Talking Internal Communication...

Wanted - your client/agency horror stories

I need your help.

Together with my fellow director at Gatehouse, Simon Wright, I am speaking at a one day Communicators in Business (CiB) conference in a few weeks' time on the subject of client/agency relationships.  The event is the Rules of Engagement conference, which takes place in Stratford upon Avon on 1 February 2008.

Our brief is to discuss the dynamics of the client/agency relationship and to provide some pointers to help both sides get the most out of the union.  We've been asked to do this as communication consultants who, before setting up Gatehouse, had spent most of their working lives (combined 30 years+) in house - the idea being that we can empathise with both.

It is, of course, a subject that comes up time and time again in our line of work - and for many it's a love/hate relationship. We want to use the session to explore what factors make for a fine romance and what actions lead straight to the divorce courts.

So, whether you're a client-side person or an agency staffer, we're keen to hear any stories or anecdotes that we can use to illustrate our talk and, hopefully, inject a little humour and colour into the proceedings.  Whichever side of the divide you stand on, we want to hear your horror - and success - stories, and your views on what factors guarantee a marriage made in heaven.

Please feel free to comment here (make sure you change names to protect the innocent or not so innocent) or email me direct at lee.smith@gatehousegroup.co.uk.  It goes without saying that any stories we use during our session will be strictly anonymous. 

Thanks!

Kicking them while they're down - Northern Rock's crazy bonus decision

I've resisted commenting on the Northern Rock saga since my early posts on the subject, but one recent development has sent such a negative message to staff that I feel compelled to join the chorus of disapproval...

I'm talking about the board's decision to pay fat bonuses to around 80 'key players' - top executives in the troubled business who they want to keep hold of. The story which was scooped by the Mail on Sunday at the weekend and has been covered heavily since. 

Now I can understand them wanting to retain key people during this period of great instability, but surely there was a better way to do it than this?

Paying a fairly large but minority group of managers a quarterly cash bonus equivalent to 25% of their gross annual salary was always going to be a sure-fire way to alienate the rest of Northern Rock's beleaguered staff. Talk about kicking people when they're down.

What makes the move even worse is that it was done in such a cloak and dagger way. In his letter to the lucky bonus recipients, CEO Andy Kuipers said the scheme "must remain absolutely confidential and not be discussed with others", otherwise the recipient would forfeit the entitlement. So much for transparency.

The board obviously recognised what a monster it had created and wanted to keep it under wraps. This nervousness is not surprising when you consider that many middle managers and sales staff - the very people who the bank will rely on if it is to stand any chance of bouncing back - had their bonuses cut just before Christmas (nice timing too).

Of course this latest move has gone down like a lead balloon with front line staff, who have already seen their shareholdings evaporate and had to come to terms with the constant threat of redundancy. 

Many of them feel that the bosses are simply lining their pockets with silver before the ship sinks. Trust in leadership has nose-dived and, quite rightly, some once loyal staff (or rather those who have other options) are now rethinking their careers.

From my perspective this was quite simply a bad business decision. As a piece of employee relations it sucks. It has signalled to the majority of employees that they are little more than expendable resource and that their immense loyalty and support while the bank has been under siege has counted for absolutely nothing. It also means that, in the future, any communication that emanates from the top will be treated with the scepticism it deserves.

That's no way to secure the future of a once thriving business.

My new favourite book

Those of you who have looked at my Amazon Listmania list recently will know the type of book I usually go for.  Change the World 9 to 5 isn't one of them. But, after discovering this little gem before Christmas, I just can't stop myself recommending it to people (we've even bought dozens of copies to give to Gatehouse clients as New Year gifts).

The book is the product of We Are What We Do, a project developed by the UK charity Community Links, which tackles the causes and consequences of social exclusion in East London.

It's not an internal comms book, but it is about changing the workplace by doing the right things. It contains 50 simple actions - from praising people to learning to save a life - which will help make your workplace a better place to be. 

When it comes to change I've always believed in the power of small actions and little steps - which is what this book is all about.

It's beautifully written and illustrated - something I just want to pick up and look at again and again (I love the cover art by Rod Hunt). It also contains lots of little stickers, pull out pages and even a poster - taking me right back to my Blue Peter-fuelled childhood.

I'm not going to say any more here - just go out and buy a copy and then pass it on to others. It could be the best £8.99 you ever spend!

Hilary moment shows power of emotion

If you haven't already read it, make sure you check out Mark Ragan's excellent piece on the the great Hilary Clinton comeback and the lessons it provides for communicators. 

As well as demonstrating the enormous power the social media/video sharing combo now yields in the world of political campaigning, it underlines for me the importance of emotion in communication, one of my old hobby horses.   

Whether in the political arena or the corporate world, a show of genuine human emotion can, quite literally, change the course of events.

In this case Hilary's near-tearful response to a voter's question - caught on camera and spread like wildfire on the blogosphere - is widely credited with saving her from defeat in New Hampshire and reigniting her campaign for the presidency. 

Of course, the cynics say it's media manipulation, but people make up their own minds - and in this case they clearly believe this was a moment of genuine humanity. 

Spontaneous shows of emotion remain uncommon on the corporate stage, where the rational rules supreme and where executives are still expected to hold their emotions firmly in check.

That's a shame, because the world of work would be a far better place if leaders and managers were a little more open with their emotions. 

Time and time again I've seen what happens when bosses dare to show their human side - whether it's showing up with their family at the corporate fun day or having a heart-to-heart with a colleague over a restructure.  Seeing the person behind the suit somehow makes them more accessible, more available, more real. 

It can't be manufactured (people can spot fake emotion a mile off), but it's something we communicators can encourage by letting our clients know that, most of the time, it's safe for them to wear their hearts on their sleeves - that it's okay for them to stray from those rigid messages and show how they feel, as well as what they think. 

For all our talk about hearts and minds, employee communication remains a largely rational affair, focused on facts, not feelings. Fact is reality just isn't like that.