Measure twice, cut once: Preparing to communicate the new brand internally Maurice Harris, Director,...

Measure twice, cut once:Preparing to communicate the new brand internallyMaurice Harris, Director, Internal Communications

25 Feburary 2013

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY

FirstGroup Profile and Org Structure

2

FirstVehicleServices

GreyhoundFirst

TransitFirst

Student

FirstGroup America

14,000

800


Internal Communications Profile

3

Field OperationsInternal CommsCorporate HQ

The model conceptualizes innovation, competitiveness, and organizational effectiveness as organizational outcomes of employee engagement promoted by effective internal corporate communication (Welch, 2011).


The Role of Internal Communications

4

• Psychological presence at work (Kahn,1992)

• The antecedent to high performance (Barrett, 2002; Schuster, 1998)

• The #1 driver of employee engagement

• The top factor behind successful change


FirstGroup’s Strategic Focuses

5

First StudentEFFICIENCY

First Transit & First Services

EMPLOYEEDEVELOPMENT/REBRANDING

GreyhoundREVITALIZATION/

CUSTOMER SERVICE


Identifying the Problem: Different Businesses, Similar Opportunities

• Lack of access to information networks

• “Us v. Them” mentality

• Top-down decisions based on assumptions

• The perpetuation of ineffective communication vehicles

6


Quantifying the Problem

7

16% of Salary Budget!(Hempel & O’Conner, 2008)

Of the factors that influence employees to work for one company rather than another, open communication ranks highest (Therkelsen & Fiebich, 2003).


Communication Research Methods

8

• Self administered questionnaires• 21 locations

• 715 Non-management respondents

• 60 management respondents

• Observation Studies

• Focus Groups• 3 locations


Findings

9

• Employees understand the importance of communication to their specific role as well as their engagement in the company.

• In general, most non-management staff were not receiving any company communications, even when managers were asked to share it widely.

• Managers are overwhelmed by the amount of communication they receive and would like help streamlining, organizing and prioritizing it.

• Employees want access to technology that will allow them to communicate more easily across the company.

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY10

Revise…Reset

• (Re)Define the expectations• Leverage internal comms as an external

marketing catalyst• Make “Culture” a strategic imperative

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY11

Thank you.

Measure twice, cut once: Preparing to communicate the new brand internally Maurice Harris, Director,...

Documents

Transcript of Measure twice, cut once: Preparing to communicate the new brand internally Maurice Harris, Director,...