KATE VAN HULZEN


COMMUNICATING FOR RESULTS



When it comes to grabbing a piece of your employees' mind share, you're facing stiff competition: Many of the world's biggest brands also want their attention -- and have the budgets and slick advertising campaigns to get it. Add to that an apocalypse of email overload and lure of late night The Walking Dead reruns and your bland corporate communication is toast. Here's how to break through the clutter and be heard.



01


set clear objectives , outcomes and success measures



Clearly articulate the outcomes you want to achieve, the behaviors needed to help you get there, and how you'll measure success throughout.


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02


KNOW Your key stakeholders



Identify your key stakeholders and what you want each to know, believe and do (or start, stop and continue doing) and the barriers that could get in the way.

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03


listen to and involve key stakeholders in the solution


Use listening and design thinking strategies to involve leaders and employees in crafting solutions and driving desired outcomes.

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04



create a journey map and craft the narrative



Create a visual to show the journey from awareness to engagement and the risks, threats, listening and intervention opportunities along the way. Include key messages that will guide, engage and inspire.


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05



Develop a media plan



Choose the right channels and media for the message and the audience, and don't rely on one medium to get the word out -- consider a combination of digital, mobile, social and face-to-face communication tactics.


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06



implement and measure



Deploy your media plan and use employee feedback and data analytics throughout to determine if your campaign is effective or if you need to change course. Upon completion, document what you did and learned, and celebrate success with your team!


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DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY TAKES IMAGINATION, GOOD DATA and insights, AN ABILITY TO COURSE CORRECT AND TIME.

oh yeah, And a lot of good coffee.



SET CLEAR OBJECTIVES, OUTCOMES AND SUCCESS MEASURES





Experienced advertising campaign managers know the importance of establishing clear objectives, outcomes and success measures up front. Developing a communication campaign for employees or other internal stakeholders is no different.


The most successful employee communication campaigns share several key objectives. They strive to:

  1. Break through the clutter and attract employees' attention
  2. Build awareness, knowledge and "buy in" of organizational initiatives, changes or expectations
  3. Deliver a consumer-grade communication and workplace experience that reflects the organization's brand, values, culture and employee value proposition
  4. Use several communication channels and media (including digital, social and mobile) to make information easily accessible and appeal to a range of communication and learning styles
  5. Create a call to action and motivate employees to listen to that call (which may involve making a one-time decision or changing their behavior for a long-term impact)

Common desired outcomes include:

  1. ​Employees understand and embrace the organization's vision, mission and values
  2. Employees understand the business context for change and/or what the organization is asking them to do (for example, follow a new process, work in a different way, share knowledge, make a benefit election)
  3. Employees have the information they need to follow through on the desired action or activity and understand how their actions and behavior contribute to their individual success and that of their team, division and the organization
  4. Employees feel supported by leaders and their direct supervisor
  5. Employees are engaged -- committed to the organization and both willing and able to give their discretionary effort to helping the organization achieve its objectives





Establishing clear success measures up front will enable the project team to check progress against expectations and correct course along the way to ensure a successful outcome.


The project team should plan to collect data before, during and upon completion of the project. There are many sources to consider, such as HR information systems (HRIS), survey databases and benchmarks, call centers, third-party vendors, and online tools that enable you to collect and analyze digital engagement data (e.g., Google Analytics).


See Implement and Measure for sample qualitative and quantitative success measures.


KNOW YOUR KEY STAKEHOLDERS





Large, complex, transformation initiatives -- for example, a merger, joint venture, acquisition, or the rollout of new technology or an HR information system -- require a robust stakeholder engagement plan that describes what each stakeholder needs to know, believe and do to support the change (and/or what they need to start doing, stop doing or continue to do), and outlines tactics for the best way to reach, involve and engage them.





There are several internal stakeholders you might need to consider, including:

  • - Project leaders and teams (e.g., merger integration team)
  • - The C suite (CEO, COO, CFO, CHRO)
  • - Key business executives (e.g., business segment or division leaders)
  • - Other key business leaders (e.g., department, functional or practice heads)
  • - HR leaders, HR business partners
  • - Catalyst teams
  • - Managers
  • - Internal call center representatives
  • - Various employee groups (e.g., those directly affected by the change versus indirectly affected); in some cases it's necessary to segment employees based on key demographics such as age, gender, years of service, benefit program eligibility, or location

  • There are also external stakeholders to consider, including:

- Board members

- Union leaders

- Media

- Call center representatives

- Third-party business partners and vendors

- Customers / consumers


It's critical to also consider the barriers that could get in the way of meeting the initiative's objectives. These barriers could include:
- Resistance to change
- Inability to adapt to change or lack of change readiness
- Lack of a compelling vision for change
- Lack of leadership alignment on the necessity or requirements of change
- Lack of trust in leadership
- Insufficient leadership visibility or leaders not "owning" the change or being the voice of change
- Insufficient support systems and tools required to support change
- Insufficient information or resources to support the change or transformation



LISTEN TO AND INVOLVE KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN THE SOLUTION





The best employee communication campaigns use employee listening and design thinking strategies to ensure the messages and media will have the desired impact.





There are several ways to "listen to" employees and involve them in the design process including:

- Social media scans

- Pulse surveys

- Innovation jams

- Interviews and focus groups

- Change catalyst groups


Below are several resources to help you get started.



CREATE A JOURNEY MAP AND CRAFT THE NARRATIVE





Journey maps show the project team's vision for how employees and other key stakeholders will travel along the change curve from initial awareness to knowledge and engagement, and the risks, threats, listening and intervention opportunities along the way. You can start with a rough whiteboard sketch and work with your team to create and add color-coded sticky notes that highlight key milestones, communication activities and potential roadblocks.


The completed journey map should include a narrative and visual identity that connect the organization's vision to key activities and high-level messages that will guide, engage and inspire employees and other key stakeholders.


Get started with the resources below.



DEVELOP A MEDIA PLAN





There isn't a silver bullet when it comes to effective communication. Designing a successful strategy requires knowing how to best reach and engage each stakeholder group -- and understanding that different types of media are more effective than others in specific situations. For example, if your organization is introducing significant organizational changes, it's critical that senior leaders -- starting with the CEO -- visibly "own" the change. Effective communication strategies may include town halls, Web-based forums and chats, a blog, and online FAQs or internal social media site that enables employees to ask questions and view responses from leadership.


Don't rely on one medium to get the word out -- consider a combination of digital, mobile, social and face-to-face communication channels and tactics.





IMPLEMENT AND MEASURE





Several people are commonly involved in the implementation and delivery of a communication campaign, including a project manager, writers, designers, digital programmers, technical and legal reviewers, proofreaders, translators, an art director and strategic leader. A content management system or project collaboration tool is critical to managing large volumes of content and digital assets and facilitating a coordinated review process.


Be sure to use employee listening and feedback tools and data analytics throughout the implementation to determine if your campaign is effective or if you need to change course.


Quantitative success measures may include:

  1. x% increase in employee engagement scores
  2. x% reduction in employee turnover (or turnover among key employee groups) / x% increase in employee retention
  3. x% increase in employee awareness and understanding of key topics (e.g., 10% increase in the number of employees who indicate they understand the company's vision)
  4. x% increase in participation in key HR or benefit programs or plans (e.g., 10% increase in number of employees who participate in the company's 401(k) plan)
  5. x% reduction in call volume to the HR Service Center
  6. x% increase in the number of employees who access an online portal or complete online training through the learning management system (LMS)
  7. $x in cost savings achieved through a specific action or activity
  8. $x / x% increase in productivity, output or profit

Qualitative success measures may include:

  1. Employees express an understanding and appreciation of the organization's new program or benefit
  2. The "noise" around a specific issue is reduced or minimized
  3. There is an observable increase in a desired behavior among employees, managers or leaders
  4. HR reports receiving fewer questions about a specific topic or issue


When your campaign is finished, have a debrief with the team to document what you did and learned, develop a case study to share with leadership, ensure all final files and digital assets are stored on an accessible team site for future reference, and celebrate the team's success.





The content on this site was written by and is owned by me. Please write to me if you would like permission to use it.


KATE VAN HULZEN


HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA