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Group 1 |Heli Naski, Joni Mussalo, Johanna Strömsholm, Thy Hoang Phuong Nguyen
Increasing trust towards new company policies with
strategic communication
1. The purpose and scope of the research
During the past couple of years, the company has suffered financial losses, due to changes in
economic and market environment. At present, the company is going through major change and
cost-cutting processes in all of its operations in the form of profitability program.
Based on the provided information, it seemed to us that initial credibility of the profitability program
is low among the employees of the company. This outcome seemed to be due to relatively low
involvement of employees in the decision-making relating their own work and to employees’
suspicious attitude towards external consultants and externally recruited employees.
In this report, we give a recommendation of how to communicate the new policies created in the
profitability program to employees highly resistant to organizational changes. As the whole
profitability programme consists of variety of stakeholders and goals, we decided to focus this
report just in finance. In this report, we chose to focus solely on employees working in the sales
department, as they have the most influence on implementation of these financial goals.
The challenges and the objectives in communicating with the sales department
The Financial team has come up with 3 new policies concerning the sales department:
1. Narrow down the terms of payment through a new credit policy
2. Cut marketing expenses
3. Cut sponsorships
However, the sales personnel seem to have negative feelings towards the whole profitability
program. It seems evident that they do not see the need to adapt their present way of working,
even though the company’s negative net result has been communicated to personnel and they are
also aware of the necessary lay-offs the company has done recently.
Our recommendations can be crystallized with two outcomes:
 The sales people understand how the new policies increase the company’s profitability.
 The sales people adapt their ways of working into the new financial policies.
2. Analysis of the findings
Our findings are based on data collected in an interview with the company’s HR Manager and
Financial Controller on 10 November 2015. The Financial Controller was our primary source of
information, as he possessed a critical role in all areas of the company’s profitability program, and
he was in charge of creating and implementing the financial goals, in particular. Also the CEO of
the company was contacted via email and phone to gain some additive information. After the
interviews the qualitative data was analyzed by using the Strategic Contingency Model.
Group 1 |Heli Naski, Joni Mussalo, Johanna Strömsholm, Thy Hoang Phuong Nguyen
3. Recommendations
It is crucial to increase the sales people’s understanding of the financial impact of their actions.
Thus, we suggest that the financial changes are implemented in the current sales training program,
to which the sales people participate weekly.
To overcome the credibility issue, we suggest that consensus of the financial goals should be first
achieved with the Sales Manager, who has the position and credibility to implement the changes in
the sales team.
In order to ensure the success of company’s profitability program, we recommend the following
actions for the company:
1. Cooperation with the Sales Manager
Communicate the benefits of the new financial policies in a face-to-face meeting with the
Sales Manager. Prepare a plan and a schedule for the training of the sales people together.
2. Training and workshops
Use weekly sales trainings and workshops to communicate the new policies with the sales
people. Emphasize on benefits for the sales people and the necessity of the new sales
policies to the company. Motivate with incentives and/or with sanctions.
3. Clear instructions
Send a follow-up email to sales people after the workshops. Include clear instructions of all
key elements mentioned on a workshop and a thank you note for all participants.
4. Consistent reminders
Use every communication channel of the company to constantly remind of the needed
changes. Start every meeting by reminding of the profitability objectives. Create an internal
blog for the company. Write openly about the modification of sales policies and express
sympathetically about the difficulty the employees’ must face. Show the willingness of the
CEO to listen to feedback from the employees.
5. Monitoring
Generate surveys for the sales personnel after a few months of the implementation of the
company’s profitability program. Use close-ended and open-ended questions to ask about
how the sales people apply new policies on their work and what their opinions are.
Communicate “quick wins” openly and encourage change by rewarding those who make
the effort to adapt to change.
4. Conclusion
The profitability program is the key issue for the company in order to overcome its current
challenges. As the company operates on the field of importing and distributing sports equipment,
its sales personnel are in the crucial role in order to improve the company’s profitability. Our
recommendation is to include all sales personnel to sales training program and ensure their
commitment to profitability program by offering a better understanding to company’s goals, present
situation and challenges. We strongly believe that continuous training and follow-up actions by the
company management will offer the best possible prerequisites for the personnel to proactively
conform to the goals of the profitability program.