Part One: Presentations from last week’s Change Communication Conference

70 communicators in surprisingly sunny Melbourne joined us last week for our Change Communication Conference. It was a great group, with some great discussions taking place.

Some key-highlights for me include:

Peter Bush, CEO, McDonald’s Australia –McDonald’s were facing extreme ridicule in the press and because they didn’t respond, they were assumed guilty through their silence. Their external communications plan actively set out to address these myths by:
1)    Being available! McDonald’s wanted to always be able to respond to the media – so they made at least one representative available to journalists at all times
2)    Designed an active response team to answer false media stories
3)    Built relationships with government, the media, dieticians and GP’s
4)    Conducted one-on-one sessions with opinion leaders in the government
5)    Played a key role in obesity and dietician forums
6)    Told the McDonald’s story

However despite all their efforts they did still receive backlash from the press. When Peter joined the board of the Dietitians Association of NSW, one SMH heading said “It’s like putting Dracula in charge of the blood bank” -  a comment that was later retracted on page 234!

McDonald’s internal communications plan included:
1)    Road shows to include company employees, licensees, store employees and suppliers - which is no mean feat considering there are over 6,500 store employees alone
2)    Meetings – who attends, make sure the right people are in the right meetings
3)    Developing internal newsletters: Bush Telegraph (from Peter) and No-Bull (from Katriona Noble)
4)    Designed NABIT (nuts and bolts implementation): 20-page booklet. Inspiration for designing this was that they collected all the emails that were sent to a manager over one week, which equalled five boxes! So now they receive NABIT.
5)    Bathroom media! As Peter quite rightly stated – you’ve got a captive audience, with posters and information sheets attached to toilet doors.

All round – great presentation, thanks Peter.

Melinda Craig, Internal Communications Manager, Energex – delivered a really engaging presentation on changing employee behaviour in line with corporate values. Energex as a business has experienced quite a bit of change over the last 5 years – with 5 Chief Executives and with more than 70% of the Executive Management Team new. So in a rapidly changing environment, Melinda outlined how they communicated their new set of values to the business:
1)    Use existing communication channels (forums, team meetings etc)
2)    Visible and sustained support from leaders
3)    Cascade the new values from one level of management to the other (credibility of source)
4)    Make the rollout interactive – involve staff
5)    Make the materials relevant and real
6)    Stage the rollout – avoid the ‘big bang’ approach
7)    Create understanding and engagement through ongoing dialogue / conversations
Staging the rollout:
Preliminary stage - involved stakeholders in developing values and behaviours
Rollout
•Stage 1 - inform managers/supervisors
- Officially launch values at Leaders’ Forum (bulletin board message, values screen saver, intranet site, corporate brief)
•Stage 2 – inform and engage staff
- Initial team information sessions (Leaders’ information sheet, fact sheet, FAQs and feedback mechanisms)
•Stage 3 – create ongoing focus on values
-Values workshops (facilitators’ guides, values booklet, posters, ‘Turn on to our Values’ competition, values award program, measure our success).
•Stage 4 – embed the values
- Build values into leadership development
- Embed values and desired behaviours into your systems e.g. selection and recruitment, performance management, rewards and recognition
- Ensure policies reflect and reinforce new values
- Build values into conversations and communications
- Measure and report on success

That’s only two of the eleven sessions – great couple of days.  Thanks to everyone who attended!

Katrina

P.S. Here’s a round up from the Maintaining Engagement through Change interactive session:
http://www.blackbeltdojo.co.uk/australia/

P.P.S. Part two of this conference summary on it's way! Next up: video's of our presenters outlining their key take-aways...