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Posts Tagged ‘Change’

I am often asked about the role of the CEO or leader of any organization in employee communication. My opinion is that no matter what the issue is, even if it is just business as usual, having a good communicator as a CEO is critical to impact the culture of an organization in a positive way.

Lets start with looking at some scenarios. These can include a merger or acquisition, an organizational crisis, announcement of annual financial results, corporate social responsibility or even trying to create a culture of innovation.

My contention is that no matter what the issue, here are 5 ways that your CEO can communicate with employees and achieve positive outcomes each time. Most of the methods listed below involve face to face dialogue to ensure the greatest engagement.

1. Staff Forums – Otherwise known as “Town Halls” these are opportunities for the CEO and Senior Management team to visit employees in all locations and address the real issues and concerns of staff as well as communicating the big picture. Employee communication tips include handing out cards to attendees so that the questions can be addressed after a break in proceedings, tailoring the presentation in part to the unique situation in the particular region the CEO is visiting and following up any issues that cannot be answered at the time.

2. Site Visits – These are an excellent employee communication tool for the CEO to find out specifically from the frontline exactly what the issues and concerns are of a particular region or department. The key is not only to spend time with the leadership team but also to sit with employees and find out what they are working on and inviting them to suggest innovative ways of doing things differently. CEOs’ rarely spend time communicating with employees and this is one way to break down perceptions and encourage two way communication.

3. Employee Achievement – Another way the CEO can communicate change is to support and encourage employees personally for their achievements. These maybe directly related to the issue at hand and by taking time out to recognize high achievers or change agents it sends a strong message to all employees that the CEO will reward those who support and are engaged in the change agenda.

4. Leaderships Forums – One of the smartest things an CEO can do during times of change is to communicate with his / her leadership team. I have always found that employee communication strategies need to be pitched at different levels and with different strategies to suit the role and expectations of the employees. When we think of change it is the leadership team that will drive it, from regional managers, state managers to frontline supervisors it is important that the CEO communicates face to face with the leadership team to be very clear about his or her expectation of them during times of change. One employee communication tip here is that face to face one on one meetings be held with the direct reports to the CEO and the next level down; it is a very powerful tool and has maximum impact.

5. CEO Blog – Finally where would we be if we did not mention some form of technology driven communication tool. A CEO blog is very effective if it is used to support and report on the transformation process whilst the employee engagement strategy is underway. For example the CEO has one on one meetings with the leadership team, he / she then reports in the Blog on the key messages and expectations. The CEO begins visits to each region and reports back on the Blog the key observations and achievements of employees and so on. Employee communication tools to inform are always a back up and support to the real communication taking place, the employee communication engagement strategies as listed in points 1 – 4 above.

The methods suggested above also achieve another goal often neglected in employee communication. As this is the opportunity for the CEO to find out what people at all levels of the organization really think about a particular issue, it will cause the CEO to think differently next time about the importance of employee communication and will ensure that change communication is addressed at the planning phase of any major organizational change.

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Whenever we begin to design an employee communication strategy that is focussed on change the most important thing to consider is that the strategies implemented must engage employees, not simply inform. In other words will the employee communication strategy you are implementing cause a change in attitude and therefore behaviour or is it simply information?

When I talk about employee engagement in this context I am focussed on communication strategies that require the involvement of employees, that as a result  the business issue means something to employees personally, they now understand the reason why for change and employees feel part of the process.

It is only when you engage employees that they will be focused on the reasons for change and therefore change their behaviour to impact business outcomes.  An excellent example of this is linking employees with the customer experience. When the focus of your employee communication efforts is customer satisfaction it then is easier to establish the direct link between your strategies and business outcomes.  It also creates a greater sense of engagement amongst your employees because they feel a significant increase in empowerment and understanding in how their role supports the customer experience and how they can change it.

Firstly, after identifying the current methods and tools that you use to communicate with employees, can you establish whether the tools and methods are engagement strategies or information tools?  Engagement tools are designed so that it requires some involvement of the employee.  Information tools mean that you are telling employees something, it is information sharing not an opportunity to become involved.  Some examples of information tools are Staff Information Bulletins, the Company Intranet, and a CEO forum.  An engagement strategy on the other hand requires employees to be involved identifying the issue and being part of the change process.

This is important because your ultimate aim in employee communication when communicating change has to be to create the “Aha Moment”.

The Aha Moment is based on information that does the following:

Challenges the employee’s belief about an aspect of the business

The information suddenly helps employees say

-“Now it makes sense”

-“Now I understand”

-“Now I can do something about it”

One of the best ways to build the foundation for your employee communication strategy is to undertake focus group research. This will allow you to explore specific aspects of employees’ perception of the organization and customer satisfaction and to identify the gap between reality and perception.  The focus group outcomes will also help you to identify clearly what will create a paradigm shift in your employees thinking and therefore understanding of the reasons for change.

Once you have your focus group outcomes, you can then begin designing employee communication strategies that engage employees.  You should have a clear understanding about what employees know and what the facts are, and the gap between customer and staff research.  Most importantly you then identify a business issue that you feel sure your strategies can impact on and work together with that area to implement an employee communication strategy that can be measured by business outcomes.

Finally, to move forward and realign your employee communication tools and techniques as part of a new employee communication strategy you need to ask the following questions:

1. Are you aware of the business strategy or issue facing your organization, division or department?

2. How effectively do your current employee communication tools address that issue or strategy?

3. Have you examined customer satisfaction data, do you know the precise areas where there could be improvement?

4. Do you know the key issue, the “Aha!” factor that will create a new paradigm for employees?

5. Do your employee communication strategies engage or simply inform?

6. How do you measure the impact of your strategy on the business?

Once you have answered the above questions then you will be more than half way there to designing an employee communication strategy that engages employees, not simply informs.

About the author:  Marcia Xenitelis is a recognized authority on the subject on employee communication and business transformation and has spoken at conferences around the world.  For more information on the types of employee communication strategies you can implement to engage employees visit www.employeecommunicationtips.com  for a wealth of free informative articles and resources.

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