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GETTING COMMUNICATION RIGHT:
THE UNTAPPED SECRET TO SUCCESS
By Dominic Wylie and Moira Throp
Communicating well with employees now will make all the difference to
how companies come out of the economic downturn.
These are pretty challenging times for senior management at many of the UK’s leading
companies right now. Share prices have plummeted on average by 30% over the last
year at FTSE 100 companies. Many employees who have had to accept pay cuts and
deal with the threat of redundancy, have also watched as the bonuses and
remuneration for senior executives appears to have remained pretty generous despite
the downturn.
Although many businesses may feel that they have a captive audience in their
workforce who will do pretty much anything to keep their jobs in these troubled times,
they are perhaps missing a trick.
As those closest to the business, employees could actually hold the key, and many of
the ideas, which could drive future success and improve business performance. This is
a largely untapped resource of innovation in many organisations across the UK and one
that should be nurtured, encouraged and utilised to the full.
The Towers Perrin 2007-2008 Global Workforce Study about how engaged or
disengaged workforces are drew input from close to 90,000 respondents worldwide and
found that about 70% of workers were only partially engaged in their work. A worrying
statistic which shows there is massive opportunity for improvement in internal
communication.
Focusing on how communication works within an organisation and managing it will
encourage a positive approach to the downturn and create an environment of trust
where ideas can thrive. At the moment, many employees are feeling let down and
betrayed by senior leadership, so the job of internal communication will be to turn this
around.
It’s not only about placing communication higher on the board room agenda to cover
both the good and bad news. It’s also about the way line managers talk to their teams;
the opportunities there are for employees to contribute their own ideas and thoughts on
what it’s like dealing with customers and how they find the marketplace; the honesty
and integrity behind the business messages; and consistency across all aspects of the
employee experience, from HR policy through to reward and benefit.
This is no small task which is why applying some tried and tested communication
principles will help ensure your message doesn’t fall at the first hurdle.
Invest enough time. Your communication planning and approach will only really work if
you devote sufficient time and effort to it. Effective communication is a continuous
process, not a one off event. Take it seriously by placing it higher on the corporate
agenda. Remember research studies have found that companies with the highest level
of employee engagement achieve better financial results.
Get people involved. Organisations don’t just change themselves, it’s really people
who change them from the inside; getting them involved speeds up this process and
aids understanding and buy in. Real life stories can often have a big impact, especially
if it is clear that the corporate machine has not interfered too much. Transparency and
honesty in how the company communicates and whether or not it trusts its employees
to help tell the company story will engender trust in future communication.
Context and business literacy. Creating an understanding about what’s going on in
your industry generally, what customers want and what the competition is doing will help
your people and other key stakeholders put business plans into context.
Consistency of message. Whether dealing with good news or bad make sure your
internal and external communication is telling the same story. Get your core messages
straight from the outset. Adopt a suitable tone of voice for your audience and stick to it.
Clarity makes all the difference. Try to avoid jargon and corporate speak whenever
possible. Be clear about the ‘why’, ‘when’ and ‘how’.
Bring your message to life. Make sure your message is heard above the noise of
everyday life and work by being creative with your internal comms approach. Know
what irritates your employees, what they are most likely to read and how to grab their
attention.
The media mix. Choose the right channels to get your message across, you’ll know
what works best in your organisation. Face-to-face communication is a preferred source
of information and should be part of any change communication plan.
questions to be made directly
It allows
to managers and creates an environment for open
discussion so that rumours can be aired and dealt with before they spread too far.
Where do I fit in? Answering this question will help personalise your message, alleviate
fears of uncertainty around changes being made and confirm what people are meant to
do differently in the future.
Don’t forget about line management. Line management are often the most credible
source of information in the eyes of people they work with. They may require some
additional communication and support.
Celebrate success. Make sure you show your appreciation whether it’s through
financial recognition, or a simple thank you, it will make all the difference.
Although internal communication may require some fresh approaches to capture
employees’ imagination about future business plans and the related rationale and
payback, the key will be for management and business leaders to start treating
employees as business partners. This means devoting sufficient time and resource
communicating with them in the bad times as well as the good, listening to their
experiences as well as talking about what it’s like for the business. With employees
feeling more in control of their contribution to the business, there is much more chance
of making the most of the opportunities that are out there and delivering real
improvement in business performance both now and in the future.
NOTES:
This article is submitted for your consideration. For more information please contact
Dominic Wylie on 0141 332 0020 email: [email protected] fax: 0141 244
0040 or Moira Throp email: [email protected]
About the authors: Dominic and Moira have between them over 40 years’ experience in
employee communication. They both run specialist stakeholder communication
businesses providing expert advice and simple creative solutions for clients on internal
communication issues and B2B marketing initiatives.
Dominic’s company g20 Communication is based in Glasgow www.gtwenty.co.uk.
Moira’s company Like Minds is based in Warwickshire www.likeminds.uk.com.