasespecially worried about consistency of message.He knew this would be difficult to achievebecause his department was spread across threesites, each of which had a distinctive identity andtheir own strong local leader.
Also, each of the sites were likely to be affecteddifferently, and therefore would need not onlydifferent messages, but a different approach. Forexample, a site that was being severely affected bychanges would not welcome an upbeat recountingof the benefits of the change to the organization.
Each of the team clearly had different stylesand different mixes of how much telling anddiscussing they were likely to follow. Therefore,even when the messages and slides handed out tothe team were identical and consistent, theywould inevitably be used and delivered indifferent ways, to audiences who were themselvesdifferent and distinctive – and who would startselecting different elements of messages that theymight remember and pass on to others.
Faced with what looked like an almostinevitable guarantee of inconsistency, lack ofcontrol of what people might take out of the
they clearly link what’s happening with businessobjectives and have detail and evidence for themore fact-hungry introverted types.
3. Communicators should use their preferred style Communicators have different styles which canresult in mixed messages. At AstraZenecacommunicators came from a variety ofbackgrounds and disciplines and had differentstyles themselves. Several communicators hadbeen scientists themselves, and moved over tospecialize in communication. Others came fromjournalism and some from PR.
Communicators were helped to understandtheir preferred style and think through how to getthe most out of it. They also had the chance toassess the preferred styles of the leaders theysupported and how they could use thisinformation to provide them with an even moreeffective service.
4. Being collaborative is not enoughR&D leadership teams focused on collaboration.Many of the teams were successful because theirleaders were skilled in building strong teams,bringing together functional and technical experts,and fostering co-operation. Their natural stylewas to be considerate and collaborative.
In many ways, this style is useful during times ofchange – people expect greater empathy fromtheir leaders, and to be reassured that theyunderstand the pressures they’re under and thepain they’re feeling. On the other hand, thecollaborative approach can also bring problemsduring change. Leaders have to provide a strongsense of direction, and to be able to engage andmotivate their people around the context forchange, the compelling reasons for it and theneed to summon up another burst of energy forthe new challenges ahead. Doing this means ashift to being more direct and upbeat.
5. Consider the best approachScientists like fact and process. Many appeared tobe uncomfortable with emotion and story. The moreintroverted audiences such as many of the scientistsdo not like “arguing from analogy” – they don’twant images and metaphors of how one thing is likeanother. They believe that a thing should rest on its
“LEADERS AND COMMUNICATORS MUSTUNDERSTAND THEIR COMMUNICATION STYLEAND THE STYLES OF OTHERS, AND HOW THISINFLUENCES WHAT THEY SAY, THE WAY THEYSAY IT AND HOW OTHERS REACT TO IT.”
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sessions, selective memory and decaying recall,the leader was naturally concerned. He was ableto reduce his concerns by:• Preparation – spending time together working
through what the members of the leadershipgroup actually thought, believed and feltconfident saying.
• Agreeing as a group an elevator speech, keymessages and answers to tough questions.
• Rehearsal – in which they could challenge eachother, simulate tough situations they were likelyto face and develop responses together, ratherthan coming up with something on their feetwhen delivering “live”.
• Summaries – rather than leaving their answersin the Q&A sessions dangling, givingsummaries of what they believed to bepositive aspects of the changes and why theypersonally felt confident about it.
9. Leaders should develop their own Q&AsRather than having the communication teamdevelop FAQs, leaders responded better whenthey challenged each other with tough questions,developed their answers and tested out how real,credible and reliable these responses were.
It was also very helpful to challenge leaders toraise the questions they feared they’d be asked. Inpart this helped them prepare to deal with theirfears, and it also helped them investigate whatthey were concerned about, get to the underlyingissue and try and address and resolve it.
10. Meeting format mattersThe leaders were especially interested in how bestto put across their messages. The traditional wayof communicating is to run large site events inwhich 200–300 people get the message at thesame time. This minimizes the grapevine, aseveryone hears the same message from the sameperson in the same way.
However, these leaders also needed to ensurehigh degrees of engagement in order to maintainproductivity and keep people focused. Therefore,they believed it was important to have discussionwith their people, flush out their issues and increasetheir sense of confidence about the change.
This meant they couldn’t rely simply on the oneoff large scale events, since interaction at thesewould be low, and there would be little time orroom for discussion. Indeed, it was more likely atany Q&A session the vocal minority woulddominate, even if their views did not representthose of the majority.
Many leaders therefore decided to follow uplarger scale events with smaller group discussionsin which people could discover what the changesmeant for their particular area of the business,raise their concerns and ask questions. They
would also be able to challenge how well theirleaders had created the vision for change,defended their interests and developed a feasibleplan for successful implementation.
How did this help AstraZeneca?“The main achievement,” says Alex Kalombaris,“is that we now have a group of leaders in R&Dwho are a lot more self-aware, and confident intheir own communication style. They have abetter idea of how to maximize their strengthsand work on their weaknesses. The feedback wehave received from the leadership team has beenvery impressive. Following the training, leaderssee communication in a different way, as adiscipline that requires time and effort to get itright. Finally, it allowed the communicationbusiness partners to work closer with the leadersthey were supporting and give the communicationteam the opportunity to show their value.
SummaryIn summary, AstraZeneca R&D found that:• Leaders and communicators must understand
their communication style and the styles ofothers, and in particular, how this influenceswhat they say, the way they say it and howothers react to it.
• Leaders should learn to flex their styles tomaximize their chances of getting onto otherpeople’s wavelengths quickly.
• Leaders need to think about the messagefrom their audience’s point of view and avoidassuming knowledge they don’t have andprojecting onto them issues and concerns theydon’t feel.
• Consistency of approach is more likely wherea team of leaders gets together to agree thekey messages – the elevator speech – anddevelop and answer their own questions.
• Meeting format is important – large scalegatherings ensure consistency of message butthey should be followed up by smaller scalediscussions to let people digest what’s beensaid, challenge and ask questions. scm
CONTACT DETAILS
Dominic WaltersSynopsis Communication [email protected]
David NortonSynopsis Communication [email protected]
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While ecological climate change is receiving globalattention, weekly headlines and demands foraction, another form of climate change is alsoshaking up our perceptions of the world around us.I’m referring to the organizational climate, andthese changes and challenges are no less profoundthan those affecting the natural environment.
Numerous workplace engagement studies showthat employees place a very high priority oninclusive communication, on recognition for a jobwell done, on the ability to influenceorganizational actions and various other factorsassociated with the workplace climate. When suchfactors are not scoring well, there can be a stormyworkplace environment.
Over the past few years there have been manystudies showing the link between variousworkplace engagement factors and overallcorporate productivity and organizationaleffectiveness. However, there has been far lessresearch examining how engagement factors areaffected by internal communication, andespecially if there’s a correlation between specific
internal communication actions and specificengagement factors such as levels of morale, jobsatisfaction and employee recognition.
For example, is it possible to raise the tide ofoverall employee satisfaction and morale with justa few key internal communication actions? Dosome internal communication activities providericher results than others? And is there aquantifiable cost-benefit to internalcommunication targeted to certain workplaceengagement factors? In other words, if I take thetime to actually listen to you, if I let you knowwhen you’re doing a great job and if I make itclear how what you’re doing fits into the biggerpicture, will you be a happier person? And whichof such actions by me will make you happier?
Personnel surveysTo find answers to the above and other workplaceclimate issues, our human research team at theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in theprovince of British Columbia, Canada, conducteda series of in-depth personnel surveys in 2007.The research asked respondents to rate theeffectiveness and quality of 25 workplaceengagement factors in addition to various internalcommunication activities and sources ofinformation. The results from 1,080 respondentswere cross-tabulated to specifically drill down intothe impact of internal communication onworkplace engagement.
The study is proving to be a major resource tonot only strategic communication planning, but tohuman resource development, leadership trainingand especially to the setting of broad corporate
The communicationclimate change atRCMP
The human research team of the Royal CanadianMounted Police has recently completed a majorstudy into the correlation between specific
engagement factors and internal communicationmethods. Here, the leader of that research, Dr. EliSopow, details why it was carried out, what the resultshighlighted and its relevance for functions outside ofcommunication.
Linking engagement factors and internalcommunication at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
BY DR. ELI SOPOW
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The Royal CanadianMounted Police is theCanadian national policeservice and an agency of theMinistry of Public SafetyCanada.
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goals and objectives. For example, the surveyresults were rolled into the provincialorganization’s annual environmental scan andserved to kick-start the senior executive’s annualstrategic planning session in November 2007.
There’s a powerful metaphor in chaos theorycalled the Butterfly Effect (Lorenz, 1961). Simplyput, it states that the flap of a butterfly’s wings inSouth America can create a thunderstorm inTexas. It illustrates that even the smallest ofactions can create a ripple effect leading toprofound change. What the RCMP workplaceengagement study showed was that managers andleaders can indeed create a positive wave ofchange with only a few, low cost, easy to docommunication actions. Here are some of the keyhighlights from our research.
Research finding 1: The importance ofcommunicating a job well doneOrganizational culture and climate research isrich with examples of how we all want to betreated well in the workplace, and especially havea well-developed sense of self and pride ofaccomplishment. This not only gives us personalconfidence, it also helps us be creative, productiveand happy. What our research showed is thatfeeling good about the job you’re doing alsoproduces many positive ancillary benefits.
Employees who said they had a high level ofrecognition for a job well done also had muchhigher overall workplace engagement scores thanthose who felt they had low levels of jobrecognition. For example, those who thought theywere often recognized for a job well done alsohad higher scores for overall morale, for feelingtreated fairly in the workplace, being satisfiedwith their job and being able to balance work andtheir personal life.
Indeed, the study showed that employees whofelt they were recognized for a job well done hadfour times higher the morale than those who felttheir good work was left unrecognized. What thisshows is that even an informal acknowledgement ofgood work (when it’s deserved) to an employee cangenerate positive brain chemistry that spills overinto attitudes far beyond just the task at hand.
Research finding 2: The need for managers tocommunicate often and openly It’s often said that communication is the glue thatbinds organizations together and this was borneout in the RCMP study. The survey showed thatemployees who felt that important informationwas openly shared with them by managers alsohad significantly higher scores for all 25 keyengagement factors tested in the study. Forexample, those who gave a high score toorganizational communication sharing had four
times the level of feeling their rights and valueswere respected than those employees who gavelow marks to important information being shared.
In addition, those who scored organizationalinformation-sharing as high, as opposed to thosewho scored organizational information-sharing aslow, also gave much higher scores to questionsconcerning fair treatment, to help being available,and to believing that organizational actionsmatched promises.
Our conclusion from this result is that ongoing,honest communication is strongly symbolic toemployees. It shows that the organization has a“corporate personality” that values sharing,listening, consensus and cooperation. We furtherconclude that even if the information isn’t alwaysimmediately relevant to an employee, the fact thatthe organization is making an effort to becontinually communicative says a lot. To slightlytwist the words of Marshall McLuhan (author ofThe medium is the massage), the medium here isthe process of communications. And the messagefrom this process medium is, “we care about you.”
Research finding 3: The importance oflistening to employeesWe all have a natural tendency to want to try andcontrol events in our lives. As psychologist DanielGilbert points out in his book Stumbling onHappiness, we humans are also the only specieswith the ability to envision the future in greatdetail, which also means we have a great penchantto try and manage or control it. The workplace isno different. All personnel, regardless of title orrank, have an inherent human need to try andinfluence events. Indeed, the presence or absenceof such influence shapes our sense of self, ourfeeling of empowerment and our perception ofself-worth. 3
KEY POINTS• A series of in-depth personnel surveys were carried out by the human
research team at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in BritishColumbia, Canada.
• The research participants were asked to rate the effectiveness andquality of 25 workplace engagement factors, as well as internalcommunication activities.
• The results were divided into four areas: praising employees, theopenness of manager communication, the need to listen to employeesand the dangers of information overload.
Dr. Eli Sopow spearheads humanresearch and development within thestrategic communication section ofthe Royal Canadian Mounted Police,Pacific Region Headquarters. He isalso an outside consultant toorganizations and is the author of therecently published book CorporatePersonality Disorder: Surviving &Saving Sick Organizations. He holds aPhD in Human & OrganizationalSystems and has more than 30 yearsexperience in strategiccommunication and organizationaldevelopment.
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The communication climate change at RCMP
Employee engagement and organizationaleffectiveness are inextricably linked to employeesfeeling valued and having a positive sense of self.One way to ensure that this occurs is throughinternal communication processes that not onlyencourage employee feedback, but also make it amanagement priority to share back withemployees what impact their feedback has made,if any. The RCMP research study showed that theability to have a say in decision-making canproduce a big difference in how employees feelabout many other workplace issues. In addition,knowing that such input is actually being takenseriously can make an equally big impact on howemployees feel about many other workplaceengagement factors, an example, again, of theButterfly Effect.
The study showed that those employees whofelt they had an opportunity to often providefeedback to supervisors, as opposed to those whothought there was little opportunity for feedback,also had significantly higher scores on all 25engagement factors used in the study. Forexample, those who often had a chance to providefeedback showed morale levels up to eight timeshigher than those who felt they rarely had achance for feedback. In addition, those employeeswho felt they often had a chance to providefeedback were more than twice as likely to believethey were treated fairly than those who thoughtthere was little chance for feedback.
Providing feedback on feedbackGiving feedback to managers is one thing, havingit taken seriously is another matter. In manyorganizations employees feel a disconnectbetween their being encouraged to offer ideas andcomments to managers, and the commentsactually leading to specific action. The RCMPstudy showed that organizations that don’t taketheir employees’ ideas seriously risk creating anegative ripple effect of workplacedisengagement.
For example, the RCMP study showedemployees who don’t think their suggestions makeany difference to organizational decisions have upto five times lower morale than those who think
their suggestions even sometimes make adifference; they are up to three times more likelyto feel unfairly treated; and they are up to threetimes as likely to have low job satisfaction.
There is also another angle here forcommunication specialists, managers and leaders.It’s possible that an organization indeed takesemployee feedback very seriously, with suchfeedback ultimately being part of a decision-making process – or at least it’s thoughtfullyreviewed and then rejected for good reason. Butthe problem is, employees never hear back. Andso they naturally assume that their feedback is nottaken seriously.
A lesson learned by many progressiveorganizations is that it’s even more important to letemployees know what’s become of their feedback asit is to ask them for feedback in the first place. Sucha process of providing feedback on the feedbackcreates what management scholar and author of TheFifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The LearningOrganization (1990), Peter Senge calls “double looplearning,” allowing employees not only to feelempowered within the decision-making process, butto learn from it as well.
Research finding 4: Too much uselessinformation reduces morale and effectivenessWe all complain about too much uselessinformation, especially from e-mails, and aboutdrowning in data 24 hours a day as ourBlackBerries buzz away and our cell phones ringmultiple tones. The RCMP study showed thatsuch an info-glut is more than a nuisance – it alsohas a major negative impact on key workplaceengagement factors.
The findings showed that in most casespersonnel were not getting the amount ofinformation they wanted from the source theyfound most useful, which they identified as seniorleaders and managers. Also, almost half ofpersonnel (41 percent) agreed they were gettingtoo much information not directly related towork, while only 20 percent agreed they weregetting the right about of information. Thesources of such information ranged from internalpublications and memos to the ubiquitousorganizational e-mail.
The most revealing part of the study, and ahuge impact on organizational development, wasthe correlation between those suffering from info-glut and their feeling about other majorworkplace engagement questions in the survey.Here are just a few of the findings:
Those who agreed they were getting the rightamount of information had twice the jobsatisfaction of those suffering from info-glut (35percent versus 19 percent).
Morale was 10 percentage points higher for
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“EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONALEFFECTIVENESS ARE INEXTRICABLY LINKED TOEMPLOYEES FEELING VALUED AND HAVING APOSITIVE SENSE OF SELF.”
23scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
between strategic communication, humanresource management and strategic planning –including management and leadership models.
What the study is influencing is the managerialperception of internal communication. There’s agrowing awareness that communication is farmore than a technical and tactical function(newsletters, websites, etc.); it’s a strategicfunction that requires an understanding of whatdrives and influences human awareness, behaviorand attitudes.
Today the RCMP is working on enhancing itsinternal communication, especially targeting thosemanagerial skill sets essential to raising employeeengagement levels. Those skills include effectivelistening, timely feedback, workplace recognition,information sharing and collaboration.
Such “social intelligence” skills all involvecommunication, which again underscores the vitalimportance of the strategic communicationfunction within organizations.
There’s also a great urgency for suchcommunication training and execution – not justat the RCMP but within many institutions andorganizations worldwide. The changingdemographics of the workplace mean wide swathsof the Baby Boomer generation are heading forretirement, creating opportunities for rapidpromotion and a new cadre of managers andleaders – not all of which have the necessarycommunication skills to deal with the rapidlychanging workplace climate. scm
those getting the right amount of informationthan for with too much useless information (35percent versus 25 percent).
Info-glut negatively affected the chance tocommunicate upward, a key factor in positiveworkplace engagement. Some 69 percent of thosewho agreed they were getting the right amount ofinformation also said they often/very often had achance to provide feedback to supervisors,compared to 45 percent of those getting too muchuseless information.
Attitudes about supervision of work werenegatively correlated to info-glut. While 52percent of those getting the right amount ofinformation felt they often/very often hadadequate supervision, only 38 percent of thosegetting too much information felt the same way.
The findings show that being buried with toomuch information not directly related to work isfar more than a nuisance. The study shows adirect, negative correlation between info-glut andkey workplace engagement factors that areessential to successful organizationaldevelopment. But the solutions are not simple.
Managing info-glut goes beyond technologyAt the RCMP, efforts are being made bytechnology experts to dramatically reduce, or atleast manage and prioritize, the flood of dailyinternal e-mails – a problem common to everymajor organization in the world. But some of thesolutions to info-glut go beyond technology.
Efforts are also currently underway to improveinternal communication to ensure that moreinformation is reaching personnel from sourcesthey want that information to come from, andhow they want to receive it, rather than fromwhere they commonly receive it. In some casesthis means enhanced and more frequentcommunication from senior leaders, and in othercases more opportunities for bottom-upcommunication.
What the study has underscored is the insidiousnature of info-glut. It’s far more than a nuisance –it’s also a major impediment to successfulorganizational development initiatives. But thegood news is that once sources of info-glut aredealt with there can also be a positive ripple effecton a wide range of key employee engagementfactors.
Changing the internal communication functionWhat the workplace engagement survey showedwas that even a few “simple” internalcommunication activities can go a long way toincreasing morale, workplace satisfaction, andultimately the level of overall workplaceengagement within an organization. The studyshowed the linkages and synergies that exist
CONTACT DETAILS
Dr. Eli SopowRoyal Canadian Mounted [email protected]
“THERE’S A GROWING AWARENESS THATCOMMUNICATION IS FAR MORE THAN ATECHNICAL AND TACTICAL FUNCTION; IT’S ASTRATEGIC FUNCTION THAT REQUIRES ANUNDERSTANDING OF WHAT DRIVES HUMANAWARENESS.”
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When Justin King joined Sainsbury’s as the newCEO in 2004, we had experienced challengingtimes. Keen to get the business back on track,plans were soon unveiled for the recovery ofSainsbury’s. Known as “Making Sainsbury’s GreatAgain” (MSGA) the aim was to grow sales by £2.5billion by March 2008. This would be achieved bya combination of lower prices, better productquality, improved product availability and greatcustomer service.
Instilling pride in colleaguesDelivery of great customer service was going toplay a critical role in meeting our targets and weknew that to do this we needed to re-engage allcolleagues across the entire business – a sense ofpride in the brand had to be re-awakenedinternally. In 2005 we introduced an external brandcampaign that would help reposition Sainsbury’s inthe eyes of customers. “Try something new today”became the external brand concept that woulddrive growth by encouraging every customer to putone additional item in their basket every week, as
well as livening up the shopping, cooking andeating experience.
Aligning internal and external brand valuesThe challenge for the internal communicationteam was how to bring this rejuvenatedSainsbury’s brand to life through our colleagues.As successful as the external marketing campaignmight be, if the customer experience in store didnot live up to expectations then we would fail.
The attitudes and behavior of colleagues wouldplay a huge role in our ability to be great again.We needed to enable colleagues to grasp ourvision for a great business and understand whatpart they could play in that future. We needed toenthuse them about our new brand and provideways in which they could contribute to therealization of that, while at the same time beingvery clear about the values that would lie at theheart of the delivery of that brand.
The task lay in creating powerful brandadvocates in our colleagues – this would requireinspiration, education, and engagement.
Moving away from faceless communicationA key step in the development of the colleaguecommunication and engagement strategy was thesimple realization that if we wanted colleagues tothink, feel and behave differently, then we neededto treat them differently.
The way we communicated with colleaguesneeded a fundamental rethink. We needed to givecommunication the personal touch, and ensurethat colleagues understood who Justin and thesenior leadership team were. We also needed to
Inspiring colleagues to make Sainsbury’sgreat again
Getting colleagues to be true brand advocates is theultimate goal in the journey of engagement. Here,Jacki Connor describes how – following
challenging times at leading UK retailer Sainsbury’s threeyears ago – the leadership team came together to re-engage the workforce and encourage true brand advocacyacross the organization.
Creating brand advocates through communication,involvement and feedback
BY JACKI CONNOR
scm FEATURES
J Sainsbury plc is a leadingUK food retailer with interestsin financial services. Itconsists of Sainsbury’sSupermarkets, Sainsbury’sConvenience stores,Sainsbury’s Online,Sainsbury’s Bank and storesupport centres. It has150,000 colleagues.
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ensure that they fully understood the part theyhad to play in Making Sainsbury’s Great Again.
We tried to reduce the amount of operationalcommunication that was sent out to store and placea far greater emphasis on engaging information.
Connecting colleagues with JustinThe first step in this change was the creation of theall colleague letter – a bi-monthly letter fromJustin, which was sent to every colleague. Writtenin an informal and open style, the letter coveredthe latest business performance, significant productnews and provided colleagues with informationabout corporate responsibility initiatives. This verydirect communication showed colleagues thatJustin believed in them and appreciated their needto know how the business was performing and whatelse was going on.
Overwhelming feedback from colleagues meantthat the letter soon became monthly and this hasbecome an invaluable tool for communicatingwith colleagues directly, especially when there’s ahigh degree of business activity. Now colleaguesactively seek out his letters at times ofuncertainty, because they know he’ll keep themfully informed. He has built trust with colleaguesthrough this regular and consistentcommunication.
Introducing manager briefingsDirect, face-to-face communication betweenmanagers and team members was also seen as avital tool for the engagement and mobilization ofcolleagues. So in 2005, a decision was taken tointroduce the Monthly Briefing – a chance forteams to have face-to-face time with theirmanagers, ask questions and voice concerns orsuggestions.
The first of these briefings launched ourMaking Sainsbury’s Great Again plan tocolleagues. Using a video of Justin andpresentation materials the communication teamensured that every colleague understood the bigpicture and had a dialogue with their peer groupabout the part they would play in its realization.
Now, the subject matter focuses on generalbusiness, corporate responsibility initiatives andways in which colleagues can actively contributeto the wider value of the business. The contenthas continued to develop, as has the use of videoto bring the messages to life – slides and livelyvideo material are provided to every store anddepot each month to enable the delivery of thebriefings by busy managers.
The value of videoThe videos add value because they introducemembers of the senior leadership team tocolleagues in the stores and depots. More
recently, shop-floor colleagues have been invitedto participate in the video and this has increasedthe credibility of the messages, especially whencolleagues are talking honestly and openly abouttheir involvement in different business initiatives.
It’s worth mentioning that although colleaguesgave overwhelmingly positive feedback about theintroduction of the video, managers were lesspositive. We investigated this with themanagement teams and discovered that in a storeenvironment, where a colleague presence isrequired at all times – especially at key servicepoints – it was difficult to take colleagues off thesales floor and into the training room to showthem a video.
As a result of this feedback we issued an“Amazing Monthly Briefing Box” to all sites whichcontained at least one hand-held portable DVDplayer, dependent upon the size of the store andthe number of colleagues. The premise was that,if they couldn’t bring the colleagues to thecommunication then, by introducing a portableoption, they could take the communication to thecolleagues on the sales floor.
Creating a new communication cultureA hallmark of the new communication culturecreated as part of MSGA is the desire to reallylisten to and engage with colleagues. Garneringtheir feedback and taking action has been a keytenet in our striving to be a “great place to work”.
Wherever possible, active listening has beenbuilt into communication. For example, theapproach to conferences and events has becomemuch more of a two-way experience. Time is setaside on the agenda for unscripted “QuestionTime” sessions with members of the executiveboard. These sessions are generally hosted by anexternal facilitator, or on occasion Justin himself,so that his fellow directors can’t “duck the issue”and offer a vague response. 3
Jacki Connor is director ofcustomer service atSainsbury’s. Connor joinedthe company as head ofinternal communication in2006, a role which has sincemerged with her current role,reflecting the organization’sphilosophy that the wayleaders communicate with,lead and engage colleagues,has a direct link to how theyengage with customers.
KEY POINTS• In 2004, Sainsbury’s new CEO introduced a strategy for the recovery of
the business, known as “Making Sainsbury’s Great Again”.
• Customer service was a key part of this strategy. In order to deliver thebest service, colleagues needed to be highly engaged with the newexternal branding campaign “Try Something New Today”.
• This was achieved by revising the internal communication strategy toinvolve more personalized communication, increased visibility of seniorleadership, more two-way dialogue and more action on colleaguefeedback.
• Involving colleagues has been fundamental to the improvedcommunication culture and business performance of Sainsbury’s.
We know from feedback that colleagues get agreat deal out of this element of the session. Allquestions are captured and those that are notanswered due to time constraints are answeredafter the event.
Encouraging leaders to listenIt has also become routine for the executive boardto hold regular listening groups with managersand colleagues at regional events, providingcolleagues the opportunity to talk face-to-facewith their directors. They can ask any questionsand share their opinions and views in a safeenvironment.
The benefits are two-fold: directors oftencomment on the amount that they personallylearn from these sessions, hearing about whatworks well and where we can improve ourbusiness, and colleagues really feel they have avoice. Again, it’s vital that colleagues’ feedbackand questions are widely shared.
Acting on feedbackWhilst we know that listening is important, weknow that it’s equally important to show that weare acting on the feedback that we receive. This iswhy we put so much emphasis on sharingfeedback and answering any questions that areunresolved. In addition, if there’s significantfeedback on one particular subject, we invite therelevant colleague from the store support centerto attend the next set of meetings so that they canrespond face-to-face to their colleagues.
This focus on listening has proved to be apowerful engagement tool with colleagues,particularly when they see where their feedbackhas provided learning for the business. Recentexamples of colleague feedback driving changeincludes improvements in the cleaning andguarding of stores (see side box, right).
A day for colleaguesA new addition to the Sainsbury’s event calendaris the Colleague Council Big Day. ColleagueCouncils exist in every Sainsbury’s location andcomprise colleague representatives that look ateverything from colleague facilities to charityfundraising activities. This annual event allowscolleagues to raise questions and concerns directlyto the Board who all attend the sessions. Theevents also give colleagues a chance to see firsthand any significant developments that are goingto affect them (see side box, right).
Bringing the brand strategy to life internallyInforming colleagues through communication wasa challenge, but we knew we needed to inspirecolleagues to feel positive about the brand and
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bring it to life for them.It was vital that the new brand was brought to
life internally and we needed to help colleaguesunderstand exactly what we were trying tocommunicate to customers. For example, throughcustomer research and analysis, the brand teamdiscovered that many customers “sleep shop”, i.e.they subconsciously walk through a store pickingup their usual items, and rarely try out newproducts. This was the seed for a new marketingcampaign built around the concept of “TrySomething New Today”.
To dramatize the campaign, we arranged for aman in a gorilla suit to shop in a store on a busySaturday morning and the results were filmed.Amazingly, customers didn’t notice the gorilla’spresence, as they were too stuck in their routine.The film was shown as an advert on nationaltelevision, but we also used it internally in ourMonthly Briefings so that colleagues got themessage that sleep shopping was stoppingcustomers from trying something new.
Involving colleagues in external campaignsWe also wanted colleagues to change their ownshopping behavior to become brand advocates inthe truest sense. To inspire and involve them inthis we gave colleagues samples of some of theproducts associated with the externally focused“Try Tips” campaign, which encouragedcustomers to try new products and recipes. Toaccompany the launch of Try Something NewToday, all colleagues were sent a pack of sausagesand apples and the relevant Try Tip with theirletter from Justin so they could give it a try athome. Further waves of colleague sampling areused to maintain momentum.
Once inspired, it was important that wecontinued to involve colleagues and tap into theircreative potential. To do this, a Try Tipscompetition was launched, seeking the bestsuggestions from colleagues. Following masses ofsuggestions, the best were turned into Try Tipcards for customers and were featured in thestores and in our colleague magazine.
Rejuvenating the values – starting at the topWe’re absolutely passionate that what we deliveris only half as important as how we deliver it andin the context of all of this change it was alsoimportant that colleagues felt sure about how theyshould behave. This meant demonstrating clearlythe values and style that should lie at the heart ofthe delivery of our new brand.
Sainsbury’s already had a set of values, howeverover time focus had wavered and these were notnecessarily as well embedded as they could be. Itwas important that these values were refreshedand brought to life for colleagues.
7
Inspiring colleagues to make Sainsbury’s great again
The rejuvenation of the values had to start at thetop, with the senior leaders. New leadershipbehaviors were developed in line with the values.These behaviors are now part of the appraisalprocess and when any manager is assessed onperformance, the way that the results have beenachieved is given the same importance as the resultsthemselves.
The leadership behaviors were created by theBoard and they all played a part in deliveringthese through a series of two day workshops forthe top 1000 managers. In turn, another 9,000managers have been through a one-day version ofthe course. In total, 235 workshops were heldacross the country in around 12 months.
Sharing the values with colleaguesSimultaneously, we reminded colleagues about ourvalues. A new approach was taken to explain thevalues, using video involving actual colleagues. Thisfocused on how colleagues live the values in theirhome lives as much as their work lives, followingcolleagues through various real-life scenarios.
We wanted to show colleagues that we didn’texpect them to act differently when they came towork: we recruit friendly people, because we wantfriendly people in our shops. We know people don’tchange when they walk through the front door ofour shop or depot and we don’t want them to. Wewant sincere, authentic colleagues. The approachwas all about reminding people to just keep doingwhat they do everyday.
Monitoring progressThe commercial impact of the internal and externalMSGA campaign and associated measures is clear.By October 2007, we had seen eleven quarters ofconsecutive like-for-like sales and market sharegrowth, and we are close to our £2.5 billion target.
But what about a measurable impact on colleagueattitudes and behaviors? Sainsbury’s regularcolleague perception survey, “Talkback”, measurescolleague engagement, leadership and commitment.
The results taken from 2004 compared with thelatest results show a marked improvement in theColleague Engagement Index. Some of the keyquestions have moved up over 10 points.
In addition, new questions were added to thesurvey in 2005/2006 to test the impact of our brandcommunication. Significantly, the top five highestscoring questions out of 56 included:• I understand how what I do impacts on the
shopping experience for customers – 93 percentfavorable.
• I recommend Sainsbury’s products – 91 percentfavorable.
• I am aware of Sainsbury’s long-term goal andvalues – 90 percent favorable.
Involvement at the heart of changeThe creation of the new communication culturewith colleague involvement at its heart has been akey driver for greater engagement and support ofthe brand. This case study demonstrates howrebuilding the foundations of communication byproviding greater mechanisms for open andhonest dialogue and involvement internally, canmake a real difference to the financialperformance of the business. scm
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CONTACT DETAILS
Jacki ConnorSainsbury’[email protected]
GIVING COLLEAGUES A VOICE The Colleague Council Big Day was introduced to give Sainsbury’s colleagues avoice. At the first event, 500 colleagues – one to represent every store – cametogether and reported on the concerns raised by fellow colleagues back at theirparticular branch.
One of the most prominent pieces of feedback was that people didn’t feelthat the stores were guarded effectively, and consequently felt unsafe whenleaving the stores at unsociable hours. People also felt that not enough timewas being allocated for the cleaning of stores. Colleagues raised these issuesso frequently it was clear that action had to be taken.
As a result, the company decided to invest £1 million in improving thesecurity around stores at night and cleaning them in the run-up to Christmas.This was communicated back to colleagues with a clear message explainingthat “following the feedback from your colleague council representative, this isthe decision that we’ve taken as a business.” It’s small but significantdecisions such as these that have been a key driver in the new communicationculture at Sainsbury’s.
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In television, we expect to see ourselves written andtalked about daily in red-tops, broadsheets, pubs,clubs, in the playground and around thewatercooler. We can feel very – perhaps too –important; as a new joiner from advertising saidrecently, “television matters” and that’s one of thereasons so many young people want to join eachyear and so many of our employees indicate, yearafter year in opinion surveys, that they’re proud towork in the television industry. But what happens toemployee sentiment when the praise turns tocensure and the pride to embarrassment? Whenyour company is never described in the presswithout the adjectives, “beleaguered” or “troubled”?
This article describes 18 months in the life ofITV, the UK’s largest commercial televisioncompany and a growing force in the online world,and some of the actions we took to help manage,and then change perception internally.
Our target audienceLet’s start with our people. ITV has almost 6,000permanent employees in more than 85 locations
up and down the country. As well as permanentemployees, there’s also a large body of freelancewriters, artists and technical staff.
Whilst the majority of our staff are UK based,we also have a worldwide presence with offices inLos Angeles, New York, Sydney and Cologne, aswell as some smaller offices in Rio de Janeiro,Hong Kong and Beijing.
We employ a wide range of people with a widerange of skills: from journalists and newspresenters to producers, craftspeople and highlyskilled technical operators, such as camera, soundand lighting crews. Around 15 percent of our staffbase can be out on location at any one time andmany of our production crews don’t have regularaccess to PCs.
Our office-based staff include the revenuedriving customer relations, sales, internationaldistribution and marketing teams, together withthe commissioning teams, shared servicesoperations (HR, finance, legal etc.), and ourrapidly growing new media arm, ITV Consumer.
To ensure we reach everyone in the company, wedeploy a wide range of communication methods.
The cloud of pain It’s January 2006 and we’ve just re-branded allour channels, our online services and theemployer brand. We’ve already had a difficult fewmonths after a summer of the reality show“Celebrity Love Island”, which was criticallypanned externally and internally; many regardedit as a sign that our 50-year reputation for qualityprogramming had gone south. However, after ahuge employee engagement exercise involving
Lights, camera, action: A fresh start at ITV
After receiving heavy criticism from the media andpublic alike, ITV, the UK’s largest commercialtelevision company, hired new executive chairman,
Michael Grade to change its fortunes. The internalcommunication department, explains Penny Lawson,played a key role during this time in managing thetransition and changing how the function was perceived byITV’s demanding internal audience.
Communicating a major leadership change underthe scrutiny of the public eye
BY PENNY LAWSON
scm FEATURES
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ITV is the biggest commercialtelevision network in the UK,broadcasting a full range ofgenres, including drama,entertainment, news, currentaffairs factual, sport andchildren’s programming.
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around half the company in workshops andsurveys to nail and re-create a brand and set ofcompany values for the digital age, there’s moreoptimism – and some cautiously positive presscomment.
Internal communication has been centrallyinvolved as partners with marketing and HR tobring the process and the new brand itself to lifefor everyone in the company. We have completelyredesigned our intranet to embody and reflect thenew brand and values. Internal feedback has beenexceptional, with high scores for recognition andapproval (76 percent) and a flow of commentssuch as, “I feel excited about what’s ahead”.
Then, not long after the champagne bubbleshave settled, we receive the first of two hostileand ultimately unsuccessful takeover bids. Thefragile recovery of our reputation is swiftlyundone; our CEO, Charles Allen, is frequentlyand increasingly under fire. Almost regardless ofthe viewing figures, our schedule is dismissed asfalling behind that of the BBC or our commercialcompetitors Channel 4, 5 and BSkyB.
Employees read, or have quoted to them byfriends and family an almost daily diet of negativecomment on the company, its leadership, itsproducts and prospects. Added to that there’s adownturn in advertising spend in the media andthe schedule is not performing as it should; therecently appointed director of television in chargeof commissioning new UK material, buyingimports and scheduling will take another 12-18months to make his mark, as the lead time fornew TV material is considerable.
What our current executive chairman MichaelGrade calls “ the cloud of pain” had well and trulysettled over ITV.
Stay open, build knowledge, increase affiliationWhat could we do as internal communicators? Asa FTSE company, we had to take the greatest carewith comment and rebuttal and couldn’t be seento make any form of forecast. But of course that’sexactly what people craved. We did three things.
1. Kept communication flowingFirst of all, we kept all channels ofcommunication as open as possible, includingsenior management briefings and full strategy de-briefs for all employees. Via electronicnewsletters, our daily intranet news service – andoccasional e-mails when external noise becamevery extreme – we explained and explained againthat we would give staff the facts first; but thatanything else they read or heard had to beregarded as rumor until we could confirm it. Thiscommercial reality wasn’t always fully understoodbut the flow of comment was appreciated.
2. Educated people on our programs Next, we focused on giving people something tohelp them through the dispiriting conversationalattacks on ITV: better understanding of ourprograms. A short weekly e-zine was launched.Have You Heard? summarizes a must-watchprogram on each channel and on the internet,with a short explanation of the kind of audienceit’s aimed at, and the job it’s there to do in theschedule.
3. Invested in new CSR initiativesThen with two major charity-related events comingup in the summer: the Prince’s Trust benefitconcert and Soccer Aid, a charity footballtournament, we drew attention to a great traditionof the company: using the power of the camera andof entertainment to help effect social change.
From the previous staff opinion survey, weknew that belonging to a company that caredabout social issues mattered to some 90 percentof staff. We’d taken for granted and underplayedthis emotional capital, and now encouragedpeople to be aware of the range of corporatesocial and environmental action taking placeacross the organization.
We ran an awareness week on the intranet, withcompetitions to win tickets to Soccer Aid and thePrince’s Trust concert. We also ran features oncarbon-offsetting and added a carbon calculatorto the homepage in the run up to the summerholiday season. This wasn’t simply a tacticaldistraction from larger woes; we continued withfocused moments, such as the rollout of payrollgiving and the creation of a charity fund-raising e-Christmas card.
This program of reinforcing affiliation withITV’s core traditions helped, if it could notgreatly boost, morale. Staff awareness of ITV’ssocial commitments rose and remained high whenreassessed towards the end of the year.
3
KEY POINTS• In 2006, ITV, the UK’s largest commercial television company came
under fire from the media and public, accused of failing to meet thebroadcasting standards set by its competitors.
• Prior to the appointment of new chief executive Michael Grade, only29 percent of staff felt confident with the existing leadership teamtaking the broadcaster forward.
• The internal communication department spearheaded a successfulcampaign to restore employees’ pride in ITV and foster an open andhonest dialogue with the new leader.
Penny Lawson is director ofinternal communications atITV. After a spell in the Cityand then TV journalism,Lawson worked as a changeand communicationconsultant with private andpublic sector organizationsranging from the MetropolitanPolice Service and the BBC toNorwich Union, Sainsbury’sand British Airways.
The low pointIn the summer of 2006, chief executive CharlesAllen announced he was stepping down and therewas a period of nearly three months of rumor anduncertainty before Grade’s surprise appointmentwas announced in November.
Prior to Grade’s appointment, confidence andreadiness for change were at an all time low. Inthe staff opinion survey we ran shortly beforeGrade’s appointment, only 29 percent felt thatITV’s leadership was clear about how to take ITVforward in the changing broadcast marketplace.
Our people had lost sight of the company’sunderlying strategy so it was vital that we re-energized the entire organization to geteveryone behind it again.
Communication objectives and desiredoutcomesInternal communication was ready with a plannedcampaign to address this and achieve thefollowing objectives:• To make people feel more positive about the
future.• To foster their bruised pride in being part of
ITV.• To develop confidence that communication
with and from the new leadership is open andhonest – an essential pre-requisite if Gradewas to turn the company around and bringpeople with him.
• To spread Grade’s key messages early so thatpeople felt better-informed.
Our strategyIt’s said that the CEO contributes around 50percent of a company’s reputation, so we wereclear that our task would be to articulate anddevelop “Brand Grade”. Having spent the inter-regnum encouraging more communicationbetween the leadership team and staff, we hadtheir approval and then the CEO’s to achievemaximum impact as quickly as possible to:• Communicate first with employees – not easy
in such a heavily scrutinised company.• Make face-to-face contact with Grade the
cornerstone of the plan – ITV managementhad become known for remaining in Fortress
HQ in London.• Create and capitalize on moments which
would become stories embodying the newoptimism.
• Deploy citizen journalism – make local staffrather than internal comms the mouthpiece of change.
• Involve a critical mass of 30 percent ofemployees.
• Continue to use TV/film as a key medium forcommunication throughout the campaign (toremind everyone we’re a TV company).
• Harness the rollercoaster of goodwill thataccompanied Grade’s appointment.
It should be said that our strategy was aided bysome gradual but significant improvements in on-air performance and this has continued.
Summary of our approach and methodsdeployedA campaign was built around some key factsabout the incoming executive chairman thatcorrelated with the destination he was drivingtowards. We drafted and repeated, in differentforms, a set of lines on his:• Background• Personality• Vision• Personal credo
Using each of the elements at our disposal: playingto Grade’s sociable strengths, TV, intranet, staffskills and innate curiosity, we created as complete anexperience of the new man, new era as possible, forthe maximum number of people.
SpeedOn the morning of Grade’s appointment, theannouncement e-mailed to all employees wasaccompanied by photos and a detailed biographyon the intranet, emphasizing his pedigree as aprogram-maker. Within an hour of his arriving,we had Grade’s approval for a message to allemployees and later gathered some 80 seniormanagers to meet with him for an informalQuestion and Answer, audio-linked to the rest ofthe management community around the UK.
Build upIn the two month gap before Grade re-joined ITV,we agreed a plan with him which would includevisits to all regional offices in a 100-day “listeningand learning” period. We also involved all theleadership team in delivering an informal andpersonal end of year video message, picking up onthe warmer tone and “we all need a period ofstability” message that Grade wanted to convey. Itwas also very funny.
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Lights, camera, action: A fresh start at ITV
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“MESSAGES ABOUT CONFIDENCE, BOLDNESS,RISK-TAKING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF OURREGIONAL SERVICES WERE ALL LANDING ANDTHE EXCITEMENT WAS PALPABLE.”
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A new worldWhen people arrived at work, they found apersonal letter from Grade, expressing hispleasure at being back home in commercialtelevision and setting out some of his earlythemes, as well as promising to visit each location.
On the intranet, eminent news presenterAlastair Stewart grilled the new boss to cameraabout his pedigree, his views of ITV and histechno-savvy, asking the questions that we knewour bright, skeptical workforce would want to ask.We were delighted to be asked permission by theFinancial Times to quote from this in-houseinterview and the personal letter the next day(Brace Yourselves by Clay Harris, 9 January 2007).
Staff were pointed to a new area on TheWatercooler (our intranet) called “First 100 days”,which set out the dates for Grade’s visits to eachregion, staff blogs, a news section and aninvitation to write to him.
Visibility during the first 100 daysThe first three months were characterized by visitsto each region, where we arranged for localmanagement to take the CEO on a tour to meetpeople in their place of work – on set duringfilming, at desks in the newsrooms, in finance andmarketing – reaching more than 2,000 staff in theprocess (approximately 30 percent of the totalstaff population).
A Q&A with groups of staff took place in eachcentre and Grade’s skill in uncovering problemsand announcing a solution were all reportedimmediately by staff in commissioned blogs onThe Watercooler – allowing many more people totrack his progress online. Messages aboutconfidence, boldness, risk-taking, the importanceof our regional services were all landing and theexcitement was palpable.
Other key focuses were publicizing Grade’spraise for/comments on programs; publishingemployee letters and personal responses,introducing podcasts (For example, Grade on hisvision for leadership), starting monthly lunchesfor a cross-section of managers and staff andensuring transparent coverage of the seniormanagement conference and full year results.
Measurement and outcomeThe outcome was a ringing endorsement of thenew leader, a new confidence and realunderstanding of the key messages by a dispersedworkforce. The campaign involved and engagedmanagers; enabled more than 2,000 people tohave some direct contact with new leadership andmany more to track his progress.
The campaign was evaluated in two stages.Firstly, via an audit carried out in-house acrossITV at the end of January 2007 and secondly,
through a series of focus groups with managersand staff in London and Manchester, inApril/May 2007.
In the April/May focus groups, there wereconsistent unprompted comments on theprofessionalism and impact of communicationaround Grade’s arrival: “Inspiring”, “Breath offresh air”, “We like this approach”, “A new dawn”and “Well-handled” were some of them.
Of course the corporate story doesn’t end there.The next few months were a time of listening,learning, repeating core messages and then Gradeannouncing his strategy for the next five years, toan expectant internal and external audience.Thanks to a joint communication effort fromcorporate communicators, HR and internalcommunication, we had helped to create areceptive environment for a new and moreconfident era. What we do from now on will, ofcourse, depend on everyone in the company. AsLinus warned Charlie Brown, “There is noheavier burden than great potential”. scm
CONTACT DETAILS
Penny LawsonITV [email protected]
Influence of the internal program against objectives and desired outcomes %
To make people feel more positive about the future 84
To foster their pride in being part of ITV 64To develop confidence that communication with and from the new leadership is openand honest
75
To spread Michael Grade’s early key messages and make people feel well-informed 72
Figure One: Influence of the internal program against objectives and desired outcomes
“THE CAMPAIGN INVOLVED AND ENGAGEDMANAGERS; ENABLED MORE THAN 2,000PEOPLE TO HAVE SOME DIRECT CONTACT WITHNEW LEADERSHIP AND MANY MORE TO TRACKHIS PROGRESS.”
32 scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
If the concept of New Year’s resolutions is toohackneyed a habit to stomach, consider this: thefirst quarter of the financial year is upon us. Nowis as good a time as any to consider steps you cantake to establish the indispensability of yourfunction within the company. And, in the process,move your own career forward.
The year 2008 carries with it crisis andopportunity. We’re seeing layoffs, economic shiftsof weight around the world, new clients rise to thesurface with new demands, while old clients andprojects drift and sink away. Some organizationsand their senior leaders embrace the value ofcorporate communication. Others are moreskeptical, and see it as an unneeded expense orthe last vestige of cushy corporate living.
Even if you’re not especially feeling the heat tosave your job, the challenge before you is to stillkeep your work relevant. If the skepticism hasn’talready begun, it might start in soon. So thisseems like a pretty good time for resolutions.Resolutions for cultivating and sustaining arelevance – an essentialness, for that matter – that
will see you through many quarters to come.To prepare this article, I sought out successful
corporate communication leaders inside globalcompanies, as well as thought leaders from theconsulting side of communication. Here are theirsuggestions for the best resolutions of 2008.
1. I will embrace my inner business personand own responsibility for meaningful andmeasurable ROI.The good news is that the statistics are showingthat what you do really does make a measurabledifference to your business. According to WatsonWyatt’s newly released 2007/2008 CommunicationROI Study, firms with highly effectivecommunication boast a 15.7 percent increase inmarket value.
They also experienced a 91 percent total returnto shareholders from 2002 to 2006 versus a 62percent return for low effectiveness companies,and are four times more likely to report highlevels of employee engagement.
According to Kathryn Yates, Watson Wyatt’sglobal practice director, communication, “Thestudy confirms that effective communication is aleading indicator of financial performance.”
“Good writing is important; it’s not that youleave that skill behind,” she says. “But you have to understand that in and of itself, it’s not going to be what moves the business ahead. What you’rereally doing is signing up to deliver meaningfulresults to the organization.”
2. I will consistently remember that what I domust tie into corporate objectives.
New Year’s resolutionsfor the progressivecommunicator
The new year will undoubtedly pose some freshchallenges for communicators, forcing them to evolveand adapt as the profession itself continues to change.
With this in mind, Martha Finney interviewed some leadingpractitioners to create resolutions that will prepare thoseinternal communicators who realize that pushing themselvesto be the best they possibly can, will contribute to raisingthe value of their function as a whole.
Tips from thought leaders in internal communicationto prepare you for the challenges of 2008
BY MARTHA I. FINNEY
scm FEATURES
1 2 3 4 5
33scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
“Today’s big business needs to add value,” saysJim Shaffer, leader of the Jim Shaffer Group.“Customers are pressuring all of us to deliverspeed, high quality and more value. Supply chainmanagement used to be “purchasing”, marketinghas moved from transaction management torelationship management, HR has moved fromadministration to workforce capability building.Most of the different functions have reinventedthemselves except for the internal communicationfunction today.
“Corporate communication professionals haveto know that what they can do for a company willmaterially affect the stock price or improvequality, service, cost or speed,” he says. “If theydon’t do this, they’re going to end up looking forjobs. CEOs don’t take away budgets that generateacceptable returns; they take away budgets whenthey don’t perceive that those dollars aregenerating appropriate value for the enterprise.
“No one’s fighting the communication people totake over their magazines, newsletters or intranet,”he continues. “That has to tell you something. Youdon’t have turf battles with your newsletter becauseno one else sees it adding value.”
3. I will start now because I don’t have tostart big. But I do have to track it.Terry Simpson, manager of ExpressCommunications for FedEx, says, “You don’t haveto eat the whole elephant to prove your point.Once you prove your potential as a productive,results-generating member of the team, yourcredibility is much higher and people will be moreopen to adopting your ideas and strategies, even ifit’s one plant or one city at a time.”
Simpson, along with others interviewed for thisarticle, says that the best way for corporatecommunication professionals to assert their valueto the company’s bottom line is to sign on forspecific problem-solving projects with measurableresults. While she and her colleagues haven’tjettisoned the traditional corporate awareness andinformation-disseminating projects, herdepartment also seeks out opportunities where itcan provide solutions that will either generaterevenue or reduce cost. In both cases, there isvery often a communication component to thesolution, and the return on the communicationinvestment can be measured.
One communication-generated solution, forexample, returned US $14 for every dollar spenton the project. FedEx wanted drivers to help thecompany build its export package business.Simpson’s department, upon interviewing theemployees, discovered that the drivers wererewarded for the number of pick-ups and drop-offs they did daily. And asking them to slow downand chat with customers about FedEx’s
international service actually represented a realfinancial cost to these employees. So Simpson’sgroup created a program in which the companyoffered US $10 for every lead that drivers broughtin for international business.
“We were able to track the success of theprogram because the leads were physicallybrought in and documented,” she says.“Consequently we were also able to track howmuch revenue was increased. When you provethat your ideas work, it’s much easier forexecutives to commit millions of dollars to whatyou’re doing.”
4. I will create a team of colleagues, peersand advisors who represent other functions inthe company.Simpson credits much of the credibility of heroperations to the fact that there is a financialexpert assigned to her teams.
“Get them to help you do the numbers,” shesays. “It gives you more credibility because youare personally one step removed.”
5. I will participate in other teams.Make sure that a member of corporatecommunication is assigned to major teams,departments and functions throughout theorganization (or at least where they will let you into start with). From this insider’s vantage point,you can discover opportunities to offer and applycommunication-based solutions while everyoneelse is still staring at the actual problem.
As your collaborative successes accumulate,your credibility and bottom-line value to thecompany builds as well.
6. I will not try to convince people of theunconvincible.There’s a gut-check test that I sometimes runwhen talking to potential new clients. Thankfully,I have had to run it only a handful of times in my 3
Martha I. Finney, president and CEOof Engagement Journeys, helpscompanies tell the story of theiremployee engagement initiatives. Fora free copy of the Intuit white paperthat she wrote with Craig Ramsay,Intuit's director of workforce andpeople experience research, e-mail:[email protected]
KEY POINTS• One of the main challenges that continues into 2008 is that of
demonstrating the value of the internal communication function to CEOs.
• To achieve this, communicators need to be more knowledgeable about thewider business and how their work contributes to its financial goals.
• With the emergence of several new channels, Roger D’Aprix urgescommunicators to resist using them if it’s just to keep up with trends.
• The massive increase of information resources means that internalcommunication must strive to establish itself as the one source of honestand unbiased information about the company.
34 scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
career. But once I feel the test in play, I alreadyknow that this is probably not the client for me. Icall it “Dancing Bear”. Everyone in the creativefields has been made to feel like a dancing bear atleast once in their professional lives. They knowthey have all this power and potential, all thisability to make significant changes. But somehowthey find themselves on a short leash, tied to amanipulator who derives his or her own power bydemanding more and more – and won’t besatisfied. Ever.
Don’t be the dancing bear in your organization,clumsily hopping around to other people’s powertune. Even if the prevailing opinion throughoutyour leadership is that communication is a “niceto have”, there is likely to be someone in theorganization who really needs your help. And whowill cherish it. And who then will tell others howessential you were to that department.
Seek out champions within your organizationwho will at least give you a chance to show thevalue you can bring to the company. After onesuccessful project, word will get out about whatyou can do for their envious colleagues. And noone will have the nerve to put you on a shortleash again.
information delivery tools and culture-buildingtoys. We have gone beyond newsletters and eventhe intranet into podcasts, webcasts, blogs, videoblogs and company-sanctioned social networks.Each of these alone is a terrific tool for achievingcertain organizational objectives. But it’s alsoimportant to remember that it’s not the whiz-bangthat creates the change in beliefs, behaviors andunderstanding necessary to achieve organizationalgoals. People inform people.
These technological goodies can actuallydiminish the effectiveness of any singlecommunication campaign, says Roger D’Aprix,vice president of ROI Communication. “Thisprofession is running the risk of taking its eye offthe most important objectives and going off inpursuit of trendy features. The people I talk withare already stressed and information-overloaded.To talk about diverting their attention even morewith internal blogs is nonsense.
“Communication technology is a fine tool, butit’s far from being the end in and of itself,” hesays. “It’s being oversold.”
8. I will equip our people to be the company’sambassadors throughout the community andthe world.People are talking, and saying what they want to sayabout your company. You already know that. Butyou have more control over what’s being said aboutyour business than you might think you do. You canrecruit all your company’s employees to beambassadors of your business throughout theircommunity and even the world. You must give themthe information they need to get the story straight.
It’s essential that what you tell your employeesand what the outside world knows about thecompany is consistent, says Mark Arena, head ofcommunications for the Americas for UBS. “Welive in a dispersed information age,” he says, “Andhaving employees act as ambassadors for the firmis extremely important to us. We must be surethat what people are hearing externally is thesame as what they’re hearing internally.”
Trust breaks down when there is a disconnectbetween the internal messages and the externalones. That’s a given, says Arena. But it’s importantto also remember to equip your ambassadors withthe understanding of the context of company newsand developments.
When you release information on how thecompany is performing, what is the world, industryand economic framework in which you can helpyour employees understand the meaning behind thenews? Once they understand it in general terms, canthey then understand it thoroughly enough toarticulate it in their own words to their friends,neighbors, family and banker?
“If all you have is the opportunity to show yourstuff in one place, do it and do it really well,” saysLeila Siman, director of internal communicationsfor Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc.“Cultural change takes time, and you have to finda place where your value to the organization isdemonstrable. As you do that, it’s amazing whathappens. Other internal clients begin to say ‘Metoo, I see how you increased sales over there, Iwant you to do the same for my business.’
“Your world-class CEOs get the value ofcorporate communication,” she says. “But theremay be organizations where this is still not thecase. In those situations, continue to try to raisethe bar by offering strategic perspectives topeople who will at least listen to you.” (See sidebox, right.)
7. I will remember that sizzle is not steak.There has never been such an array of delightful
New year’s resolutions for the progressive communicator
7
“YOUR WORLD-CLASS CEOS GET THE VALUE OFCORPORATE COMMUNICATION, BUT INORGANIZATIONS WHERE THIS IS STILL NOT THECASE, CONTINUE TO TRY AND RAISE THE BARBY OFFERING STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES TOPEOPLE WHO WILL AT LEAST LISTEN TO YOU.”
35scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
10. I will not give in to the spin.This corollary resolution cuts straight to thecredibility of your company and your department.Because employees have access to such diversechannels for news and insights about your company,your channel must be the one they can count on todeliver unvarnished, unmassaged, unfinessedinformation – even when that information isunpleasant.
Because of the new employment contract,individuals must be informed managers of their owncareers. And employers owe it to their people togive them the knowledge that they need to makewise decisions. Bad news won’t necessarily driveyour people away. But breach of trust will.
11. I will remember that engagement starts with me.Employee engagement programs traditionally startwithin HR and corporate communicationdepartments. This is somewhat ironic, consideringthat these two functions often have some of themost disengaged employees in the company. It’s notuncommon for people in these functions to scorevery low in the conventional engagement factorssuch as feeling appreciated and valued by theirsupervisors, and understanding how their work tiesdirectly to organizational objectives. When it comesto whether they would likely recommend thecompany to their friends and family, it’s notuncommon to hear the word “no”. These employeesare the most closely tied to knowing how the peopleside of the business is run. And, just as knowing howthe proverbial sausage is being made, it’s often not apretty picture.
Still, there is so much to love about corporatecommunication. You get to help solve the expensiveproblems that keep your executives up at night.Consequently, you get to save more jobs than youprobably even realize. If you have claimed the powerand potential that reside within corporatecommunication, you can serve as the binding forcethat keeps teams together and pushes forwarddynamic programs that offer huge returns on thecompany’s balance sheet. And, if you stop to thinkabout it for a minute, what you do every day doesserve to make the world a better place in somesignificant way.
You must take care of yourself first, before youmove to help the company lurch or surge or fly intothe future it has chosen as its destiny... at least as faras the next quarter is concerned. scm
CONTACT DETAILS
Martha I. FinneyEngagement [email protected]
UNDERSTANDING THE CEO'S EXPECTATIONSIn a recent joint study conducted by Melcrum and The Company Agency, agroup of 18 CEOs and other senior executives were interviewed to gain insightinto how they view and utilize internal communication in their role as leaders.
The good news for internal communication specialists is that corporateleaders now see their area of operations as essential for business success. Asignificant number of those interviewed identified communicating with theirstaff as one of their primary roles as CEO.
However, the interviews also revealed that the priorities of CEOs whencommunicating to employees may be very different to those of their communicationprofessionals. So perhaps resolution number 12 should be: I will try to understandmy CEO’s expectations of internal communication in 2008.
To help you find common ground, here are four CEO communicationpriorities that emerged from the research:
1. A CONSISTENT, CORE BUSINESS MESSAGEIn all the interviews conducted, one of the most consistent themes could besummed up as: “The most important role of internal communication is to makesure every single person working in this company understands our businessstrategy and knows what they need to do personally to deliver it.”
CEOs are typically not advocating the value of messaging in general. Theirfocus is quite specific and quite fervent: the one, central, core business story,and making sure it’s well constructed and well communicated. The implicationof many of the CEOs’ comments is that internal communication departmentstoo often become sidetracked from this by the messaging for too many otherprojects and campaigns.
2. LINE OF SIGHTThe CEO’s focus on the central business message isn’t about one-waycommunication and simply trying to indoctrinate the workforce with “thecompany line”. Rather, it’s about their largely intuitive understanding of whatthey believe that central message/story produces: a workforce thatunderstands what it’s supposed to be doing (in the company’s terms) and thenis empowered to do it. The drive to focus, above all else, on getting thecompany story into a digestible, locally translatable and repeatable synopsis isall with the aim of providing every employee with the context for intelligent,autonomous self-management.
3. A SINCERE AND AUTHENTIC MESSAGEClearly, communication lacking in credibility or truthfulness will fail. But, thefact that words like “authenticity”, “believability” and “genuineness”cropped up again and again in the CEO interviews when they talked aboutwhat they thought was good communication suggests that these issues areat the center of the CEO’s communication approach.
4. THE MOBILIZATION OF SENIOR MANAGEMENTThe CEOs interviewed were concerned about the current ability of theextended leadership to take on their communication mantle – and the needfor them to do so more in difficult situations. They pointed out the strong linkthey believe exists between being a speaking, listening role model of thecompany and very positive communication outcomes. They believe then thattheir managers need to have a natural understanding of, and exhibit, theseleadership behaviors.
Source: 21st Century Leadership Communication: Best practice internal communicationthrough the eyes of the CEO. www.melcrum.com
2007
36 scm Volume 12 Issue 1 December/January 2008
MELCRUM TRAINING & EVENTS
CALENDAR 2007WEBINARSWHAT DOES YOUR CEO WANTFROM YOU?
3 Thursday, 13 December, 2007TIME: 11am PST, 12pm MST, 1pm CST, 2pm ESTDuring this interactive 60-minute session, VictoriaMellor and Darren Briggs share their researchfindings to help you understand: What CEOs valueabout our work and what they don’t, how toestablish an open and honest relationship withyour CEO, why getting the message right is criticaland why helping the CEO to listen is the mostimportant thing you can do.
NORTH AMERICATHE 4TH ANNUAL CONFERENCEON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
3 27-28 February, 2008 3 Interactive Workshops on February 26,
DoubleTree Hotel Atlanta Buckhead, Atlanta, GAMelcrum’s 4th Annual Employee Engagementconference promises to be the leading forum forparticipants to continue these discussions and asource for inspiring participants to achieveengagement success in their own organizations.
TRAININGTHE INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONBLACK BELT MASTERCLASSES –COMMUNICATING CHANGE
3 23 & 24 January, 2008, Hendon Hall, Hendon,UKSue Dewhurst leads this two-day, hands-ontraining program for internal communicators whoare responsible for creating communicationstrategies to support change.
THE INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONBLACK BELT MASTERCLASSES –STRATEGY & PLANNING
3 6 & 7 February, 2008, Hendon Hall, Hendon, UKIn 2 days you'll learn all the skills you need towrite effective comms strategies. Learn to identifykey issues at each stage of the planning processand how to address them.
THE INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONBLACK BELT PROGRAM –AUSTRALIA
3 18-19 February and 17-18 March 2008,Melbourne, AustraliaLed by Adrian Cropley and Melissa Dark, theInternal Communication Black Belt Program is ahigh impact four-day residential course held atMacquarie Graduate School of Management(MGSM) and Melbourne Business School (MBS).
BOOT CAMP FORCOMMUNICATORS – DEVELOPINGA COMMUNICATION TOOLKIT FORMANAGERS
3 25-26 March, 2008, Oakham HouseConferencing at the Ryerson Student CampusCentre, Toronto, ON, Canada This two-day training program will arm you with asolid project plan for your own Toolkit, offer realexamples of successful Toolkits, provide a trulyinteractive learning setting, and supply a networkof peers to share and benchmark going forward.
To find out more about Melcrum events:
Website: www.melcrum.com E-mail: [email protected]
US/Canada Tel: 866 MELCRUM or 312 994 2468
Other:+44 (0)20 8600 4670
FOR MORE INFORMATION
38 scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
DIRECTORY OF SERVICES
DESIGN
YELLOW!
The future success of all organisations will be builton trust, understanding, passion, empowerment,integrity and relationships.
The future is cool, exciting, sparkling organisationsbursting with energy, life and action.
The future of brand is the internal brand first andforemost.
The future is colleague as customer.
Turning communications upside down?
No, just inside-out.
Be part of the future, say hello to Yellow!
We help large organisations bring their communicationsstrategies to life through the imaginative use of liveevents, multimedia, web and design – distributed acrossall media platforms including DVD, TV, mobile devices,intranet and extranet.
Ultimately developing internal brands and ongoingcommunications that have a measurable impact onpeople-performance, advocacy and the bottom line.
Contact: Paul MiddletonTel: +44 (0)161 228 6700E-mail: [email protected]: www.yellowcom.com
NEED HELP IN COMMUNICATIONS? THIS DIRECTORY OFFERS YOU LEADING INDUSTRY CONTACTS.
DESIGN
BLUE GOOSE
blue goose specialize in visual communications. We make communications work faster and better. We will link what wedo back to your objectives but we don’t talk (or charge for) “strategy” when you simply want tactical implementation. Weuse design and creativity to:• differentiate products and services; • develop and manage corporate and brand identity; • align external communications with agreed values; • internalize corporate and brand identity;• align internal communications with agreed values; • support organizational change; and • help organizations better understand and define who they are.
We work for clients as diverse as: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ford Europe, Centrica plc, Greene King, City of London Police,and Le Méridien.
blue goose is for any organization more interested in designing their future than watching it happen.
Contact: Chris BarringtonE-mail: [email protected]: +44 (0)20 8869 8500Website: www.bluegoose.co.uk
CONSULTANCY
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION &SURVEYS PTY LTD
Employee Communication & Surveys Pty Ltd is aboutique consultancy based in Sydney, Australia. Itspecializes in employee communication strategies,systems, research and employee surveys of all kinds.Principal Rodney Gray has been involved inorganizational consulting for over 20 years following a15-year career as a corporate human resourcesexecutive. Services include:• Employee communication audits and surveys by
questionnaires, focus groups and interviews.• Employee communication systems, strategies and
processes.• Employee communication training workshops and
talks.• Employee culture, climate and opinion surveys.• Qualitative organizational diagnosis (focus groups
and interviews).• Internal service quality research (qualitative and
quantitative).
Contact: Rodney GrayTel: +61 (0)2 9909 2900 Fax: +61 (0)2 9909 2911E-mail: [email protected]: www.employee-communication.com.au
CONSULTANCY
HEDRON
Internal and change communication that helps teamsand individuals to develop strategies, relationships,processes and skills to engage stakeholders, supporthigh performance and deliver change.
“Sharp strategic thinking, quality execution, effectiveinterpersonally…” “Creativity, drive resourcefulness,results, great fun…,” say clients.
All sectors – ABN AMRO, AXA, BT, Cadbury Schweppes,Department for Constitutional Affairs, HealthcareCommission, Group 4 Securicor, SABMiller, Siemens,Southern Rail, Unilever, Wincanton.
Our clients are happy to tell you what it’s like workingwith us.
Contact: Helena MemoryTel: + 44 (0) 20 7493 0735Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7493 0743E-mail: [email protected]: www.hedron.com
CONSULTANCY
Employee Communication & Surveys Pty Ltd
LEADING CONTACTS IN THE COMMUNICATION INDUSTRY
39scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
CONSULTANCY
SYNOPSIS
Founded by change and communication authority Bill Quirke, Synopsis is one of Europe’s leading internal communicationconsultancies. Our clients include such companies as AstraZeneca, BBC, BP, British Airways, Diageo, Ericsson, HP, LloydsTSB, Roche, Shell and Vodafone.
We help clients use internal communication to engage their employees in delivering business strategy, and get most valuefrom their internal communication.
We can help you:• Develop communication strategies that support your business strategy• Coach leaders• Develop line managers’ communication skills• Develop your internal communicators and get more value from the internal communication function• Plan and coordinate your communication with our online planning tool• Check the health of your communication channels and improve return on investment• Build and develop the communication function• Measure and track employee engagement, attitudes and opinions
To take a tour of our online planning tool go to: www.synopsisonline.com/product/planningtool.asp
Contact: Jane LebeauE-mail: [email protected]: +44 (0) 20 7490 2900Website: www.synopsisonline.com
CONSULTANCY
HARKNESS KENNETT
We specialize in internal communication. To us thatmeans:• motivating people through inspiring leadership;• guiding people through organizational change;• engaging people in delivering the brand.
Working in partnership with our clients is central to ourethos, enabling us to help deliver practical solutionssupported by solid strategic thinking. All of ourconsultants have held senior positions “client side” sowe know what it’s like to be in your shoes. The vastmajority of our work comes from recommendations fromexisting clients – 82 percent of our clients haverequested repeat work in the last two years.
Our clients include Abbey, Atkins, BDO Stoy Hayward,The Environment Agency, Marks & Spencer, NHS Blood &Transplant, Morgan Stanley Europe, Nestlé, PoliceInformation Technology Organisation, Royal &SunAlliance, South West Trains and Vodafone.
Our vision is simple – we want to be the first callyou make.
Contact: James HarknessTel: +44 (0)1483 222730E-mail: [email protected]: www.harknesskennett.com
CONSULTANCY
TRIDENT COMMUNICATIONS
Trident Communications is uniquely positioned to define,develop and deliver award-winning solutions that aligncommunication with business goals.
We advise and partner with organizations of all sizes tocreate high-value, practical applications. Our talentedproject teams provide innovative research, design,editorial and imagery for print and online.
We connect ideas and deliver results.
Contact: Peter Agertoft Tel: +44 (0)20 7536 8900E-mail: peter.agertoft@
tridentcommunications.netWebsite: www.tridentcommunications.net
CONSULTANCY
FLEISHMAN-HILLARD
Fleishman-Hillard’s dedicated internal and changecommunication practice helps businesses focus onperforming – not just informing.
We help organisations plan and implement programmeswith the right mix of information, dialogue and trainingso that employees are engaged, aligned and motivatedto achieve business objectives.
Because effective internal communication is vital tobottom-line performance, we partner with our clients tocreate a daily dialogue – not a monologue – withemployees.
Contact: Nick AndrewsTel: +32 (0)2 230 05 45 E-mail: [email protected]: www.fleishmaneurope.com
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR NAME HERE? A listing in our Directory of Services will giveyou a chance to reach communicationprofessionals at some of the world’s largestand most admired companies, and to tap intodecision-making practitioners.
Contact:Claudia WhitcombeTel: +44 (0)20 8600 4670E-mail: [email protected]
DIRECTORY OF SERVICES
INCLUDE YOUR COMPANY BY CONTACTING US ON +44(0)20 8600 4670, OR AT: [email protected]
CONSULTANCY
HILL & KNOWLTON
Better business results: the bottom line
How do I manage more change? Motivate managers? Getthe right information to the right people? Show the bestreturn on communication investment?
Sound familiar? Hill & Knowlton’s change and internalcommunication consultants work with companies aroundthe world, to find the right answers for their situation.
We offer strategy, insight and creativity, drawing on ourconsultancy expertise and in-house experience. Plus, wedeliver practical hands-on help.
We know that effective employee communication has adirect impact on the bottom line. Working together, wecan make it happen for you.
Contact: EMEA: [email protected]
+44 (0) 7413 3176USA: [email protected]
+1 415 281-7160Canada: [email protected]
+1 613 786-9961
RECRUITMENT
VMA GROUP
VMA Group is one of the UK’s leading executive searchand selection consultancies specializing in internal andcorporate communication recruitment.
For over 25 years, VMA Group has provided the highestlevel of service to some of the most demanding globalorganizations, developing a strong track record for thequality and professionalism of our search and selection work.
We have in-depth specialist knowledge of the internalcommunication market and can provide high-qualitypermanent and interim candidates with expertise acrossinternal communication, change management and widercorporate communication. We understand the needs ofour clients intrinsically and strive to develop long-termrelationships with clients and candidates alike.
Please call to discuss how we can help you find theideal candidate, or if you wish to make a career move.
Contact: David BroomeTel: +44 (0)20 7436 4243E-mail: [email protected]: www.vmagroup.co.uk
40 scm Volume 12, Issue 1 December/January 2008
DIRECTORY OF SERVICESNEED HELP IN COMMUNICATIONS? THIS DIRECTORY OFFERS YOU LEADING INDUSTRY CONTACTS.
LEADING CONTACTS IN THE COMMUNICATION INDUSTRY
CONSULTANCY
IBIS COMMUNICATION
Engaging employees is one of the most fundamentalchallenges facing today’s organisations. Why? Becausein a competitive world, engaged people deliver superiorperformance and help achieve better business results.
To help understand levels of engagement inorganisations, we’ve developed a methodology called theState of Engagement™ – and we’d love to tell you moreabout it. Go to www.ibiscommunication.co.uk and clickon State of Engagement™ to see our UK benchmarks.
And as well as surveys we also• Conduct qualitative research• Undertake communication audits• Prepare communication strategies and plans• Shape company messages• Implement communication campaigns• Deliver manager training to make face-to-face
channels work• Facilitate management workshops and conferences• Measure communication impact
With heaps of experience, an impressive list of happyclients and a real passion for what we do, we’d love to beworking with you!
Contact: Paul RobertsTel: +44 (0)1494 731 858E-mail: [email protected]: www.ibiscommunication.co.uk
EVENTS
INVOLVE
Make change happen faster.
When was the last time you had a conference that really moved your people and business forward?
And more crucially, when did they participate collectively in turning your words into action?
• At INVOLVE, we’ve pioneered and refined ways to use involvement to help leaders and managers set direction anddevise ways of improving their business.
• We energise employees, encouraging them to take ownership of change.• We are positive that no one else can drive collective action across your business as quickly and deeply as we can.
Get involved. Call +44 (0) 207 720 0105
We were previously called The Eventworks but involvement has always been at the heart of our company and gettingpeople behind business change.
Contact: Ashley FreemanTel: +44 (0) 207 720 0105E-mail: [email protected]: www.involveuk.com
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