EmployeeEngagementinToughTimes

national.ca/startthedialogue

Executive summaryJune 2009

national.ca /startthedialogue Employee Engagement in Tough Times 1

Starting theDialogueabout internal communications

In today’s challenging business environment, we are facing manysocial, political, economic and regulatory trends that are impactingstrategic communications. Nowhere is this trendmore evident thanin internal communications.

Effective internal communications is vital to employee engagement,retention and productivity. The world’s highest performingcompanies know that engaged employees are more productive,more customer-focused, more loyal, and ultimately, morecommitted to business success. Industry research tells us that firmsthat communicate effectively report high levels of employeeengagement, low turnover rates and high shareholder value.

The goal of this research was to better understand key trends,challenges and opportunities for internal communications.Specifically, we wanted to examine the role of dialogue: how two-way conversation can help stimulate participation, exchange ideas,solve problems, and promote action.We also wanted to gain insightinto how leaders and managers could embrace different forms todialogue to inspire and engage employees, particularly in themidstof a challenging economy.

In March and April 2009, we conducted qualitative in-depthinterviews with communications professionals at 30 client andnon-client public and private sector Canadian organizations.Participating companies included energy, manufacturing, financialservices, and pharmaceutical industries firms in Nova Scotia, NewBrunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta andBritish Columbia, rangingfrom90 and 60,000 employees. Resultswere compiled and analyzedby NATIONAL Public Relations’ internal research team.

This material is the intellectual property of NATIONAL Public Relations Inc. Every digital, printed andoral reference or usemust contain a clear and visible acknowledgement ofNATIONALPublic RelationsInc. No alteration of the material is permitted without written permission from NATIONAL PublicRelations Inc.

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Highlights

Respondents identified social media as the primary trend ininternal communications.

Multi-generational workforces are prompting communicators tore-evaluate their internal communications strategies to betterreflect generational preferences.

Organizations are being challenged by the sometimes conflictinggoals of attracting younger talent while improving the morale,motivation and engagement of current employees who havedifferent preferences and needs.

Face-to-face dialogue is viewed as the most effective way tocommunicate. Communicators identifiedmany positive attributesof dialogue, including the ability to better understand employeeconcerns, build relationships and trust, improve messageretention, and overcome internal silos.

Communicators need to create alignment between external andinternal communications at their organizations, in order to buildtrust and demonstrate transparency.

Employees of all ages are demandingmore timely and transparentcommunications.

Organizational restructuring, including changes in leadership,are driving a need for greater visibility and access to seniormanagement.

The most pressing worry for communications professionals istrying to keep up with their workload.

Socialmedia

Dem

ographic

challenges

Timely,relevant

communications

New

technology

Managingem

ployee

expectations

Managem

ent

turnover

Top TrendsImpacting InternalCommunications

Source: NATIONAL Public Relations Inc., June 2009

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The state of the economy and challenges that resultfrom it, such as ensuring stakeholder value, smallerbudgets, lower revenues and industry changes, haveimpacted the way organizations communicate withemployees.

CEOs aremore visible to employees than six monthsago. Visibility tends to be episodic, however, ratherthan sustained over time.

Recruitment and retention remain a primary challenge,particularly in the current economywhen engagementis relatively low.

Top Challengesfor CanadianOrganizations

Currenteconomic situation

Recruitment and retention

Industry changes

Mergers and acquisitions

Customerservice

Information sharing

Executive turnover

Resources and staffing

Economic uncertainty hascreated new challengesfor communicators

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Internal communications departments are challengedby organizational restructuring, reduced time,increased workload, and less resources.

Communicators are evolving their communicationsstrategies to be more personalized, relevant andtimely.

Communications professionals interviewed felt that thevalue of internal communicationswasmisunderstoodas a tactical function, rather than as amajorcontributor to the overall business strategy.

Challengesfor InternalCommunications

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The role of internalcommunications isevolving

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Personalizationof communications tools

Clarity of internal communications roleOrganizational restructuring

Lack of resources andinternal communications staff

Process and structure of internalcommunications

Recruitment and retentionBudgetary constraints

Workload

“

Themajority of respondents indicated that there wasmore dialogue with seniormanagement now, versussix months ago.

When asked why dialogue with seniormanagementhad increased, respondents indicated that this wasdue to recent acquisitions, the economic situation,businessmodel restructuring or a crisis.

Overall, respondents indicated that the CEO of theirrespective organizations communicated very effectivelywith employees. Othermembers of the leadershipteam, however, did not fare so well. Themajority ofrespondents ranked other senior leaders significantlylower in terms of communications effectiveness.

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Adviceto SeniorLeadership

Dialoguewith leadershipis viewed as essential3

More personal interaction

Keep communicating

Increase frequency andreduce the formality

Less talking at andmore dialogueMore sharing and visioning

with departments

Be honestBemore consistent

Respond in amoretimely manner

Bemoreinteractive

Listenmore to employees

Continue to be open, timely and honest withcommunications

Be available to employees

Have an open door policy

Invest time in communication

“Dialogue helps build abelief in our leadershipand that our leaders are‘steering the ship’.

“ “Social media is one of thebiggest challenges forinternal communications;in particular, how tounderstand and use thesetools in a thoughtful andmeaningful way.

88%of respondents cited socialmedia as the numberone trend impacting internal communications at theirorganization.

Internal socialmedia toolsmentioned includemicro-blogging, sharedwork spaces, podcasts, blogs andforums.

45%of respondents said that changing demographicsin theworkplace are amajor trend impacting internalcommunications; younger employeeswant socialmedia tools as part of the internal communicationsstrategy.

30%of respondents said there is an increased needfor timely and relevant communications.“ “

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Socialmedia is thedominant trend impactinginternal communictions

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On a scale of 1 to 5, I thinkwe are a ‘2’ vis-à-visdialogue right now becausewe’re not listening enough.I think dialogue is veryimportant, but it doesn’tnecessarily have to beface-to-face.

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1. Internal communications programsmust have leadership buy-in; not just from the CEO but the seniormanagement team aswell.

2. Effective internal communications programs begin with research. Employees are not a homogeneousmass – they are individuals with specific needs and preferences.

3. Internal communicationsmust be supported with appropriate investment – including people, funding,management buy-in, and alignment across key operational functions to present employees with aconsistent experience.

4. Internal communications programsmust bemeasurable and demonstrate impact on the bottom line.

5. Internal communications is not a tactical series of events. It is an ongoing strategy that connectsemployees as active participants in the business.

6. Programs need to incorporate tools that are relevant andmeaningful to specific employee segments andneeds – one size does not fit all.

7. Internal communications involves ongoing dialogue across, up and down the organization. Cascadedcommunications simply do not work anymore.

8. Theremust be an openness to change.What worked in the pastmay not work today.

Webelieve that high-performingorganizations demonstrate thefollowing characteristics in theirinternal communications programs

FROM TOContent of communications > Intent of communicationsControlled (traditional) > Uncontrolled (online)Mass > PersonalizedMonologue > DialogueCEO as leader > CEO andmanagers as

communicatorsReadership metrics > Business impact metrics

The

Old Wayand the

NewWay

Formore information, please contact: Carolyn Ray, Vice President, Employee Engagement, NATIONALPublic Relations 416- 848-1423cray@national.ca twitter.com/carolynray

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