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!

Don't mince words during "dynamic rightsizing"

By Robin Crumby, Managing Director, Melcrum

The FT today speaks of companies carrying out "dynamic rightsizing" and "change designed to restore profitability"...or, being slightly more direct: "telling a colleague their talent may be needed elsewhere".

While there's very little chance of the language used softening the blow for affected employees, the article suggests that it comforts those delivering the messages. "It's for the maintenence of your own self-esteem," says Binna Kandola, a business psychologist, in the article.

What side of the fence do you fall on? Giving it to employees straight, or soothing the shock with padded jargon?

So, whether you're facing the possibility of communicating the "acceleration of the implementation of your strategic plan" or if you're just going to have to plainly and simply, communicate mass redundancies, our
COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS giveaway article today, previously only available to members of the Internal Comms Hub, should help:

The 10-point guide to effective employee communication during a company crisis gives you a set of practical steps to help ensure effective employee communication in times of crisis.

How to thrive and survive as an internal communicator

“It’s so important to keep the lines of communication open during crises and change. Employees get so frustrated finding things out via the rumor mill or the press. Even if you don’t yet have more news, tell staff this,”…says Sally Hinder, trainer, coach, facilitator, communication specialist and now Melcrum’s latest addition to The Internal Communication Black Belt trainer faculty.

Formerly Head of Internal Comms at Brit Insurance, Sally gives some fantastic advice for communicators, writing in an in-depth interview this week for The Internal Comms Hub.

So, in her experence, what competencies does Sally reckon are essential to being a successful communicator?

• Influencing skills: Being able to influence people – what we do can sometimes be seen as, dare I say it, “fluffy”, so it’s vital that we win hearts and minds through effective influencing.
• Business skills: Being able to understand business issues – communicators are sometimes criticized for not speaking a business’s language – a mistake I learnt from early in my career. In order to influence people to our way of thinking, we have to demonstrate that we understand their pain and the challenges they face in their business.
• Great listening skills – it’s not all about us talking and persuading but also about ensuring we understand the communications need and listen attentively both to what's being said and what's not being said.
• Diplomacy – for all the politics you have to deal with.

Above all, have a great sense of humor!

You can catch Sally at her first Black Belt course in January or at the Alumni drinks reception on January 22nd in London or on the Black Belt Dojo blog.

Melcrum’s Internal Communication Black Belt Programme is now in its third year, which has helped. Sally takes over from Liam Fitzpatrick who is stepping down at the end of 2008. Sally will be working with Black Belt’s long time UK trainer, Sue Dewhurst.

The Black Belt Programme is now held in London, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia throughout the year and will soon launch in other locations in Europe and North America in 2009.

If you’re interested in bringing Black Belt to a city near you, please do get in touch.

Robin Crumby.

Find Melcrum on Linkedin

You can now find Melcrum on Linkedin.

There are two new groups set up:

Melcrum's Communicators' Network
Melcrum's Communicators' Network is a global group for internal communicators interested in sharing what works and discussing their challenges with other communicators.

Topics covered by the group will include: internal communication, employee engagement, measuring performance, change communication, leadership and manager communication as well as channels and media.

Internal Communication Black Belt Alumni
If you're a graduate of the Internal Communication Black Belt Programme, then this group is for you. It'll make it easier for you to stay in touch with your trainers and your fellow alumni.

Now in its third year, there are more than 380 graduates with more than 150 joining them each year now. The Internal Communication Black Belt Programme is now run in the UK and Australia, and will soon be launching in other locations in Europe and North America in 2009. The Linkedin group will help the international alumni network stay in touch with each other and their trainers, helping graduates continue their professional development.

Join the discussion today and start reconnecting with your peers around the world.

Tesco CEO renews trust in leaders

By Robin Crumby, Managing Director, Melcrum

Listening to Tesco CEO, Sir Terry Leahy interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Tuesday, I couldn't help thinking that while all around us trust in leaders seems to be evaporating, here was a voice and a face you could believe in.

Was it the Liverpudlian's plain-talking ("people still have to eat"), calm, slightly subdued, demeanour and dead-pan humour or was this just a voice of reason in turbulent times?

Watch the clip and judge for yourself.

The fact that the UK retailing giant's results were in line with expectations, obviously helps. But full marks for honest, direct answers at every turn.

Perhaps, Greg Sage, Tesco's Head of Internal Comms, will be able to shed some light on what it's like working with Sir Terry at the UK's SCM Summit on 15-16th October. He's lined up to talk about his team's challenges of communicating with a globally dispersed workforce of more than 300,000 and staying ahead of the news. Should be a great session.

Any more CEOs out there in the media spotlight inspiring your trust?

What can communicators learn from the collapse of Lehman Brothers?

By Robin Crumby, Managing Director, Melcrum

Curious scenes outside Lehman Brothers' London HQ in Bank Street, as angry former employees emerge with armfuls of peanuts, chocolate bars and other assorted snacks.

Turns out that, whilst Lehman Brothers' staff in New York are reported in yesterday's Daily Telegraph to be receiving redundancy packages, their 4,500 unluckier counterparts in London are likely to receive nothing.

So many employees made sure to cash in the remaining credit on their canteen charge cards to console themselves with some comfort snacks. Well you would, wouldn't you?

The FT reported that the man chosen just a week ago to run Lehman's office in Europe, Christian Meissner, had delivered the blunt message to shocked employees "It's over...move on" and look for new work. And whilst some had fallen happily into the arms of recruiters waiting outside the offices, others were reported to be "soldiering on, until their bosses told them to stop". Er, did you miss the staff meeting?

Trust in leaders at financial institutions would seem to be at an all time low.

And with speculation rife about who's next while CEOs do their best to reassure stakeholders that it's business as usual, what CAN communicators do to allay fears and get ahead of the rumour mill?

Alternatively, you could do as these two former employees did, and say to hell with the lot of them, courtesy of Live Leak.

When customers say thank you

By Robin Crumby, Managing Director, Melcrum

"I flew all the way for this!"

With oil at $130 plus a barrel. Increased security checks. And corporate budgets under pressure. Traveling to business conferences just to hear a bunch of speakers read out bullet points from PowerPoint slides, when improved communication and social media mean you could have listened in from the comfort of your office...All this is really raising the bar for conference organizers. Or so says author of Permission Marketing, Seth Godin.

Anyone who's ever read his white paper on 'Death by Powerpoint': Really Bad Powerpoint will have looked back and cringed at their own slide decks crammed packed full of bullet points and dense text that has delegates' minds wandering or plain squinting at the screen.

The days of the traditional format conference are surely numbered. But from roundtables, to Q&A sessions, to interactive group discussions, to plain-old networking in the halls, there's no substitute for the shared learning experience conferences offer, when done well.

So imagine our delight when a delegate at Melcrum's recent Employee Engagement Summit in Sydney, Australia took it upon themselves to buy our very own Amy Lyons the most enormous bouquet of flowers with a card that referenced all the wonderful things Amy had done to make their conference experience second to none. (Customer service smug factor: 10/10).

It would seem that the value of attending conferences is alive and well, after all. And can social media and so-called 'virtual conferences' really replace the real thing? Virtual flowers, anyone?

We're back

By Robin Crumby, Managing Director, Melcrum

After four days of chaos and disruption caused by unknown hackers, Melcrum.com and the Internal Comms Hub are both finally back up and running. Fingers crossed, they stay up.

Thanks to all those who sent us messages of support and helpful advice.

It would appear that these types of denial of service attacks are all too prevalent, judging by recent news coverage:

Web infection attacks more than 100,000 pages

Two recent denial of service attacks on CNN

Don't these people have anything better to do with their time, like take up a good hobby? Kite-surfing, trainspotting, recycling even?

I blame the parents.

Robin Crumby.

 

New blog for internal communicators in Australia

Congratulations to Melissa Dark and Adrian Cropley, Melcrum's Black Belt Trainers in Australia on the launch of their new blog for internal communicators.

The Internal Communication Black Belt Programme is now the UK's number one professional development course for internal comms managers. Designed to help managers make the leap from tactician to planner, leader, strategist and counsel. And is now available in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia run by Melissa and Adrian.

As Melissa says:

The idea of the Black Belt Dojo is to keep you updated with relevant and interesting information in the world of internal communication, especially when it relates to the topics and issues we discuss in the course. Just as Sue and Liam do in the UK, we’re happy to offer guest blogging spots to Black Belt alumni, so drop us a line if you’re keen to have a go. The Dojo also exists as a way to keep in touch with your fellow Black Belt Alumni, so please leave comments so we can continue the important process of sharing our knowledge and experience. Look forward to hearing from you!

So pop on over and drop them a line. And if you're interested in a stint as a guest blogger, do let them know.

The skills gap for internal communicators

By Robin Crumby, Managing Director, Melcrum

No matter what your particular specialization or seniority within your communication team, from time to time, most of us need to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty writing, organizing events or delivering communication of some kind. Add to this the adoption of new technologies and new media, and it’s clear that many of us could do with a skills refresher to stay current and get the most from our communication toolkits.

Mind the Gap - what help are UK communicators looking for?
Judging by the 302 UK communicators who responded to our New Year survey about their training needs in 2008, there are some evergreen training topics such as improving line manager communication, rated as important or very important by 87% of respondents,  communicating with hard-to-reach employees (75%), and managing the internal brand (74%), tailoring communication to your audience needs (75%), and conducting a communication audit (81%). None of which should raise too many eyebrows perhaps.

There were also, not surprisingly, some skills gaps emerging around new technologies and media such as managing your intranet and social media (79%), writing for online audiences (74%) and corporate podcasting (69%).

Not forgetting your own professional development
And just in case you thought UK communicators were an altruistic bunch, respondents also placed a heavy emphasis on their own communication skills such as consulting and influencing skills (79%), advanced writing skills (77%) and presentation skills (65%).

The big challenge for communicators in 2008

And lastly, we asked what the big challenge for 2008 was likely to be for communicators and their teams, and responses implied one eye was firmly on the dark cloud of economic uncertainty with answers ranging from doing more with less, communicating change, effective planning, proving our worth, avoiding information overload and engaging an apathetic workforce. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom, others mentioned building our influence, maintaining momentum, improving results. Not forgetting my personal favorite answers for top challenges: flower arranging and having a proper holiday.

Aside from help with the flower arranging, if you’d like your very own refresher on your own or your team’s core skills, check out the new range of 16 skills courses coming up in April, May and June in London. And if there’s something missing from the list, let us know and we’ll find the right expert to plug the gap. From Neville Hobson, Dominic Walters at Synopsis, Mike Pounsford at Couravel, Liam Fitzpatrick, Sue Dewhurst, Philippe Borremans at Blackline, Emma Ridgeon, Sue Heal, Jill Wedge at Vibrant, Tony Quinlan at Narrate, and Paul Miller at BY2W, we've assembled some of the UK's leading experts to share their knowledge on the topics above.

Plus, we’re also making available a free to download chapter from our best-selling report ‘How to develop outstanding internal communicators’ by Liam Fitzpatrick and Sue Dewhurst that provides a useful framework for the twelve core communication competencies.

Enjoy.