Reassessing internal communication's core competencies with Melcrum's Strategic Research Forum

 by Kelly Parsons, VP Research and Content,

The Strategic Research Forum’s work on The Future for Internal Communication study and, more recently, the Optimizing Global-Local Communication report has highlighted a breakdown in our approach to IC competencies and professional development.

As we push to elevate the role of internal communication in the global organization, we must take a hard look at the expectations and performance management systems we put in place for ourselves – these systems are in dire need of an overhaul.

Let's take a look at some core competencies, issues and how Melcrum can help:

• “Trusted advisor”: While a laudable outcome, this is not in itself a competency. We need to hone in on the specific skills and knowledge that allow us to become business leaders and advisors and then hire – and develop – against those.
• Project management: Rising in importance, this “baseline” competency is often lacking in IC’s toolkit. Yet the pace of change and proliferation of channels and audiences require IC to scope, plan and deliver projects efficiently and effectively.
• Digital: This is a tough one because, while it may be “just another channel”, it’s one that’s on the up. Furthermore, it’s disrupting many of our business models in ways we couldn’t have predicted five years ago. Smart communicators are asking “what will digital do to our business and how can I get out ahead of it with?” Understanding and tapping into digital channels and networks is likely a competency area that will set winners apart in the future.
• Global: No, global is not a competency. But it is a driver of the need to standardize competencies. IC professionals, like the entire workforce, are becoming more mobile. Without global expectations, tools, and assessments in place, we cannot have confidence that an IC professional in London will be successful when transferred to Hong Kong. 

Melcrum’s plan

We’re revisiting internal communication competencies with a critical eye, collapsing skills into broader groupings and blowing out emergent competencies to understand the specifics of success underneath. Look out for a new model in the coming weeks, followed soon after by interactive tools and systems to help you evolve your own competency models.

Until next time,

Kelly

What's the future for internal communication? Key themes from Melcrum's transatlantic briefings

by Kelly Parsons, VP Research and Content, and
Luke Dodd, Features Editor, Melcrum           

Senior level internal communicators from around the world attended Melcrum’s research briefings that were held concurrently in London, UK and Washington DC, USA this week.

The briefings were held to share Melcrum's findings from its latest research study, produced for members of the Strategic Communication Research Forum (SCRF) – The Future for Internal Communication – as well as to promote lively debate and discussions on best practise. 

 

  London, UK

 

Simon Garcia, head of global communications, Gazprom opened the breakfast briefing, which was held at the company’s offices in central London. In attendance were senior representatives from companies including Bank of America, SABMiller, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Deutsche Bank and Tesco.

Rebecca Richmond, director of research and content, Melcrum presided over events and showcased highlights from The Future for Internal Communication study.

All core messages of the report were covered, which included issues surrounding the post-recessional environment, the drive for productivity, the diversifying workforce and re-engineering corporate structure and management.

Good quality debate took place throughout the day with several hot topics raised.

A discussion on EVP led to the point that Generation Y may not be thinking longer term, in terms of career progression and professional development. However, it was suggested that they were, in fact, looking for a company to care about their lives and think about them as an individual, not just as an employee.

It was also argued that EVP is a two-way street: and that employee value proposition should be re-termed as employment value proposition. The interaction should work both ways and be about what the employee can do for the company, as well as what the company can do for the employee.

The pros and cons of segmentation were debated and some attendees believed there was room for a stronger focus on this area at their company. The notion of partnering more with marketing in the process of segmentation also interested the group. Line managers were also discussed, and their importance highlighted when the idea was posed that they were a “human channel” and imperative to delivering internal communication strategies.

Also, attendees raised the point that annual employee surveys were viewed as non-essential in their company, as there was simply not enough turn-around time to act upon the different points raised. Another controversial opinion shared was that internal communication was viewed as governance and monitoring when talking about social media, as opposed to a supporting function.

 

  Washington DC, USA

 

Meanwhile in the US, members of Melcrum's SCRF, from companies including Citigroup, ExxonMobil and Neustar, convened for a day of learning and shared insights at Melcrum's US office in Washington DC.

Using the frame of The Future for Internal Communication study, the group discussed the key challenges communicators must overcome as they respond to a changing external environment and increasing demands from internal partners.

They touched upon the inadequacy of existing knowledge management systems in most organizations. One member mentioned her success in utilizing an alumni portal and "ask the expert" platform to connect employees to the right information at the right time.

Another major theme of the day was the difficulty members experienced "getting out in front" of technology. Attendees shared strategies for partnering more effectively through "intentional interactions" with IT to drive adoption and usage of high-potential, but under-performing, tech platforms.  

The group also shared their experiences of outdated competency models; a common theme across the day. In response to this, the need for a revised competency model and associated tools will rise to the top of the Forum's agenda. Look out for this in coming weeks. 

Additionally, capturing and controlling "ambient information" was considered important: members shared ideas for keeping track of what employees are saying, filtering and translating it to decision-makers and, ultimately, using informal communication channels to influence the conversation.

Until next time,

Kelly and Luke

A glimpse into the "mysterious unknown"

By Tanya Batra, Melcrum

In last week’s poll, we asked:

"When you consider the future for the internal communication function in your organisation, what needs to be your highest priority over the next 3 years, to make this a reality?"

Results revealed:

1. 44% The Drive for Productivity
   Creating an agile organisation that can drive for productivity and increase efficiencies.
2. 29% Corporate Structure, Management and Sustainability
   Building a sustainable corporate culture and ensuring leaders are equipped with the ability to navigate through any economic climate.
3. 14% The Diversifying Workforce
   Meeting the challenges of a diversifying workforce: global/local balance and cross-generational differences.
4. 13% The Post-Recessional Environment
   Addressing the "people-related" implications in a post-recessional environment.

These four trends represent the key findings from a recent research report, "The Future for Internal Communication", which we produced exclusively for members of our Strategic Communication Research Forum, and began based on the premise of the following quote from UK think-tank, The Work Foundation:

 

"Trying to predict the future is an unenviable task. The mysterious unknown becomes the blindingly obvious through the course of time, yet it is usually hindsight not foresight that provides us with that clarity of vision… Even if predictions do not come to pass, anticipating the future helps us to plan for the changing expectations of employers and employees and the implications of change on the working world and wider society".

After extensive research and interviews with business analysts, futurologists, sociologists, behavioural psychologists, senior business leaders and comms experts, we were able to establish these as the four key trends set to shape the business landscape over the next three to five years. From these, we’ve been able to predict the likely implications for internal comms in terms of business demands, and propose solutions and recommendations accordingly.

 

The programme for this year’s 10th Annual Strategic Communication Management Summit was inspired by this report and is interwoven with each of the above trends, providing delegates with foresight and practical examples of approaches from leading companies who are successfully meeting these challenges.

 

"The Drive for Productivity" was indicated as the highest priority for the majority of our poll respondents, and this trend of  “doing more with less” is very much set to continue across organisations over the next few years. Therefore, achieving maximum productivity will be the defining factor for differentiation and growth - especially in the developed world as the markets for people and innovation slow down.

 

The challenge here for IC is in creating an agile organisation that can strive for this productivity and tap into internal intelligence by building a better-connected workforce and maximising collaboration.

At Unilever, the team have already begun increasing workforce efficiencies with their "Agile Working" approach. Through changing work practices, new technologies and creating new working environments, they’ve created a culture which allows maximum flexibility and minimal constraints while importantly increasing productivity and employee engagement. Michelle Pattison, global agile working programme director at Unilever will be sharing her experiences first-hand at this year’s SCM Summit.


Also sharing their stories around the drive for productivity will be senior leaders from:

• Ericsson on developing their corporate intranet into a collaborative, informative space where employees across the globe are exchanging knowledge and ideas;
• NHS Blood and Transplant on using inexpensive tools to maximum effect in the face of drastically reduced budgets;
• Yammer, MS SharePoint and the Intranet Benchmarking Forum, leading a panel discussion on "The Digital Workplace" - covering key areas such as the evolution of the digital workplace, the impact on productivity and day-to-day behaviours, and what works, what doesn’t and what’s yet to come in terms of collaborative platforms. 

 

The other three identified trends will also feature heavily throughout the Summit, with case studies and workshops from leading organisations including TUI UK & Ireland, Harrods, SSP UK, AkzoNobel, MacLeod and Clarke (authors of the 2009 report to government, "Engaging for Success"), Nationwide Building Society, Towers Watson, eBay Europe, first direct, and Great Place to Work Institute.

Rebecca Richmond, group director of content and research at Melcrum will be kick-starting things at the first of two interactive pre-summit workshops with a "future forward" exercise which will see delegates conducting an audit of the current state of IC in their organisation, considering the desired future state, and then identifying ways of "closing the gaps".

And tying things up on day two of the Summit will be Sophie Sheppard, european research and training delivery manager at Melcrum, who’ll discuss the findings from our "Future for Internal Comms" report in-depth, and address key questions around the identified trends. 

If you’d like to read more from our report, "The future for internal comms" you can download a free extract along with the 2011 Summit programme here.

 

Has social media signalled the end for email?

by Kate Pledger

The recent decision to begin fazing out email in favour of social media by international software company Atos Origin has initiated strong debate. So much so, that it's prompted senior managers to question the relevance of email-based communications in their companies and contemplate the practicalities of a "zero email" initiative, according to Luke Dodd, Melcrum's features editor in his article “Is email dead?”

Boosting employee engagement and collaboration is increasingly on the agenda for many organizations, according to Melcrum's How to use social media to solve critical internal communication issues report. And with social media delivering on this, it could be said that the demise of email is imminent.

An increased involvement with social networks can improve a senior manager’s interaction with the rest of the workforce and establish a shared sense of identity among workers. In using social networking tools such as Yammer or Microsoft Office Communicator, employees can formulate new initiatives in a quick fire, rapid response environment.

Managers can also gauge the wider attitude and outlook of the staff as well as thoughts regarding new policies or changes in the workplace.The survey reveals a rise in employee feedback and an increase in the accessibility and visibility of business leaders as a result of using social media. A new report from digital research firm Comscore has also noted a significant drop in email usage, most notably in the millennial generation, or young people under thirty.

Significantly, the adaptation of the Atos Origin's communication system was fuelled by a team of under 30s, who determined that the old system of email would hinder the future growth of the company.

But don’t expect email communication to start waving the white flag of surrender just yet. Business consulting and technology services firm Concentra reported that 85 percent of senior managers said email was their communication method of choice. Additionally, some may claim that email usage dates back to the nineties and has remained a significant force in the work place, proving that email is a successful means of communication which most employees feel comfortable using.

These two communication channels also have a notable affect on the message content. What instant messaging is to informality and community, email is to professionalism and authority. 

Eighty percent of people questioned in the Melcrum report endorse social media as more than just a "fad", proving that it shouldn't be ignored by employees intent on using solely email. The face of internal communication is eternally adapting to suit changing generations and demographics. Companies must consider their needs and workplace culture and adjust their internal communications system accordingly.

So it seems email will remain rooted firmly in company infrastructure, standing in the way of total social media invasion...for now at least.

Has social media signalled the end of email? I'd love to know your thoughts.

Guess who's back...

By Tanya Batra, Melcrum
  
In 2008, Bill Quirke received the highest-ever speaker score to date
(4.7 out of 5) and unanimously positive feedback from delegates.

For this reason, we’re pleased that Bill is back for our 9th Annual SCM Summit!

No matter how big or small your organisation, leaders must be able to effectively communicate with employees in order to retain talented and engaged staff. But before leaders can achieve that, they themselves must first be engaged.

This year, Bill will lead an interactive workshop around the key topic of leadership communication, with a specific focus on four key areas where leaders need to raise their game, and the practical tools and resources which communicators can use to help them do so.

Continuing the leadership communication theme into day one is Brian Bannister, Director of Communications and James Chalmers, Head of Strategy & Talent, both from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, who will co-present What leaders want and value from internal communication: an insight into a successful collaboration. They’ll discuss exactly what senior leaders want from the internal communication function, and how both teams can collaborate to share vision and strategy more effectively with employees to build a robust culture of engagement.

Rosie Mowatt, Head of Internal Communication at RWE npower, will also discuss how, through working with senior leaders, a new level of communication leadership has been introduced into the organisation.

With the arrival of a new CEO in January 2010, Rosie led her team on a mission that seized this as an opportunity to increase leadership visibility for employees, achieve CEO buy-in for their internal comms efforts and raise the profile of the communication function.

It's going to be a great few days. See you next week!

Are your employees suffering in silence?

By Sona Hathi, Online Editor, Melcrum

Some people would rather die than confide in their bosses. Literally.

Recent research from Aviva UK Health found that only 4% of employees would speak to their managers about health concerns. It's hard to believe at first, but if you imagine yourself in a similar situation, can you honestly say that you wouldn't hesitate before opening up?  

In today's business climate, competition within the workplace is tough. There's a worry that even the slightest suggestion you might be anything less than superhero-like at work can put your job in jeopardy. According to Aviva's study, 21 percent of employees think that admitting to health concerns could affect their work prospects and 11% simply don't trust their bosses with personal information.

To overcome this, communicators are doing more than ever before to equip managers with the skills to effectively communicate business messages to their teams. But do they need to shift the focus towards helping managers be more approachable?

The employee-manager relationship is a delicate one, and two-way communication is central to strengthening it. If health is a concern for employees, they need to be confident that their manager will offer them support and respect their privacy, not strike them off as being incapable of doing their jobs.

So what's stopping managers from communicating well? Here are some common barriers to effective dialogue between line managers and their staff:

• Leader has "no time".
• Communication is a "check-the-box"activity.
• Leader's not engaged and doesn't value communication.
• The leader has a "closed" personality.

Have you come across any of these barriers at your organization? How did you combat them? Are there any others?  

Make mine a double standard

By Nishwa Ashraf, Editorial Assistant, Melcrum

It’s 6.45am. The alarm is beeping, and your head is pounding. As you steady yourself to your feet, the symptoms bombard you. Nausea. Fatigue. Body ache. And if you’ve had a particularly eventful night, a host of cringe-inducing memories.

But despite that one drink too many, it’s a Friday, and you have a whole working day ahead of you. Calling in sick? It’s not even an option. But since your drinking companions happened to be your colleagues, at least you won’t be suffering alone.

Excessive drinking on a school night by employees has become all too de rigueur, costing businesses and industries worldwide billions of dollars each year in absenteeism and lost productivity. But how many of these hangovers are induced by team “bonding” sessions, organized by employers themselves?

According to Aviva’s fourth annual, Health of the Workplace report, the answer is 51 percent. That’s right. Over half of employee social events involve trips to the pub.

And while 45 percent of business leaders say there’s no obligation to drink at their social events, just seven percent would actively discourage their employees from doing so.

The research also reveals that, out of the companies surveyed, only 23 percent of business leaders run team-building days and just one in ten (13%) participate in sporting pursuits.

It’s baffling then, that despite more than half leading their workforce into the pub, 26 percent are more concerned about the impact of alcohol on their business than their employees’ health. And over a quarter (27%) have no sympathy for those trying to pull “sickies” the next day.

That’s not to say employers should double up as parents, but perhaps there should be some ownership and responsibility in choosing the right setting for team bonding? Especially when considering that no one seems to want to be there in the first place!

A third of employers admitted that attending socials can be “a bit of a drag”, with one in 10 feeling obliged to attend socials to keep staff happy. In the same vein, 52 percent of employees aren’t particularly enthusiastic about going out with their wider team either, and one in five (21 percent) openly admitted that they don’t like socializing with work colleagues.

I can see that employers are trying to make the lives of their employees more “fun”, but perhaps their over reliance on alcohol is a little misguided. In the short term, this strategy can be a great way to relax and help colleagues let off steam. However, in the longer term, employers need to look for other ways to build team spirit to ensure everyone is involved and that unhealthy habits are not sanctioned in the workplace.

How does your organization build team morale? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Employers using late arrival times to gauge staff morale

by Henry James, Intern, Melcrum

Better late than never? Only if you’ve got £8 billion to spare or an outrageous excuse.

It’s estimated it costs the UK economy in excess of £8 billion per annum, so if you're going to arrive late to work then the very least you can offer is an outlandish excuse accompanied by an apology. This is even more valid at a time when the UK and European economy is only just beginning to recover from the damage caused by the recession.

With so much at stake, it’s no wonder 39% of employers are paying more attention to staff arrival times then they had previously, according to an online survey, conducted by market research agency, Shape the Future, of 625 business leaders in Europe.

Although 11% of employers said they would terminate their staff’s employment for making two or three late appearances, and a further 12% would for being late four or five times, a large proportion (44%) are tolerant of tardiness, as long as the work is completed punctually and to a high standard.

This may illustrate the true motives behind enforcing arrival times. Instead of developing from the desire for the full hours to be worked, awareness of arrival times, especially in the current economically unstable environment, may be used to monitor the levels of employee morale within the organization and its subsequent affects on performance - as it is assumed that a motivated and committed employee will arrive at work on time consistently, while also performing to a higher standard.

What’s the meaning of all this? As long as your performance remains good, you’re still motivated and loyal to the organization, the likelihood is you won’t be fired after a few sporadic late arrivals – but can your conscience deal with their effects on the economy? My answer, if the excuse is outrageous and entertaining enough, it might just be worth it.

Here are three real-life examples of creative excuses workers gave to their employers:

• Employee’s cat was stuck in the cat flap.
• Employee had difficulty adjusting to the climate change from summer to winter. 
• Employee reported that a horse had jumped over a hedge straight on top of her car.

Do you think lateness correlates with engagement? 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.

Quad aims for slice of collaboration software market

By James Bennett, Head of Content, Melcrum

Bringing social networking into the enterprise, as technology suppliers so often like to call it, has long been the Holy Grail of companies such as Microsoft, particularly with its widely used SharePoint collaboration platform.

In the last five years SharePoint has become the de facto software platform of choice. In the case of internal communications, however, this hasn’t always been a question of choice. As many of you will know, and some of you may have experienced first hand, SharePoint has often been foisted upon the function by those pesky geeks in IT . The geeks have either come to some sort of partnership agreement with Microsoft or simply gone behind everyone's backs, signed on the dotted line and gone with the only brand they know. Funnily enough, the general feedback I get from the large majority communicators is how difficult SharePoint is to deploy, use and customise.

Help or rather choice, however, appears to be on the horizon with Google’s collaboration and communications tool, Wave, now being slowly taken up by a small number of companies. But another player has recently joined the game. The latest vendor to attempt to capitalise on the desire of many organizations for secure, internal, corporate social networking, or “enterprise collaboration”, is Cisco with its new platform Quad.

One analyst called Cisco’s approach to bringing social networking into the enterprise “interesting and different” and "more than just having an internal Facebook-like mechanism”.

Cisco’s aim is to integrate enterprise applications into the internal communications mix, effectively melding various tools into one platform to give social networking more business functionality. There are already plenty of platforms that do this but it has some interesting features, while commentators online suggest it is very simple to use.

For example, Quad is designed to let users microblog within the platform, with posts going out to colleagues who follow them, while in-house microblogs can also be posted on Twitter effectively crossing the dreaded internal/external divide – something that may scare some communicators off. But there's no need to panic. For those of you who have recurring nightmares of employees posting updates about certain topics outside the firewall, Quad also enables you to set rules that limit users’ ability to post externally on certain topics or even on certain days.

Quad also includes a calendar application, along with voicemail integration, a “Facebook-like” feed of updates from colleagues that users have "befriended", work group communities, and a place where documents can be stored and made available for collaborative purposes. The platform also includes live video, recorded video storage, instant messaging and e-mail.

The home screen for Quad is the first thing employees see when they start work in the morning, the place they go to find out what’s happening in their company as well as their business tasks for the day, month or year. The top of the screen might show a companywide video message from the CEO, for example, while the side columns might highlight the status of the employee's key contacts and links to their communities within the organization, and a lower part of the screen might be taken up by an interface to the major applications they use.

With many companies being forced to do more with less and, at the same time, increase productivity and profits, implementing an enterprise social networking platform is becoming increasingly popular and has already proven a success in several organisations. Employees now not only demand rich (social media) communication in their own personal lives but equally in their everyday working lives and careers. Harnessing this demand to improve organizational productivity is a logical step.

For some great examples, advice, information, research and best practice case studies, register your interest for Melcrum’s social media report 2010 available soon.