The Twist and Shout Guide to Employee Engagement

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Web: www.twistandshout.co.uk • Email: anyone@twistandshout.co.uk Blog: tandscomms.blogspot.com/ • Tel: +44 (0)844 335 6715

Contents

All images and content Copyright Twist & Shout Commuications Ltd.

Web: www.twistandshout.co.uk • Email: anyone@twistandshout.co.uk Blog: tandscomms.blogspot.com/ • Tel: +44 (0)844 335 6715

Page Content

2 Introduction 3 Measurability

4 Branding and creativity

5 Campaign based approach Fireworks: Video Fireworks: Roadshow and Café Society

6 Training Reference materials

7 Ongoing engagement

8 Casestudy:Barclays‘TheRisk’

9 Case study: TfL Department Day FilmMcAfee‘Heroes’

Twist & Shoutare

STORYTELLERSfor

BUSINESS

However these behaviours can’t just be demanded from employees, in return for their engagement they need to feel listened to and valued, in short a real part of the company. Achieving this takes both time and an understanding of the building blocks that promote this kind of two way communication, but the rewards for companies who make this effort can be astounding.

The benefits are huge for any organisation that manages to crack the complex and sometimes black art of employee engagement. Qualities such as loyalty, willingness to go that extra mile and even something as simple as helping out a colleague without needing to be asked, can all have a surprisingly positive impact on your companies’ bottom line.

Introduction

Employee engagement : a definition

‘a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organisation and its values. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation.

The organisation must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.’

Institute for Employment Studies, april 2004

Measurability

For example, an online questionnaire of between 10 and 15 questions would be sent to named employees (generating a higher take-up than a blanket email), offering them something in return, some entertainment for instance.

A minimum sample size of 400 is generally required for a meaningful research exercise. Response rates vary significantly depending on the subject mater and audience, but assuming an average uptake of 10%, a minimum distribution list of 4,000 employees would be required.

Before embarking on any awareness campaign, it’s important to establish how its success will be measured. It could be a simple as comparing the number of registered hits on your intranet before and after the campaign; or the number of staff who have completed the training course modules. Equally it could be as complex as measuring your business performance pre- and post-campaign.

We’d recommend following up with post campaign research to assess if and how your campaign has affected the behaviour of employees.

Branding and creativityOur most successful campaigns have been creative in their concept and implementation, whilst supporting the employer brand values of the organisation. An interesting, engaging and entertaining message is most likely to be noticed and remembered.

Equally, to produce truly effective communications, there needs to be clarity of message. There is an urge to clutter what we say with lots of information so that nothing is missed. The detail can and must remain – but should be saved for the training course or the reference document or the intranet. To stand out, your campaign should have a simple, overriding concept and consistent ‘look and feel’ on which all materials, activities and courses are based.

‘’The thing about Twist & Shout is that they really know how to create and “sell” a story. It’s stories, not data or process that will engage employees.’’

Dave Leighton, Siemens

Fireworks: Roadshow and Café Society

A roadshow could also act as an effective launch to the campaign. It would enable you to introduce representatives of your team and present the key messages in person. Interaction is key to making a roadshow interesting and relevant and this could be achieved through quizzes, games or competitions.

Smaller, single-site organisations could consider a café society approach, which involves a series of informal sessions that allow members to discuss the key information security issues. At the end of each session, you move to the next table ‘café style’ to participate in the next discussion. Each session begins with an introduction from the session leader and then moves on to open discussion, with progress on the issue noted by the leader. These types of sessions create an atmosphere that fosters an honest and open exchange of ideas.

A live event also provides you with the opportunity to capture content, in the form of soundbites recorded by an interviewer, who asks attendees what they see as the key benefits of the awareness campaign and their impression of the roadshow or café society. This content could then be included on your intranet pages as a reference and reminder.

Experience tells us that a rolling programme of activity will keep the campaign firmly in the collective psyche. When the key messages have been established, they need to be repeated across different media, online, in the training environment and in the main workplace. Our most successful campaigns contain a combination of the following elements:

Fireworks: Video

One compelling way to announce the campaign is through a video or series of videos. There is no better method to promoting a reaction from an audience and ensuring that a message is understood and retained. The key campaign messages should be distilled and broken down into manageable chunks of less than 5 minutes per film or module.

It’s often tempting to promote something based on facts and figures. We’ve found that we have much more success with a dramatic approach. We’ve also found that that humour works incredibly well to make your message ‘sticky’, as does referencing the everyday lives of your employees.

It seems obvious to point out but the videos should be easily accessible to all employees: shown at an appointed time in the boardroom, available on the company intranet and promoted through a variety of channels (a theme expanded in on-going engagement below).

Campaign based approach

Training

Whilst the fireworks announce the campaign and introduce the main themes, training provides the detail. Allowing users to customise their workspaces and their course requirements will help them to engage fully with the training, reducing the ‘chore’ factor. Call it ‘permission training’ if you will. We’d also recommend turning the spotlight firmly on the business benefits – contextualising the training and giving users the ‘why’ as well as the ‘how’. The training should be SCORM compliant to ensure that you can review exactly who has received each of the training modules.

Reference materials

All of the relevant information about the policy should be stored on the company intranet, including video, CBT and full policy details to provide an easy-to-access reference point. In addition to this portal, we’ve found that a print-based and pocket-sized document can be a useful reminder. A Little Book would contain the key messages presented ina conversational style, with images from the video to create a direct association. These Little Books tend to stay on desks or be carried around by those who received them; and should also be made available for download from the intranet.

‘’It needed to capture the attention of a global audience and stir up interest in working for us. To say we are happy with the videos is an understatement. We are ecstatic!”

Stewart Brookes, McAfee

On-going Engagement

Quarterly emails

Regular reminders of the awareness campaign are crucial to maintain momentum. Quarterly email alerts can provide details of how to access the video content and intranet, when the roadshows are taking place and how to download the Little Books amongst other things.

Ambient media

We’ve used ambient media with great success in the past and have found that strategically placed posters and postcards are effective support materials. For example, there could be a series of collectible postcards each carrying one of the key messages that employees should remember and relating to the video and Little Book.

BlogA blog hosted on the company intranet would be a means of updating employees on policy initiatives. It could be penned by the head of department or trusted representative, or you could take a creative approach and base the blog on a ‘character’ from the campaign. Blogs are relatively easy to create and maintain but must be regularly posted so that the audience knows what to expect and when.

Blogs offer you the option of enabling a ‘comments’ field after your posts where employees can discuss issues with you. This means that they will not only be more inclined to return to the blog, but you will have at your disposal an effective and inexpensive way to get to know your employees better.

Case studiesBarclays ‘The Risk’

Tasked with finding new and innovative ways to raise awareness of Information Risk Management for Barclays, we wondered what would happen if a ‘visionary’ film Director was let loose on a training video. Five ‘genre’ films were released independently on their intranet, alongside the main feature, an ‘Office’-style mockumentary of the production process.

To promote the core films, there was a small teaser film, posters and postcards and even a mock Film Premiere featuring two of the main characters of the film, the Director and Client, appearing in character throughout. The campaign has proved a resounding success that has seen a tenfold increase in traffic to the intranet. It has also been recognised externally, named ISE Project of the Year at the Infosec Awards ‘08 and gaining a Discretionary Award at the Real IT Awards ‘08, with further nominations for the SC and IVCA awards.

‘’The end result is an innovative, exciting and holistic campaign that is beginning to have real traction across the business.’’

Stephen Bonner, Barclays

Case studiesTFL Departmental Day

The TFL ‘Department Day’ film was shown at an internal event as a means of sharing knowledge about each central service within the same building. Whilst employees on each floor were well acquainted, there was a gap in knowledge of what other departments – and other floors – actually did. We recommended to take the filming outside the workplace for interest and concentrated on the employee personalities, not just their job role.

McAfee Heroes

The film was created to differentiate working for McAfee from the standard Technical, Sales & R&D jobs that exist. The aim was to show that at McAfee you are making a difference and to reset the perceptions of potential employees. It was produced as a standalone item to be shown at McAfee recruitment events and as a part of the McAfee revamped recruitment site; and was premiered at McAfee’s 2008 Global Sales Meeting in Las Vegas to boost internal morale.

McAfee has seen approximately a 10% increase in employee referrals globally and significant increase in direct applicants from their careers site. The film has been a focal point of the McAfee recruitment campaign generally, spawning posters and other collateral.

Case studies

McAfee Heroes

TFL Departmental Day

9

Case studies

McAfee Heroes

TFL Departmental Day

9

Web: www.twistandshout.co.uk • Email: anyone@twistandshout.co.uk • Blog: tandscomms.blogspot.com/ • Tel: +44 (0)844 335 6715

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