Talking Internal Communication...

Hot new events added to Talking IC calendar

I've just added a number of exciting new events to the Talking IC calendar, which you can access via the right hand panel on this blog.

If you're a UK communicator and you haven't yet subscribed to this free service, why not do so now - just click though to the calendar and select 'subscribe' at the top of the page. It's that easy.

The events:

• CIPR Inside is running an fascinating afternoon/early evening event in London on 12 November. Entitled 'Communicating the Hard Stuff', it features case studies and speakers from Shell and M&S.
• IABC has just unveiled three great new events for November - an early evening session on personal development takes place on 6 November, there's a seminar on brand engagement on 21 November, and Liam Fitzpatrick is running a session on communication competencies on 27 November.
• The Institute of Communiation Ethics is running a one day international conference on communicating diversity for academics and practitioners in Leeds on 16 November. 
• Hawksmere has added new events on Communicating Corporate Vision & Values (6 December 2007 & 24 June 2008), Making the Most of Your Internal Communication Channels (28 February 2008) and Managing Internal Communications (2-3 July 2008).

To find out more on any of the listed events, or to book, simply follow the links on the calendar. You can also quickly and easily add the event to your PC calendar (e.g. Outlook) and forward details to your friends and colleagues.

Global study highlights communication issues

The HR consultancy Towers Perrin has just published its latest Global Workforce Study and, once again, it makes interesting - and sobering - reading for internal communicators. 

The survey - of more than 90,000 workers  in 18 countries - reveals that many employees still do not believe their organizations are doing enough to motivate them and feel that senior managers do not communicate in an open and honest way.

Of the 5,000 UK employees surveyed, less than a third believe that senior management communicates  openly and honestly with them and two-thirds feel that senior leaders "treat us as just another part of the organization to manage" or "as if we don't matter".  Just 29% feel their leaders have a sincere interest in their well-being and satisfaction. For all the talk about engagement, it seems many organizations are still a long, long way from achieving it.

The study highlights the importance of senior leadership in the engagement mix - having highly effective line managers is one thing, but the top team also has a critical role to play in setting the tone, providing direction, being visible and accessible and demonstrating and rewarding the right values and behaviors.   

The good news is that many employees now want and expect a rich and honest dialog with their bosses - the problem is that far too few get it. Until we can create a conversation culture inside our organizations, disengagement and apathy will remain strong. 

The study also reveals that employees are increasingly concerned about the reputation of the organization they work for - a factor that is having a bigger impact on engagement than ever before. Indeed, an organization's reputation for social responsibility was found to be one of the top five engagement drivers here in the UK. 

This underlines that employee engagement is as much about 'external' policies and communications, as it is about the internal workings of an organization.  I've always held that internal and external communications should be closely aligned (if not joined at the hip) and findings like this demonstrate just why that is so important.

Is bad language ever a good communication tactic?

There have been at least two studies published this year that have touched upon the thorny issue of swearing in the workplace. 

In the spring the Aziz Corporation conducted research which found that 36% of UK senior managers and directors accepted swearing as part of workplace culture. And this week a study by Norwich's University of East Anglia (UEA) into leadership styles found that use of "taboo language" boosted team spirit.

At Gatehouse we're often advising clients to inject more emotion into their communications. We regularly find that organizations have the rational/logical content of their messages nailed, but that they are lacking in warmth and, dare I say, humanity. The result is communication that speaks to the head and not the heart - which can only ever get you so far when it comes to engaging people.

There are, of course, many ways to build more emotion into your communications - using music and video, paying attention to your non-verbal communication, employing actors, selecting the right delivery mechanism (it's easier to convey emotion face-to-face than on the intranet) and, importantly, choosing the right words. 

Using sparingly, swearing can be a very effective way to convey emotion, to emphasize key points and to grab the audience's attention. Fact.

But can it ever really be justified as an internal communication tactic? 

Swearing is endemic in some working environments, so you could argue that if the leaders use that same language they are demonstrating that they are 'in tune' with their people, on the same wavelength. I'm not convinced.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no saint and I do make use of colorful language, particularly when I'm with my friends and close colleagues. I'm not an anti-swearing do-gooder. But I just don't think that frequent use of swearing is a healthy thing inside most diverse workplaces. It can be disrespectful, offensive and downright annoying. It's also a legal minefield - abusive language is a form of bullying.

Thankfully it's still far from the norm - most organization's codes of conduct advise against swearing and most employees I've come across use it sparingly. It serves a useful purpose - used rarely it is a very powerful way to show your feelings (which is no bad thing), but it certainly shouldn't be encouraged. 

I have no doubt swearing does, as UEA discovered, help create bonds between people at work. Violence creates bonds between gang members, but that doesn't make it right. 

Ferrabee book celebrates People Power

Those of you who subscribe to www.simply-communicate.com may have already seen my review of David Ferrabee's new book, People Power. If you don't subscribe (and why not?!), here it is:

If you like David Ferrabee’s blog, the chances are you’ll love his first book, People Power. In what is essentially the distillation of two years’ worth of blog posts, the Hill & Knowlton internal comms chief has produced a fascinating 240-page compendium of his thoughts, musings, insights and anecdotes on employee communication, engagement, change and much more besides.

I once described David’s blog as a lucky dip at the bazaar - you have no idea what you’re going to find in there, but you know you’re always guaranteed a treat. People Power is no different.

He covers a bewildering array of topics, from the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on communicators, to the growing economic power of India, from CEO communication to crisis management.  Indeed, there are very few subjects relating to our profession that he doesn’t touch upon.

This isn’t the sort of book you read from cover to cover though. Be warned, People Power is definitely not a text book. Nor, thankfully, is it the sort of tome top consultants typically churn out, complete with their obligatory four box models. No, this is something altogether different.

Like the blog it’s based on, People Power represents a rather eclectic collection of material; more Schott’s Almanac than Idiot’s Guide. Had it been published in the traditional way, I’m sure it would look quite different. The electronic (PDF) version I purchased obviously isn’t the product of a large publishing house – there’s no fancy cover, beautifully crafted illustrations or cheesy head and shoulders shot of Mr F. And because it’s made the leap from the blogosphere to print, it doesn’t quite flow in the way you’d expect. But it nevertheless works.

A courageous experiment in self publishing, People Power is largely the work of one man (albeit with a little help from his friends and family – apparently David’s children helped with the typesetting.) As such, it’s very much in keeping with the spirit implied by the title – a tribute to People Power.

Once you understand what kind of book you’re dealing with, it’s doesn’t disappoint. David has reorganised his posts into 14 chapters covering broad topics like communications, communicators, leaders and employees. There’s also a comprehensive index to help with navigation. The result is something you can easily dip into for inspiration and mental stimulation.

Within this loose framework the content meanders between the serious and the sublime. David gets his teeth into some meaty subjects – his thoughts on the impact of poor redundancy communication, the importance of depth in CEO communications, disaster planning and reviewing your communication function are useful and thought-provoking.

The entertainment is never far away though. Alongside the serious stuff you’ll find ramblings on Halloween, the Foo Fighters, Lily Allen, Ketamine and facial hair. Now that’s what I call eclectic.

People Power has a distinctly global flavour to it. Over the years Ferrabee has clocked up more Air Miles than Posh and Becks and it shows. An astute observer of global trends and cultural idiosyncrasies, he provides a rare and valuable insight in to the challenges communicators face when trying to do their thing across national boundaries. This is one of the big take-aways for me.

So is this a useful addition to your bookshelf or PC desktop? Is it worth the cover price? The answer is a wholehearted yes. David Ferrabee is, for me, one of the leading thinkers in employee communications today.  His views are insightful and his ramblings thought-provoking.  He’s a great writer, with a style that’s both engaging and pacey. People Power is a rare find in our sometimes over-complicated and jargon-heavy world. It is educational and entertaining, insightful and fun to read.

An assortment box it may be, but there is a consistent thread running through People Power. At its heart is Ferrabee’s belief that every employee deserves to be a hero. That may sound quaint, but, as David continues to demonstrate so well, it’s not a bad philosophy for an internal communicator to follow.

Big 4 switch on to YouTube generation

Carrying on from my last post about the Deloitte Film Festival, it appears that other 'big 4' firms are involved in similar initiatives. I just spotted this piece about a similar competition being run by my old employer Ernst & Young, only this time focused exclusively on potential graduate recruits.  I was also interested to discover that EY now has a number of Facebook pages. Who said accountants couldn't be cool?!