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Developing an Internal Communication Strategy to drive your organization past the competition Rodney Gray, Director Employee Communication & Surveys Sydney, Australia What is internal communication? Not essentially to do with media, messages, senders and receivers, noise or interference It’s really about the transfer of MEANING or understanding (not just moving information) More than this, it’s to do with changing the behavior of the organization’s employees It’s an investment to facilitate or support the achievement of the organization’s goals 2 “Turning all eyes outward” “The real purpose of effective communication within an organization is to achieve a common understanding and focus on what the organization is trying to achieve in the marketplace.” “The only argument powerful enough to encourage people to embrace change is one that is rooted in the marketplace.” Roger D’Aprix p.3 3 Exactly why does your organization communicate? Do you have a communication strategy? How is your communication linked to the organization’s vision, mission, objectives? Do you simply pump out more information in the hope that employees will be better informed about the organization and thus perform better? Take the test: assess your communication programs - what are you trying to achieve? 4 Just how well do you understand your organization’s requirements? What are the Charter, Vision, Mission, Goals? What are the key philosophies and values? What do the short and long-range plans for each division or business unit tell you? How do various stakeholders think you’re going? What are the strengths and weaknesses? Do you need to interview executives of various business units to find out communication needs? 5 HOW EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION CAN HELP ACHIEVE ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES The organization must “perform” if objectives are to be achieved Organizational performance depends on the behaviour of employees ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOUR ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES Organization’s •policies, procedures •processes, systems •rules, guidelines •culture, norms •formal training •etc. By assessing •organizational objectives •organizational performance •employee behaviour required - you can decide how to communicate to influence employee behaviour EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATION © Rodney Gray, 1997 Employee’s •skills •competence •knowledge •beliefs •values, habits •motivations etc. Employee behaviour is influenced by organizational 6 and individual factors such as these James Shaffer’s model [Presentation to IABC Conference, June 1999] Leadership Context Vision/ Strategy Infrastructure Infrastructure Linkage Decision Moments Actions People Take Organizational Performance Financial Performance Role Media Support 7 Leadership Infrastructure Media What leaders do and don’t do What they ask Who they recognise Rewards Measurement Structure Programs, policies Meetings/huddles Scorecards Financial statements Memos, publications Web-based technology 8 Leadership, infrastructure and media provide these things: Context Vision/ Strategy Linkage Role Support The big picture What we’ll look like and how we’ll get there What’s in it for me How I influence results Resources including information I need to influence results 9 How and what to communicate to support the organization strategy? How exactly does the organization have to perform, or improve, to achieve success? What do employees have to do, not do, or do differently, for the organization to perform better? What behaviours can you influence? How? Can you change attitudes or understanding? What decision moments can be influenced so that employees take the actions required? 10 What internal communication approaches will have impact? Leadership: what leaders do or not do; what they ask about; who they recognize Infrastructure: reward, measures, structure, policy, procedures etc. Media: has a very limited support role to leaders, infrastructure 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Leadership Infrastructure Media Source Jim Shaffer 11 How to measure your success Measure the extent your communications have caused employee behaviour change Measure progress towards achievement of goals, or performance of various divisions Measure how satisfied your various internal audiences are with communication overall, and with different aspects and tools (but this is clearly not as good as the first above) 12 Employees usually know what they have to do to perform well It is not appropriate to specify the behaviour of knowledge workers as with some others They need a degree of freedom as to how to achieve their objectives and perform well They know what information and relationships they need to do their jobs well So measuring employees’ opinion of the quality of communication with them is very useful 13 As a minimum you must satisfy employees’ information needs Ideally you need to satisfy both organizational and employees’ communication needs In Australia no research findings exist as yet as to how well organizational needs are met But there is plenty of research as to how well employees’ communication needs are being met Our research overseas indicates Australian findings are typical of those in Western countries 14 Australian employees are not at all satisfied with communication Overall, only 38% of Australian employees surveyed are satisfied with communication with them More than 1 in 4 are not satisfied with communication with them 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Satisfied Not sure Not satisfied Overall 15 Correlations 0.7 - 0.55 Across Change 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Consultn. With senior 38% management Upward 41% communication Consultation 40% & involvement About change 36% Across the 30% organisation Upward Sen. Mgt. Aspects which correlate strongly with overall satisfaction are poor 16 53% 61% 71% Correlations around 0.5 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Job info. 51% Supervisor Strategic direction Performance feedback Immediate supervisor Job information Feedback Direction Moderate correlates with overall satisfaction are a bit better 17 48% 44% Correlations 0.3 or less Email 56% 52% Publication 57% Results Executive roadshows Intranet Results presentations Company publication Email Intranet 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Roadshows Tools are okay, but have a very low correlation with satisfaction 18 Most Australian employees say internal communication is lousy 24% positive - leading regional bank 25% positive - financial services company 24% positive - state government department 25% positive - national insurance company 34% positive - another insurance company 47% positive - same company a year later 42% positive - leading transport company 47% positive - leading global merchant bank 55% positive - national food manufacturer 19 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE COMMUNICATION MODEL Vision Mission Objectives Goals Strategies Direction Charter Values Philosophies Guiding principles Credo Long-term plan Five-year plan Annual report Organizational change objectives Stakeholders or audiences - apprentices - shopfloor - team leaders - supervisors - trades people - professionals - clerical staff - managers - executives - various locations - various languages - illiterate Organisational outcomes Demonstrated - behaviour, skills - understanding - knowledge Evaluation Process Communication Strategy Communication Objectives Consider: - two-way dialogue - employees’ mindsets - employee feedback - what employees know - what you want them to - effective listening - upward communications know and understand - what they want to know - involvement - recognition - desired behaviours Content Strategy Consider employees’ preferred content: - impact on self - workplace future - business unit plans - personal goals - individual feedback - customer feedback - what’s happening - change initiatives - career opportunities - training and development - “where do I fit in” - “how can I help” Media Strategy Consider employees’ preferred media: - face-to-face - immediate supervisor - local work group - one to one - small groups Primary strategy: to communicate to and support supervisors or immediate managers Secondary: news by e-mail or voicemail c Rodney Gray 1997 20 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE COMMUNICATION MODEL Stakeholders or audiences Communication Strategy Communication Objectives Content Strategy Organizational outcomes Media Strategy Evaluation Process Evaluation Process c Rodney Gray 1997 21 Finally, please remember Meaning v. information Support organization’s objectives not entertain Understand goals etc. Ensure communication changes behaviour Regularly assess your communications Leaders, infrastructure more critical than media As a minimum satisfy employees’ info needs or they can’t perform well Chances are employees are not satisfied with internal communication Communication plan to cover strategy, content, media and evaluation Measure impact on your organization’s objectives 22 Take the test yourself - when was the last time you....? ...reviewed the operating plans for all divisions ...interviewed executives about what they need ...measured impact of programs on behaviour ...asked employee audiences how well internal communication helps them do their jobs well ...worked with HR to measure and upgrade the leadership/communication skills of all managers ...assessed the communication impact of the infrastructure thoughout the organisation 23