Change looks less intimidating when you've got the CEO's backing

By Mandy Thatcher, Head of Content, Melcrum

Melcrum's Employee Engagement conference in Amsterdam kicked off in fine style today with a comprehensive description of the communication approach in place to help the Belguim-based KBC Group through an ongoing period of rapid expansion (maintaining engagement during organisational change is a strong theme at this event).

Viviane Huybrecht, head of group communication and press office at KBC, set the scene by describing some of the challenges the organisation faces as a result of acquiring a number of geographically dispersed companies over the last few years (in the short time since her presentation was prepared, the company had already grown from 53,000 to 55,000!).

The list of challenges sounded daunting: the acquisition of companies with very different corporate and national cultures, no real internal communication culture in place in local operations, language issues, cross-cultural differences, physical distance and little opportunity for face-to-face contact with people from the corporate head office.

But with the CEO's backing, Viviane's team is pushing through some impressive changes.

What struck me about this presentation is how clearly defined and articulated the communication goals are, and how the strategy hits all the right “best practice” notes. It’s amazing how challenges suddenly feel slightly less intimidating when there’s a clear plan of action for how to move forward, and I’m sure the rest of the communication team at KBC must feel the same.

And this structured approach must be working, in the last two years, the list of actions taken or currently in progress include:

• Assessment of all internal communications through focus groups, face-to-face interviews and surveys – and a more streamlined approach as a result.

• Strengthening the “community of practice” of internal comms colleagues groupwide.

• A one-day cross-cultural workshop with internal communicators groupwide (this sounded fascinating and well worth the investment of time and effort).

• Redevelopment of the intranet to act as a groupwide channel.

• And, perhaps most importantly, a focus on improving manager communication skills that encompasses a communications charter, clearly defined responsibilities, competencies and accountability, training, tools and resources.

All these activities are endorsed and supported by their CEO. Which brings to mind one of the key findings from Melcrum’s recent research into CEOs and internal communication. When it comes to the power of good internal communication, CEOs do actually “get it”. They’ve usually made it to the top because they’re good communicators themselves, so they shouldn’t need much convincing on how effective communication can help achieve business goals.

My takeaway from this? If you have the good fortune to work closely with your CEO – or at least have regular contact – this person could be your strongest ally in the battle for better internal communication – especially from managers and other leaders. If not, perhaps start looking for the next best person on the senior leadership team!