The Times They Are A-Changin’

by Roz Topolski

“The only constant is change” has never been truer for Communicators, at least according to Melcrum’s recent survey.

In fact, 32% of Communicators said they spend most of their time on change communication, according to our Key Benchmarking Data for Communicators 2011 survey for organizations with 1,000 or more employees.

Rather than focusing on proactive strategies that will help their organizations thrive, these communicators are spending more time just keeping up with all the change in their organizations.

I’d like to invite those Communicators – and others who find themselves dedicating most of their resources to change communication – to attend the SCM Summit in Washington D.C They’ll discover tactics to help them navigate the complex change communication channels, such as how to:

• Become a trust communication advisor and ask powerful questions from Melcrum’s Black Belt Trainers.
• Turn front-line managers into authentic communicators, while building trust and driving adoption, from Susan Dorflinger of GE Real Estate.
• Align and engage a globally dispersed and demographically diverse workforce with corporate change from Sona Hathi of Melcrum.
• Lay the groundwork for a positive future from Leslie Cifelli of National Grid.

Join us for a unique opportunity to join communication leaders from across the US for fresh insight, thought leadership, guidance, and best practices in internal communication.

To view the full program for this year’s SCM Summit, taking place on October 4-6, visit the website and download the brochure.

Switching off the communication autopilot in preparation for the challenges of 2011

By Tanya Batra, Melcrum

Economic uncertainty is far from over - not least for the public sector who are entering a period of significant change as a result of budget cuts in 2011.

A report from the CIPD and KPMG* last week warned of the rise in redundancies set to take place over the coming months. Nearly eight in ten local government employers plan to slash staff numbers this year, and one in three companies intend to employ fewer people thanks to the comprehensive spending review.

Private organisations are also fighting their own battles; with squeezed communication teams facing the aftermath of lay-offs, morale of employees left behind and generally having to “do more with less”.

But whether public or private sector - in the face of financial challenges - the internal comms function is often one of the first to be dealt a blow through a lack of resources, when in fact, relaying difficult messages to staff, keeping them informed and maintaining engagement is more important than ever.  

Creating a “line of sight”

When faced with such difficult times, employees need their line managers to turn to for reassurance, answers and vision. It’s easy to forget the importance of face-to-face communication and the powerful line of sight managers can establish for their team members to connect them to the overall business strategy, especially during tough times.

But with line managers being hired for their own specialism’s rather than their explicit communication abilities - what remains a worry and issue is that the second you step away from owning the communication space - the risk of managers not conveying messages correctly and not performing the role as well as you becomes all the more real.

This fear was brought to life for internal communicators at BBVA Compass, a top 15 U.S. bank, when managerial communication was highlighted by employees as being inadequate. However, rather than simply attributing the low ratings as a result of the communication shortcomings of managers, they instead considered the position of managers at a time of large-scale organisational restructuring.

In their response to dealing with line manager communication issues, BBVA acknowledged that the task of making their managers highly effective communicators needed to go beyond team briefings, emails, slick PowerPoint presentations, "selling the company-line" and putting a "positive-spin" on things. They revisited the concept of the cascade, reinvigorated it through technology and pushed managers to embrace it.

Switching off the autopilot

Managers need to be guided by communicators to switch off the communication autopilot and remove the corporate mask when it comes to communicating with and engaging their team members, as well as be given access to tools, techniques and resources that allow them to find and embrace an authentic communication style that works to their individual strengths - allowing them to communicate effectively, whatever the message may be. 

To get your free copy of the compelling BBVA Compass case study, and read about how they tackled issues surrounding line manager communication delivery, visit the website for our upcoming event, Bridging the gap: Making managers better communicators, which takes place on 29 March. 

*Labour Market Outlook, http://www.cipd.co.uk/research/_labour-market-outlook/current-report.htm

 

Highlights from Melcrum's SCM Summit Australia

Katrina Andrews, Director, Melcrum Asia-Pacific

This year’s 7th Annual Strategic Communication Management Summit in Sydney, drew together a crowd of over 120 communicators, based throughout Australia and Asia, including Japan and China. Compared to last year, in the midst of the global financial crisis, there was an air of optimism in the room. If I was to sum up in one sentence the general attitude of the audience it would be: "We’re through the worst of it. Let’s reignite, reinvent and most importantly re-engage."

There were case studies of communication triumph against adversity, with Andrew Huckel, group internal communications manager, Bankwest, coaching us through the internal comms challenges faced when a parent company collapses (HBOS) and a subsequent acquisition takes place (by Commonwealth Bank of Australia).

Most interesting was to hear how their senior leadership played an integral part in keeping their employees informed and internal brand consistent. Huckel told the audience that in the midst of the crisis, he was having twice daily meetings with the MD.

Olivia Wirth, head of corporate communications, Qantas, delivered an outstanding presentation on how she and her team harnessed and learned from Qantas' 13 individual unions – a communication prospect that would make most of us shudder.

Communicating within such an iconic Australian brand like Qantas brought up a whole set of challenges, including the mainstream media being named the primary source for organizational information for employees. Quite simply, Qantas “hadn’t invested in internal communication” -  a challenge both Wirth and the executive team set out to change by introducing "we will tell you first" –  a new governing internal communication principle.

Spurred on by the belief that if you haven’t got your top 100 engaged, you're not going to get the rest of the business engaged, the team set out to develop a new senior leadership communication project. Plus, executed a brand review process targeting individual staff across the organization with a set of questions focused on:

• What do you think our values are?
• How do you think that relates to your behavior?
• And reflecting the nature of the Qantas brand: What is the "Australian way"?

At the completion of Olivia’s presentation, I really was left convinced that this was a company  on its way to delivering world-class communications.

Some of the other key takeaways from the Summit included

• Melcrum’s Rebecca Richmond’s presentation on moving from a cascade to a dialogue approach to communication. When thinking about manager communication, help them to set the scene i.e. create the infrastructure. Bill Quirke’s model for structuring a meeting is a great tool to help manager’s foster dialogue within your organization
  
  
• Athena Wiliams-Atwood, AMP New Zealand, encouraged all communicators to adapt a sales approach to convince senior leaders of the importance of engagement, perhaps by reading Spin Selling – a book on how to pitch your ideas, or – even more radical – attending a sales training course!
  
  
• Insights and learnings from one of the year's biggest stories: the multiple outages that hit Telecom's XT mobile network. Also, a great example of how to harness a charismatic CEO can be seen through their use of video.
  

Plus, great further presentations from Ericsson, IBM & ABT, Luxottica, Raytheon, AMP Australia and Integral Energy. All up, great speakers with great networking – I’m already looking forward to 2011!

Confronting negativity in the workplace

By Nishwa Ashraf, Editorial Assistant, Melcrum

Moaners, groaners and whiners.

We’ve all had the misfortune of working with them. The cynic who shoots down an idea before it’s even thought, the complainer who scoffs at the mention of the word “team” – team meetings, team lunches, team efforts - the critic who, despite the best intentions of the company remains permanently unsatisfied.

Moaning employees might seem like a minor inconvenience, but nothing affects employee morale more insidiously than persistent workplace negativity. Not only does it sap energy out of your organization, but it also diverts critical attention from work, performance and productivity.

We all face problems and frustrations at work from time to time, but complaining endlessly doesn't lead to solutions, but rather perpetuates and magnifies the problem, creating a contagion of bad feeling, and ultimately a disengaged workforce.

As an internal communications professional, keeping your finger on the pulse of the organization enables you to establish and heed early warning signals that all is not well in the workplace.

In some cases it could simply be that the person doesn’t enjoy their job, and doesn’t want to be there.

But perhaps it’s more than that.

Perhaps the organization made a decision that adversely affected staff. It could be that rumors are circulating of an impending layoff. Perhaps an influential leader held a meeting and was perceived to ignore staff asking legitimate questions. Maybe some feel that they give more than they receive in the organization.

Whatever the cause of workplace negativity, the issue must be dealt with head on.

Start by identifying the exact employee groups experiencing this negativity and the nature of the issues that sparked the gloominess. Monitor discussions on employee intranets, coach managers in appropriate employee treatment and manage the appraisal and 360 feedback process. This knowledge will aid you in identifying symptoms of negativity before its morale busting consequences further damage your workplace environment.

How does your organization battle negativity within the workplace? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Lack of jobs for communication graduates

by Harriet Thomlinson, Intern

Since the recession, we’re constantly hearing how internal communication is becoming an increasingly recognized function – with practitioners being called upon for everything from layoffs, pay freezes to restructures. Strange then, that for such a valued profession, 14 percent of last year’s communication graduates are still unemployed.

The research, carried out by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, revealed that the chances of students finding work post-graduation depend on their choice of subject, with zero unemployment rate for medicine and education (5%) to be the lowest, while communication has the second highest unemployment level, trailing not far behind computer science (17%).

There clearly aren’t enough comms jobs out there, but perhaps if businesses took the profession more seriously, communication students wouldn’t be in such a predicament and the future of communications would seem a little more optimistic.

Not only is this research particularly negative for the communication industry, but as a prospective university student it makes one wonder, “If highly skilled communication graduates can only manage to find jobs in places that don’t require their trained skills, eg. bartending, waitressing, working in a factory, then what’s the point of studying communications at university?”

So, what’s the cause for such statistics? Is it a case of supply over demand? Is it due to a decrease in the number of communication teams, or the scrapping of them all together as a result of the recession?

And if communication is a temporary casualty of the credit crunch, will these statistics potentially dissuade students choosing communication as a vocation, resulting in a lack of future communicators?

After all, let’s not forget that even the fields with the lowest unemployment figures require the help of both internal and external communications for many different aspects of their function. Take a look at how the World Café concept helped employees re-engage during the recession.

If you’re struggling to find a job in communications, check out Melcrum’s jobsite.

Do you think there aren't enough communication roles out there? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The FOOF is in the pudding

By Nishwa Ashraf, Editorial Assistant, Melcrum

The worst of the recession might over, but that doesn’t mean communicators have to wave goodbye to cost saving exercises.

It’s worth keeping in mind that, even if your company isn’t making lay-offs, budgets are still tight and engagement is more important than ever. But how do you tie in the two?

The answer is FOOF: Focusing On Our Future.

A term coined by Aggregate Industries, FOOF saved the business more than £30 million during the height of the recession and is a highlight of today’s ‘Fresh Ideas for Internal Communicators’ Melcrum member event in London.

Facing redundancies in 2008, the construction company refused to become a casualty of the recession, setting up a campaign in conjunction with communication specialist Top Banana with an aim to save costs, prevent more job losses, boost revenues and drive cultural change. Here are just a few of the initiatives suggested by Top Banana and implemented by the Leicestershire-based business which transformed the company’s cultural future.

1.    A cross-sector of employees were selected to attend a conference fronted CEO, Bill Bolsover, where they asked him business critical questions that mattered to them. Bolsover then challenged every attendee to think of a cost saving solution under the ‘Pinch and Inch’ programme, from one pound to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

2.    The 80 delegates who attended the first meeting were then asked to encourage others to watch a video of the conference. Every colleague who viewed the event was then given a blue badge.

3.    The ‘Pinch an Inch’ programme: Whether an employee saved a pound by carpooling or hundreds of thousands of pounds by re-negotiating a contract, every penny counted and was documented on the Aggregates Industries intranet. Individual employees logged each cost saving and others could then use these ideas to save the business more money. Employees were able to see their collective daily savings through a “Cashometer”.

4.    The Green Dot project was the final part of the savings programme. Employees were again encouraged to take part but this time place green dot-shaped stickers on things such as light switches and computer monitors as a reminder for colleagues to switch them off. A simple but extremely effective initiative.

Aggregate Industries, as a result of these cost saving actions, has now ingrained this method of working in every working practice in the business, saving a massive £30m. Chief executive Bolsover, a notoriously traditional and hard to please leader, said: “By the third quarter, people were talking about FOOF to me, not the other way around.”

Leadership 2.0: 10 ways a CEO should communicate to employees

By James Bennett, Managing Online Editor, Melcrum

Stephen Martin, CEO of Clugston Group and star of hit Channel four television program 'Undercover Boss', delivered an inspirational speech at last week's Melcrum Strategic Communication Management Summit in London, Europe’s largest annual gathering of senior communication professionals.

"The tough times are far from over and we must react now by communicating far more effectively with our employees,” said Martin. Now is the time for leadership 2.0!

Here are his 10 tips on how CEO’s should communicate to employees during and after a recession:

1. Communicate, communicate, communicate: Communicate more regularly then ever before.
2. Always be seen by employees – leave your ivory tower and listen to what frontline employees have to say.
3. Inform widely and get large-scale opinion form employees.
4. Eliminate the culture of executives in suits and workers in overalls/uniform – this puts employees off and communication is immediately lost.
5. Brown bag lunches – my door is always open and I regularly have lunch with my employees but only when it suits them.
6. Refresh your communications as often as possible.
7. Ask and consult your employees at all times – go around the office/construction site/shop floor and ask all of them what they think.
8. Demonstrate you have listened and stick to your promises.
9. Talk to them at a time that suits them.
10. Invest in training of frontline supervisors and managers – if you don’t nothing will change.

US firms favour internal comms as no.1 retention tool

By James Bennett, Managing Online Editor, Melcrum

Retaining key staff is the Holy Grail of maintaining productivity and profitability during an economic downturn, however retention often involves boosting salaries to keep- employees sweet – something that very much against the culture of almost every business that has suffered at the hands of the worst recession in 60 years.

That said a recent survey out today by workforce productivity improvement group i4cp found that 18% of high-performing organizations have already taken the step of increasing compensation levels to reduce turnover, compared to 7% of lower performers, while the same ratio of high performers (18%) and 24% of lower performers plan to implement pay raises in the next six to 12 months.

The highlight, however is that this doesn’t necessarily have an effect on staff retention, internal communications does, with the majority of US respondents (81%) naming the function as their favored method. Among higher market performers, a massive 91% pointed to communication as their top method of staunching turnover, compared to 71% of lower performers. An increased focus on talent management (77%) was the second-highest choice, with succession planning (59%) third.

Looking to the future and the eventual recovery that is slowly materializing, 70% of higher-performing companies said they were planning to stem the number of staff departures by increasing their focus on succession planning and talent management with leadership training being planned by 66% of higher-performing firms. Lower performers said they planned to focus first on talent management issues (71%), followed by 62% who plan to increase internal communication.

The study showed that higher performers are more likely to involve employees in the process, however an incredible 21% admitted they had never surveyed their employees about engagement issues, compared to a more credible 36% of lower performers. Both higher and lower-performing companies that conduct surveys are  most likely to survey their workers annually. More reassuringly, and based on the results of their most recent surveys, 49% of higher performers reported an increase in engagement, compared to a quarter (26%) of lower market performing organizations.

Six days away from largest gathering of internal communicators in Europe!

By James Bennett, Managing Online Editor, Melcrum

We’re now less than a week away from the largest gathering of internal communicators in Europe. A huge turn out of 187 of your peers, colleagues and competitors will be attending the Melcrum SCM Summit in London between 13th and 15th October 2009 listening to and debating with some of the brightest minds in the profession including Best Companies Partnership’s Wayne Clarke, Channel 4’s Undercover Boss Stephen Martin and a host of senior practitioners from some of Britain’s largest and most important companies, organisations and bodies such as HSBC, Vodafone and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

If you're not convinced listen to our exclusive pre-summit interviews with some of the events biggest names.

Despite the workshops on 13th October selling out faster than ever before, we have managed to persuade The Tower Hotel to increase its capacity to more than the 150 cap, so if you or one of the team still want to come along, all you need to call us now. You won’t be sorry.

Discussing how to rebuild trust, re-engage employees and increase performance has never been more important than today – an era where both budgets and resources have been slashed in greater quantity and numbers than ever before. And it is you, the internal communications profession, that has the responsibility to change that downwards spiral and bring the UK and the rest of the business world back ito prosperity once again. Never has your role been greater.

As our keynote speaker Wayne Clarke says: “Fifteen of the top 100 companies doubled their turnover and tripled their profit in five years.” And what seems to be consistent among these high-performing organisations? “They all make effective use of line managers to translate and communicate core company objectives, achieve high levels of employee engagement, and ultimately, impact the bottom line,” adds Clarke.

We look forward to seeing you next week. Don’t miss out, be there!

10 great reasons to attend this year’s SCM Summit London

By James Bennett, Managing Online Editor, Melcrum

If you haven't already, make sure you sign up the Melcrum's SCM Summit in London 13th to 15th October 2009! It's only 27 days away!!!

  Here are 10 great reasons why you should!

1. The economic recovery - looking to the future: find out why successful internal communicators are the key to leading us to economic recovery, how they can rebuild trust in leaders, re-engage employees and increase performance, and plan for 2010 by refreshing your ideas and knowledge and finding out what’s working for others.
2. Take the lead - find out how your peers are becoming trusted advisors to the leadership team, and coaching managers to be better communicators.
3. The best networking - rub shoulders with the best and brightest in the industry, the largest gathering of senior communicators in Europe this year.
4. Latest research - hear the latest trends and Melcrum research into internal communication best practice in rebuilding trust, change communication, social media and employee engagement.
5. International perspective - meet delegates from all over Europe, the US, Africa and Middle East and gain an international perspective.
6. Case studies: hear first-hand accounts from senior communicators at HSBC, ING, KBC Group, Network Rail, Westminster City Council, Asda, Volvo and Vodafone amongst others.
7. FIRST UK PRESENTATION!!! A CEO’s unique view of comms - don’t miss this year’s special guest Stephen Martin, star of Channel Four’s ‘Undercover Boss’ series and CEO of construction company Clugston Group as he recounts the lessons he took back to the boardroom after working on the frontline.
8. Ideas you can put into practice - you’ll come away with dozens of proven techniques and ideas you can use back at the office.
9. Get involved - the SCM Summit is more than a conference, it’s a chance for you to gain feedback, discuss your challenges and hear what’s working via roundtable sessions, panel discussions, and interactive workshops.
10. Communicators trust Melcrum to deliver - now in its 8th year, the SCM Summit is the one event you tell us you can’t afford to miss, even when your budgets have been cut.

We have three summits, one in Australia, that is in its first day today, one in the US in Chicago and of course London.

Follow us at all three summits on Twitter via the following hashtags:

Australia: #scmau
United States: #scmus
United Kingdom: #scmuk