Presentation title Date 1

Internal CommunicationsInternal Communications

Training SessionTraining SessionPart OnePart One

Piers SchreiberPiers SchreiberHR Academy - 6HR Academy - 6thth February 2007 February 2007

2

The Agenda

Part One: Setting the Scene• What is Internal Communications?• Why is it important to HR?• How does it fit with ACE objectives• Survey results - workshop

Part Two: Building the Skills• Principles of outside-in thinking• Checklist for internal communications• Two key tools: Messaging Matrix + Q&A• Scenario practice - workshop

Part Three: Avoiding the Pitfalls• Spotting the errors• Corrective strategies• Conclusions

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Setting the Scene

What is internal communications?

• Strategic management of information flows to ensure the optimal level of employee engagement

• Top-down, bottom-up, side-to-side communications harnessed as a means of delivering messages, listening to concerns and motivating staff

• Reinforces the vision, values and culture among employees, who can then communicate it to internal & external audiences

4

Setting the Scene

President Kennedy once visited a NASA site and met a janitor.

Kennedy asked the janitor, "And what's your job?"

The reply was, "Mr. President, I'm helping to put a man on the moon."

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Setting the Scene

What is good internal communications?• Clear• Credible • Concise• Consistent• Constructive• …and Timely

What good is internal communications?• Builds understanding• Promotes engagement• Reinforces values• Primes people for crises

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Importance to HR

Dialogue• Open dialogue between staff & upper management• Facilitates flow of information through organisation

Crisis & Change• Channels in place in disseminate critical information• Credibility in delivering messages

Decision-making• Access to employee input improves decisions• Promotes inclusivity – greater buy-in to decisions

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Relevance to ACE

2011

$30 billionGrowt

h MD

HRD

TBA Elysé TRAORE Laure DAMIBA

Business PartnerTraining &

Development

Resourcing

C&B

Pascal OUEDRAOGOBusiness Partner

Confu

sion

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Relevance to ACE

“By 2011 we aim to have a market capitalisation of $30 billion, 70 million customers and $6 billion EBITDA”

InternalMedia Investors

• What does it mean for me?• Why should I care?• What role do I play?• How do I know if we are on course?• Who’s who?• What’s next?

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The Survey

Audience• 47 people connected with HR

Timing• 25-30 January 2007• 80% response rate

Objectives• Understand HR’s view of internal communications• Set a benchmark for improvement

Methodology• Online survey + qualitative/quantitative responses

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Importance of internal communications

50%

100%0%

Very Important 95%

Feedback:• Everyone sees internal communications as important • Sets scene for evaluation of performance

QuiteImportant

5%

In your opinion how important is internal communications to the success of an organisation?

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Performance of OpCo in Internal Comms?

50%

100%0%

Feedback:• Only 5% said it was managed ‘very well’• About half gave positive responses• 10% had no opinion

Positive 52% 48% Negative

How well do you feel internal communications is managed within your OpCo?

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Quality of HQ-OpCo communications?

100%0%

Positive 33% 66% Negative

Feedback:• 48% said it was ‘managed poorly’ or ‘very poorly’• 19% gave ‘no opinion’- presume negative• 31% said it was adequate

How well is internal communications managed between HQ & your OpCo?

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Frequency of Communications

Daily27%

Twice a week11%

Weekly19%

Fortnightly11%

Monthly32%

Feedback:• In a third of the operations staff receive messages from the

management only once a month

How often do your employees receive messages from management?

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Internal Communication Channels

Email

Letter

Team Meeting

All staff mtg

Newsletter

Conf. Calls

Other*

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

46%

2%

17%

21%

5%

4%

4%

Current Use of Channels

Email

Letter

Team Meeting

All staff mtg

Newsletter

Conf. Calls

Other*

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

29%

2%

30%

31%

4%

0%

6%

Most Effective Channels

* Intranet, social events/awards, memoranda * Celtel People, Intranet, Q&A Sessions, Memoranda, Notice boards etc

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Benchmarked against other Research

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Dedicated Internal Comms Resource

Dedicated Resource

Partial Resource

No Resource

26%

26%

54%

Feedback:• A quarter of OpCos have no focus on internal communications• Partial resource may reflect size of operation & priority

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Responsibility in a Crisis

22

24

34

3

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Managing Director

HR Director

Other ExCo Member

Internal CommsOfficer

Other 5%

7%

5%

43%

40%

Feedback:• Responsibility shared between MD and HRD• Need definition of strategic and tactical execution

In the event of a crisis who would take responsibility for internal communications?

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Internal Communications Strategy

Yes41%

No35%

I don't know24%

0%0%

Do you have a strategy?

Feedback:• Almost 60% are not aware of any strategy being in place• Consequences?

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Tools for Promoting Dialogue

Suggestions Box

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

25%

Tools to Encourage Dialogue

Team Meetings 36%

Other* 14%

Intranet Forum 9%

Live Q&A 8%

HR Clinic 4%

Brown Bag Lunches 4%

* Employee surveys, town halls meetings, open door, Bus Partnering

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Challenges in Motivating Staff

Top challenges• Need for a clear career progression plan • Talent management• Job descriptions

• Need for a transparent reward & recognition system• Fair salaries

• Involvement of staff in decision-making• Sense of belonging & engagement

• Clear internal communications• Company objectives• Constructive leadership, especially on changes

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Most Needed Information

Top Information Needs• Change & Integration • Strategy and direction• Organisational and policy changes

• Company Performance• Company’s progress against plan• Competitive position

• Personal Performance• Feedback on performance & career

• Best Practice• Examples from other Operations• New developments in technology & sector

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Wish List for Improvements

Top Improvements• Better internal communications • Dedicated resource supported by clear strategy• Commitment throughout organisation to focus on it• Timely response to employee concerns & changes

• Culture of openness• More frequent all staff & team meetings• Wider range of channels/forums for feedback & debate

• Tools & Practices• Intranet• System for instantaneous global updates• Focus on clear, direct & honest communications

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Best Practice Examples

EXCO WALKING ABOUT

Monthly all staff meetings

Equal attention to bottom-up and top-down communications

The more time taken to explain, the better the result

Regular cross-functional meetings

All policies on a CD

Circulate weekly update on ExCo

decisionsEffective management of a cascade system to ensure ownership An Excellence Week – to

showcase contributions to global objectives

Recognition & celebration of company, group and individual performance

Strategy off-sites

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Group work

Three Tasks

• How do the conclusions relate to your experience of Internal Communications within Celtel?

• What are the top three priorities we need to fix?

• What solutions would you propose to fix them?