Talking Internal Communication...

Are we delivering internal spam?

An interesting snippet caught my eye in Metro yesterday, though it may well have been an April Fool joke.

The story was about a cyber experiement called "Super Spam Me" which will see 50 guinea pigs respond to all those dodgy spam emails to see whether they deliver on their promise. Apparently they've each been given a £250 budget to spend on impotence cures, revolutionary weight loss pills, needy Nigerians and other too-good-to-be-true offers. Thinking about it, I'm now pretty sure it was an April Fool.

Anyway, it got me thinking about internal spam - or rather all those pointless and irrelevant emails that get pumped out inside organisations every day of the week.

There are a lot of them and many of them originate in - or at least have had input from - the internal communication department.  We should hang our heads in shame.

During my time in-house I regularly had running battles with head office teams over the relevance (or rather lack of) of many organisation-wide e-messages. When your role is focused on a particular business unit or operating division you tend to see this phenomenon more clearly. Indeed, if you're properly plugged into your audience it's something they will no doubt signal to you loud and clear. 

Interestingly the same thing played out at the next 'level' of the organisation.  So, where I would yell "why are you sending me all this irrelevant national stuff?" at the national team, so too would the managers responsible for individual offices or branches shout at me "why are you sending me all this irrelevant regional/BU stuff?"  The national team would yell the same thing at the global team. The same thing gets played out all the way down to team or even individual level.

It's all about what I call 'circles of belonging'. Get an employee to draw a bunch of concentric circules and at the centre put "Me", then for each circle in turn ask them to put the next most important focus - e.g. my team, my office, my business unit, my business, my group, my sector, etc.. The closer communication content is to the centre, generally the more relevant it is likely to be considered. 

Problem is, most of the communication we deal with as business communicators is pretty broad-brush stuff - largely concerning the outer circles only.  That's why savvy communicators are increasingly focused on equipping and empowering line managers.

There's an interesting exercise we sometimes conduct as part of our communication audit work at Gatehouse. It involves creating a dummy employee identity  - a sort of virtual new starter - and then seeing what electronic gumph they receive. We also monitor the mailboxes of real people to see how much material they get bombarded with in a typical one or two week period - and to assess how relevant that content is. It's always extremely enlightening.

Something we have to constantly ask ourselves as communicators is are we helping create focus and clarity in the minds of employees or are we simply adding to the noise?  Are we helping answer those critical "so what does this mean to me?" and "what do I need to do?" questions for front line people, or are we merely creating communication clutter by banging out irrelevant high level stuff that no one really cares about?

Messages and music - evil holding tunes

Although slightly scared, I had to laugh.

I phoned up a potential client today and, while I was being put through to my contact, was put on hold by the operator. The hold music kicked in. Nothing unusual there. Except the music.

When you're held on the telephone you usually hear dull but generally inoffensive piped muzak, or perhaps some soothing classical or laid back R&B tunes.  Occasionally you get those awful broadcast announcements about the latest product offering.

That's fine though. Whichever, it just washes over you and passes you by without punctuating your day. It certainly doesn't affect your mood.

But this global software company (which shall remain nameless) chose the rather chilling title track to the horror movie The Omen.  You know the one I mean - that disturbing, seriously unsettling and arguably evil Gregorian chant. I think it's called Ave Satani, Latin which translates to 'Hail Satan'.

I was surprised, shocked even. I didn't expect such a auditory jolt at 1000am in the morning. It felt like an intrusion into my otherwise relaxed morning.

It's odd isn't it, the power of music?  I spotted this little piece on a blog a few days ago and I've been thinking about it since. Then my experience this morning.

I'm probably thinking far to much about this, but there is no doubting that the music you choose to use in business (or not as the case may be) can convey a message or create a mood or atmosphere. Whether it's the hold music in the call centre, the audio 'wallpaper' in the employee canteen or tracks chosen for videos or events, it has a way of getting through to people on an emotional level.  As such, it can either support or undermine your communication efforts.

Whilst there's something slightly comical about a major software company pumping out the theme to The Omen, I can't help feeling that it was a bizarre choice. It just seems to clash with messages about social responsibility and cutting edge software solutions. Truth is, it probably wasn't a conscious choice at all.

Are we getting too obsessed with strategy?

Sue Dewhurst has raised an interesting point over at the Black Belt Dojo, which I have just responded to. I won't try to replicate everything here, but you might want to head over there and add a comment or two...

It's about that old chestnut of strategy versus tactics.

Sue is passionate in her view that tactical implementation is every bit as important as strategy.  In her post she questions whether our obsession with the 'sexy' strategic side of internal communications - big, important topics like employee engagement, internal consulting, coaching and so on - is eclipsing the vital but arguably less exciting end of what we do - the drafting and crafting of communication materials, the creation of hard-hitting awareness campaigns, the maintenance of the intranet, etc.

Like Sue I'm also worried that we're getting too focused on strategy and losing sight of the basics. I worry that we'll end up with a wealth of great strategists and too few tacticians. I worry that, as a profession, we'll repeat the mistakes of HR and begin to be seen at worst as a rather aloof, disconnected function.

I raised this in my response to Sue's post.

At the last CIPD conference the HR profession took a real bashing because of its new found obsession with everything 'strategic'.

In his opening address Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton said that "too much time is spent on strategy [which] only accounts for 20%". He went on to say that execution is the most difficult thing and that's what makes winners win.

It seems that in its hunger to reposition itself as a strategic function, HR is losing sight of the basics -the very things that business leaders want it for.

Sound familiar?

I can see this happening in internal comms. As our profession matures we're all so busy fighting to be accepted and taken seriously by the board, that we're letting go of our 'bread & butter' tactical skills.

I agree wholeheartedly with Sue - tactical implementation is just as important as strategy, crafting and drafting just as vital as coaching the CEO.

Let's not lose sight of this in our rush to the top!

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.

 

What message does your festive bash send to employees?

Firstly, apologies for my radio silence over the last few weeks – we’ve been so busy at Gatehouse that I’ve really struggled to find time to blog.

December is an odd month isn’t it? There’s always something rather frantic about it – it’s that last minute rush to complete projects (or spend budget!) before the end of the year, and to get New Year plans in place before we all down tools for a few days over Christmas. Yet despite the heavy workloads, many of us are now gearing up (down?) for our annual festive bash. Yes, it’s party time! 

Seeing clients, friends and family head off for an evening of fun and frivolity and inevitably return with a major hangover, I can’t help wondering messages these parties send to employees (ok, I'll admit it, that is rather sad). They may not be part of the internal communicator’s armory, but there’s no doubting that the behavior (or misbehavior) of leaders, managers and employees at these events can either reinforce or undo much of what we have worked so hard to communicate during the past 12 months.

Contradictions abound. Take the leader who bangs on about diversity and inclusiveness all year round and then gets hammered at the bar and tells racist jokes. Or the call center manager who severely reprimanded anyone who arrived late for a shift and then fails to turn up the morning after the night before. A mismatch between what you say and what you do is one of the easiest ways to disengage employees. And that's without even mentioning the sex, drugs and fights, all of which I have witnessed at office parties over the years. They are a minefield in oh so many ways.

I remember one party I attended a few years ago where the CEO turned up clad head to toe in a figure-hugging Lycra bodysuit. Let’s just say it left little to the imagination. The venue was rather warm and, if his appearance was not already disturbing enough, the resulting sweat patches guaranteed near universal amusement. This brave move had a number of consequences - for sure no one who was there ever looked at him in quite the same way, but everyone knew he had a serious sense of humor and, thus, was genuinely human. Positives and negatives. 

That one was actually quite amusing and did no lasting harm, but the problem is that most actions are rarely as calculated - in what is usually a booze-fuelled environment, people often let their guard down a little too far. I did exactly that when I belted out that awful karaoke number a few years back. Believe me, it's worth pausing for thought before you down that next glass of Champagne.

If you need more convincing here's some useful legal advice published a few years ago on the excellent legal website from Pinsent Masons, Out-Law.com.

A lesson in information security

Today's highly embarrassing announcement by the chancellor, Alistair Darling, that HMRC has lost two discs containing the personal details of 25 million individuals provides a stark reminder of the need for organizations to educate their employees on information security.

It appears that the blunder was caused when "a junior official" sent the two computer discs, containing key information about the 7.25 million families in the UK who receive child benefit, to the National Audit Office.  This seemingly simple administrative task has exposed half the UK population to the risk of identity theft and possible fraud.

The discs were apparently sent unregistered using the internal post system run by courier TNT (Mr Darling was keen to point out that this was a breach of HMRC's own guidelines). The discs never arrived and, at this point in time, could be in the hands of fraudsters or, perhaps, sitting under a bush somewhere. A police investigation is now underway, the chair of HMRC has resigned and the government has egg on its face once again. All in all it's a catastrophic cock up. And all because one employee wasn't aware of, or didn't understand, how to handle data like this (I'm speculating of course, but you get the point).

This debacle underlines the need for organizations to educate their employees about information security and other aspects of risk management. Dull as these subjects may at first appear, all it takes is a mistake like this - somewhere down the line and possibly at a junior level in the organization - to wreck reputations and seriously compromise the security of benefit claimants/customers/voters/clients.

I remember participating in a really dull mandatory workshop a few years back on information security. It was worse than watching paint dry.  It definitely didn't engage me, and I suspect that for most participants the valuable content just went in one ear and out the other. 

What's interesting is that a topic that is so important and business-critical as this is often left to the risk management boffins or data protection officers to drive. Internal communication are nowhere to be seen - usually tied up on other, seemingly more exciting and important, initiatives.

As communicators we should treat today as a wake up call. Use this as a topical opportunity to get involved in information security and other risk-related communications. Find out what your organization has done in this area and/or is planning and offer your services. Educate yourself (the Information Commissioner's Office is a good starting point) and work with those responsible to bring the subject to life. It doesn't have to be dull and, as Alistair Darling would no doubt agree, it's a critically important aspect of organizational life. 

Financial education - part of our remit?

This morning I received an interesting press release from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). Headed "Stockmarket turbulence highlights the need for employer provided financial education", it was a timely reminder of the need for us to educate employees about the financials and keep them informed about organisational performance.

CIPD pay and benefits expert Charles Cotton says that educating employees about financial matters could help businesses reduce the negative impact that a crash in share prices could have on the workforce. It's an interesting point.

Cotton says, “It makes good business sense to ensure employees have a good financial understanding because financial concerns can cause stress and depression, resulting in poor performance and increased sickness absence. This is becoming important as more employees are covered by defined contribution pension arrangements and employee share plans. Employees may stop, or cut back, on their contributions to these schemes. However, by educating them about the long-term nature of pensions and share plans and their tax advantaged status this risk can be reduced. 

“Providing employees with advice and education about financial matters will help them make more informed decisions about how to save for the future and deal with concerns when they arise. Better financial awareness will also help minimise the risk of people making inappropriate benefit decisions subsequently blaming their employer and impacting negatively on employee engagement, employer brand and possible litigation.”

Cotton is basically saying that financial education is a win:win for organisations - protecting the employee against stress and depression and helping safeguard their long term savings, whilst at the same time helping the organisation maintain performance during tough times and avoid the risk of litigation and/or damage to their reputation.

With so many employees now worried about their long term pension provisions and others fretting about the short to medium term value of their share options, it's a point well made.

There's no doubting the importance of financial communication and, for me, it's part and parcel of our role as internal communicators.  I've been in to far too many organisations where the employees don't have a clue how the business is doing - often to the point where negative change (a redundancy programme, for instance) comes as a complete shock. 

Roger D'Aprix pointed out years ago the need for us to answer the question "How are we doing?" for employees. That is as true today as it was back then.

Take time now to think about your activity in this area. Are you helping educate employees about the financials? Are you regularly communicating performance in an accessible and interesting way? Are you providing context for the ups and downs in the company's share price? This is important stuff and it's something we should all be focused on.   

New McKinsey study on Web2.0

Those insightful folk at McKinsey have just published a new study looking at current and future use of Web 2.0 technologies. You'll need to register to read the article (it's free) but it's well worth a read as it provides a good snapshot of the phenomenon and shows how tools like blogs, wikis and social networking are being adopted across various business sectors and geographies. I won't repeat the findings in detail here, but there are some interesting points in there...

Of those companies that are using Web 2.0 technologies, two clear groups emerge-those who are using them for knowledge management (KM) purposes and those using them primarily for communications. The former group typically comprises large, high tech companies based in Asia, whilst the latter group is made up mainly of media and telecos in North America. Those companies with a knowledge focus are making more use of collective intelligence, peer-to-peer networking and social networking tools, whilst those with a comms focus are adopting blogging, podcasting and RSS.

As someone who has in the past spanned the divide (abyss?) between KM and internal communication (a challenge it has to be said), I find this observation quite interesting. My own view is that most of these tools, adopted inside organizations, can be used very effectively to capture and share employee knowledge. In that sense they deliver on some of the promises being made by KM professionals five to ten years ago. 

Because most of these technologies are so easy to implement and use, they can quickly and easily be put to use inside businesses - often amongst small work groups. This is a real contrast to some of the grand enterprise-wide approaches of the past, which required enormous investment in database technology and considerable resource to feed but, as I found, were rarely used by employees without senior management making heavy use of carrot or stick.

Web 2.0 - or whatever you want to call it- brings together a range of tools and technologies which make it easier for stakeholders (in our case employees) to share information, communicate, collaborate, connect with each other and, in doing so, create organizational knowledge. Furthermore, its grassroots nature (a theme discussed in the article) helps increase adoption, in turn helping embed such practices into the organization's culture - for so long the Holy Grail of KM.  Many organisations are already using blogs, wikis and social networking in this way and intranets are evolving fast.

The two groups identified by McKinsey may, in part, reflect differences in culture between North America and Asia (the former arguably being more communicative, the latter more collaborative). But I like to think that the coming years will see a convergence of these two approaches (and the related technologies) which will at long last make the connection between the knowledge and communication professions. As I got tired of saying, knowledge only exists when it is communicated and shared - without that it is merely information. Blogs, podcasts, social networking sites and wikis simply enable that to happen.

Don't forget to check out the Talking IC archive

I'm away on holiday next week for some long overdue 'down time' - so apologies in advance for not responding immediately to any comments left here.

As I was packing last night it struck me that I've now been blogging for over a year. It's not long in the grand scheme of things, but it's a fair amount of time in the world of social media.  During that time I've blogged about a whole range of topics - from West Bromwich Albion and my (then) hatred of the BlackBerry, to dialogue, trust in the workplace, leadership communication and culture. There's not much that I regret posting, but it's been an interesting journey so far.

If you're new to Talking IC, why not check out the archives - amongst my ramblings there are some really interesting nuggets. And don't forget a number of articles are available to download for free.

I will be back on line in a week or so....

 

IT, flexible working and employee engagement

There was something on Radio 4 this morning about today being national work from home day, or something like that. It was just after 0530am and I had just left home in the Midlands for another very long commute to York. That made me smile.

I had no real reason to be so far from home today, other than the fact that the only way I can currently access my client's IT systems (including that lifeline that is known as email) is to be on site.

I've been given a laptop and wifi set up, but it doesn't work. I have phoned the helpdesk numerous times, but I get nowhere. Our exchanges have become so painful to me (how many times do I have to explain?) that I've given up trying. It comes to something when it's easier to do a six hour round trip!

I wonder how many home workers experience similar pains? I wonder how many try it, only to throw in the towel when their hopeless helpdesks repeatedly fail to fix their problems. I bet there are quite a few.

Technology is a blessing or a curse. I'm writing this post on my own BlackBerry, yet I've had to travel nearly 200 miles today, just to get behind the corporate firewall. That's plain stupid.

To be a genuinely great place to work, businesses need to get their IT right. Employees (and consultants) need to have the tools of the trade; they need to have smooth and efficient access to key communication channels, wherever they are; and they need to feel confident calling their helpdesk.

It just goes to show that if they get it wrong, support functions like IT can have a huge negative impact on climate, morale and individual performance. By focusing our efforts on these areas, we might make a lot of employees a little bit happier.