Communicating Strikes and Office Outages Successfully

As organizations came to grips with the most recent strike that paralyzed the country this week I noticed an innocuous post on a Linkedin community from a fellow communicator asking peers if they planned to shut shop, run operations or mitigate risks.

I found that post interesting since it came up on the evening before the planned strike. Did the organization have a plan to go by the poll results on Linkedin? If yes, they would have been off the mark considering I was the only one who responded!

Did they know who needed to be informed and how employees could continue work? What about transport for staff who need to get to office?

For the uninitiated, strikes (bandhs) in India can be quite difficult to predict and that puts organizations and internal communicators in a spot while communicating with stakeholders. There isn’t one source of information to gauge the final decision, there are multiple players who need to be consulted to understand the situation ‘on the ground’ and affiliations to political parties and state governments can determine if a bandh will impact business completely or partially.

Organizations with global operations can’t afford downtime and are often tempted to try getting their staff in on the previous day and make arrangements internally for stay and food during the bandh period. Often this can run into rough weather if the bandh callers witness staffers in the premises – as some organizations have discovered to their dismay.

To begin, having key leaders connect with local authorities and the police administration helps to take an informed decision. It makes sense to understand what other organizations in the vicinity are considering. However, you need to appreciate that an organization of 50,000 employees in a city will have a different strategy to one with about 500.

By ensuring all employees have updated their records on the company database you have a way to knowing if they are reachable and safe in case of untoward incidents.

List out your stakeholders apart from your employees. Do you need to inform your clients, business partners, travellers to the offices or leadership who have planned work? Consider all audiences who access or plan to access your premises. It can even be employees’ parents since they will be as concerned about their welfare as your organization is.

Create a set of messages that align to the company’s decision and what you expect your employees to do or say. For example, why is the bandh called, why the organization is closing the office, when does it open for operations and whom can staff contact if there is an emergency.

Have a set of standard templates that can be tweaked for recurring messages which go out – be it updates or alerts.

Ensure the business continuity initiative, if you have one, is activated and the key people involved in ongoing decisions to move premises or change operation timings.

Lastly, be sure to have a feedback session once the event is done and over so that all team members can share lessons and best practices not just in the organization but from people they know of in the industry.

Have thoughts on how else organizations and internal communicators can be effective? Please share them here.

What Does Pride Mean to You at the Workplace?

The recent news that Park Chu-Young who plays for Arsenal is dropped from the South Korean team for the upcoming World Cup qualification matches sparked debate about personal commitment and pride in the country and team. With the player delaying compulsory national military training the team’s manager took a firm stand on axing Park. What struck me were the phrases of ‘pride in the team’ and ‘atmosphere of the whole team’ that the manager spoke of while reiterating his decision.

Here is a player of repute that the country was willing to lose even if meant that they reduce their chances of qualification. I was impressed by the strong message this decision made – that the belief of putting the team before the individual is what really matters.

So what does pride at the workplace mean to employees and how does an organization put it to practice?

Pride in work gives employees a sense of purpose and meaning. It is also expected to motivate and energize. According to a study by the Hay Group, one of the best ways to instill pride in a workforce is to set high standards and challenge people to meet them.

Also the ability to create a positive organizational climate has been found to be the single greatest internal factor that drives employee performance. And leaders have a strong role to play in the process.

While the pride of associating with a well-known organization is motivating enough what improves connection and identity even more is the feeling of being recognized for work well done – whatever the work.

Other ways to instill pride are to create a sense of ownership and as Dan Ariely refers to it in his book Predictably Irrational – the Ikea Effect takes over. Once we engage intently with an object or concept or what-have-you, we become attached – like we ‘own’ it. What if organization’s allowed employees to bid for work that they wanted them to own and contribute it ways that made their effort ‘sticky’?

The results of building pride in the workplace are evident. Even during a recession staffers who believed were contributing to an organization’s success, were valued and recognized for their work demonstrated higher levels of engagement. Results from a recent UK based study reflect how austerity measures weren’t dampening pride among staff.

Closer home, the Indian workforce is as passionate about national pride as they are about working for organizations which are technology savvy. I am aware of firms that often conduct events which allow staff to decorate their workplace based on festivals, religious themes or even their client’s brand. Opportunities to recognize peers and offering avenues to share success stories are other ways to encourage ownership.

I came across some other cool ideas which allowed teams to ‘expo’ their work as well as swap assignments so as to appreciate and feel proud of what others in the organization do. Lastly, by hiring people who are passionate about work and demonstrate attributes that build pride you can begin on the right note.

What other suggestions do you have in building pride at the workplace? Share them here.

Is employee recognition on your radar?

Often recognizing staff is confused with promotions and pay. Furthermore, when the focus of the organization is in only achieving business results without a consideration for employee effort, it can lead to staff demoralized and undervalued. Not surprisingly, the 2012 Kelly Global Workforce Index indicates that only about 44% employees feel valued by their employers. In APAC the numbers are slightly more encouraging.

Even during the recent global recession McKinsey’s study found that the top three non-financial recognitions staff sought were –

-          praise from immediate managers

-          leadership attention and,

-           a chance to lead projects or task forces

These were incidentally on par or if not more valuable than bonuses, increased base pay, and stock or stock options!

If one looks at the cultural factors that drive recognitions and behavior, India and China staffers are probably more inclined to receive both group and individual kudos. There is also a fear among Indian managers that prevent them from recognizing employees more often to avoid setting expectations of providing monetary rewards as well. Another point of view is to value employees and build a nurturing environment instead of only recognition their efforts. Valuing employees includes listening intently to their needs, investing in personal and professional development and being inclusive in decision making.

That said, with the talent war in India growing, recognitions are becoming an even more powerful communication tool to retain and reward the best. A recent study by Edenred dives deeper into how the best employers in India leverage recognitions to motivate employees and enhance the organization’s culture. Having a good mix of monetary and non-monetary recognition options as well as including employees’ families extends the power of the initiative.

As internal communicators the opportunities are in:

-          making recognitions easier

-          understanding cultural nuances

-          having a transparent process

-          building awareness on the importance of recognitions

-          designing sustainable programs

-          crafting innovative solutions to make recognitions fun and energizing

It however doesn’t take away the immense value of conducting a consistent appraisal as employees continue to expect direct and periodic feedback and affinity and recognition in compassion with their immediate teams.

Much ado about salary hikes? Help staff find meaning at work

There has been a lot of media attention to recent salary hikes and freezes at a few IT organizations in India and I wanted to reflect on the issue, the role of leaders and internal communicators in clarifying line of sight.

It began with Infosys freezing salaries and cutting back on variable pay for staff resulting from a missed revenue guidance. This triggered disenchantment among employees and reports claim that job portals in India have begun seeing a spike in CVs from the staff. Wipro, one among the other established India IT players went ahead and gave their staff hikes which fuelled comparisons and debate.  Looking at the comments and feedback on the topic, it is evident that the jury is out on how much compensation plays a role in retention and engagement in India.

Or is that right?

According to the recent 2012 Kelly Global Workforce Index, company culture and strong market presence were the top two factors that influenced prospective employees while choosing an organization. Employees prefer fulfillment and advancement prospects over compensation and benefits.

Also, how people derive meaning from their work and the opportunities for interesting and challenging work is what keeps them going. Going deeper into how staff in APAC  view ‘meaning’ at work – the report calls out ‘ability to excel/develop in field’, ‘aligned with personal values’ and ‘connection with co-workers’  as the top three factors among people surveyed.

So what makes people stay back and committed?

The primary reason remains – ‘enjoying the work’ for the former and ‘interesting work’ for the latter. If great work is what staff looks for then why is there so much brouhaha on salary hikes and pay cuts?

While some organizations have realized the importance of gauging the pulse of employees before ‘disengagement’ turns to attrition I believe the issue is larger.

If one looks at the spate of ‘why I left my organization’ notes that are doing the rounds – Google, Goldman Sachs, Techcrunch or Infosys the underlying themes are culture, mismatched expectations, fairness and focus.

Phrases like ‘too much about shortcuts’, ‘didn’t find work to be that challenging’, ‘it just doesn’t feel right to me anymore’, ‘hiring smart people and empowering them to invent the future was gone’, ‘see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this firm for many years’ and ‘lacking the headroom to think, innovate and create’ point to a deep seated unrest ranging from an eroding culture, misguided direction, failed passion and non-committed leaders.

Internal communicators have a role to play in elevating awareness about fairness, culture and line of sight. Leaders and managers need to be made accountable to continually have conversations on where the organization is heading and how the work they do every day impacts performance. By sharing stories of great work the teams do, talking of the changes the organization is making to be successful and highlighting the ‘why’ of their existence.

Leaders need to clarify how the organization makes decisions and why they believe it is right. Employees respect leaders who own decisions and not pass on the buck to ‘the organization’.

How often have organizations invested time to address topics such as ‘interesting work’ and the role of having conversations between managers and staff? What can organizations do to improve awareness on building careers or broadening employees’ horizons?

Internal communicators need to coach managers address fairness; for example – why differentiated compensation is done, what is the process for measuring performance against objectives and why some people get more or less salaries.   They also need to support staff’s understanding of great work, culture, recognition and community that brings meaning to their work and lives. Staff who find meaning in work tend to be more productive and committed and therefore helping their organizations outperform.  Look up the article for some great pointers from Dave Ulrich.

Lastly, they must engage with staff to share how the organization continues to stay honest about its ambitions and build its presence in the market.

How to Run a Successful Internal Corporate Social Responsibility Program

I recently wrote an article (published on Simply Communicate) on tips to run a successful internal corporate social responsibility program.  Look up the highlights below.

• Set context early: Establish the purpose, goals and outcomes expected before the campaign kicks off. Allow participants to clarify expectations.

• Involve staff in the planning phase: Converge a core team, brainstorm on suitable approaches. Integrate local office needs and factor challenges on the ground.

• Provide autonomy: Allow local teams to establish their own rhythm of running the campaign within the ambit of the overall theme. Empower managers to rope in enthusiastic people from their teams to champion the cause.

• Appeal to emotion: Instead of ‘support the campaign by contributing funds’ share, ‘how Lakshmi got through school due to the funds we contributed’. Provide opportunities for staff to engage with NGOs they support.

• Get leadership to participate actively: Have leaders spearhead elements of the campaign and lead by example.

• Make life simpler for campaigners: Provide easy-to-use templates, reduce time to market for campaigners and create simple tools to gauge impact and progress of the campaign.

• Highlight success stories: Recognize creative ideas and people who make a difference to the campaign. Share best practices and refer them to the core team.

• Report out periodically: Consistent and periodic communication to stakeholders on the progress and milestones covered helps keep everyone on the same page and looking forward to the campaign’s outcomes.

• Engage in healthy competition: Allow for teams to compete in garnering funds. It helps to give the campaign the attention it deserves.

 

Targeted internal communications based on information consumption?

As far as I am aware internal communicators serve information to staff based on the need, age, tenure, career levels, organization’s priorities and focus areas, importance and maturity of the individual within the organization, time of the day among other reasons.

TNS’s recent research and segmentation of consumers is based on their information consumption patterns. The need for consumer segmentation in the market emerges due to information overload, an issue I had blogged about previously.

According to TNS consumers absorb data in various forms and by understanding trends marketers can direct their effort better. Consumers are classified into 5 segments:

-          ’Fast foodies’ who look for simple fare that they can get their hands on

-         ‘Supplementers’ take up what they can find

-         ‘Carnivores’ go for large but in-depth material

-         ‘Fussy eaters’ are the toughest to crack – they rarely take in information from any source, and,

-          Balanced dieters’ are selective about their content and also take in information from multiple channels

How and what marketers do with information – ‘structured’ (from the retail store tills) vs unstructured (social media chatter) will determine their success in the marketplace.

While we can debate if this makes it more complex to get under the skin of consumers I believe such segmentation at the workplace might make it easier for internal communicators to be more effective.

I may qualify as a balanced dieter when it comes to my personal preference for information consumption.

I am constantly trawling the internal systems for employee chatter that may give insights for internal communication, thinking about ways to connect people with information available, scanning headlines and deep diving into mailers that either need my attention, poring over research reports for leads that empower leaders and managers alike and seeking external sources of information for best practices and feedback on the industry and the function.

There is a parallel at the workplace. As an internal communicator you have access to intranet habits, employee preferences for information sharing, device usages and location and language interests. That combined with internal social media tags and buzz gives insights on expectations that your staff’s consumption patterns.

Internal communicators have the opportunity to tap into this wealth of information and make relevant interventions for improved engagement and connection. The question is: are internal communicators ready for it?

 

Decoding Potential and Performance for Internal Communications Hiring

I had blogged previously on ‘the internal communications career’,  ‘going prepared for an internal communication interview’ and ‘interviewing for an internal communication job’. However when I look back what I covered probably didn’t include the guidelines for internal communication managers to distinguish between a candidate’s ‘potential’ and the expected ‘performance’ so as to avoid a mismatch.

While many organizations prefer taking the ‘contractor’ route to play safe with candidates whom they want to gauge before taking on board it is important to consider factors that drive potential internal communicators whom you plan to hire full-time.

Lately I have mulled over what makes some candidates translate their potential into performance while others fail. What are the possible causes for your prospective hire’s inability to get into the groove?

Potential is defined as ‘capable of being or becoming’ and ‘a latent excellence or ability that may or may not be developed.’ For example, you may plan to open an internal job posting and hire someone who hasn’t played the role but has the passion for the assignment. He or she may have demonstrated this passion by partnering on campaigns or taking on ‘stretch’ assignments for your team. If you are hiring from outside your organization you look for tangible ways in which the individual has maximized potential for the benefit of the team and organization. You seek references to verify if the individual has what it takes to deliver on the job.

Performance on the other hand is the consistent manner in which the individual accomplishes tasks over a period of time accurately and completely – and can measure the impact and outcomes.

When you are looking at hiring an internal communicator, in a contractual or a full-time role, you are hoping that the individual (if experienced) will be able to join, leverage his or her expertise, get started from the word go and improve on what is already established.

Based on what I have observed, the following themes are critical to understand the individual’s potential vs performance:

-       Attitude: how positively inclined is the individual to contribute to the role and the organization

-       Motivation: how committed is the individual to draw from experience and work with resources available to be successful

-       Perseverance: how driven is the individual to stay focused and make an impact

While the organization does have a part to play in integrating and connecting the hire there could be a multitude of factors that prevents a prospect from taking performing to the best of their abilities – including unstated expectations from the organization, lack of self-motivation, disinterest in reskilling as per the need of the role, infrastructure drawbacks, personal problems overlapping with professional commitments, inability to navigate the culture, ulterior personal interests and uncertainty about career growth.

 My take is that apart from probing more about the individual’s skills, experience, knowledge and expertise the interviewer also needs to surface the candidate’s motivation for taking the job.

Here are some questions that can possibly trigger insights from your interviewee:

1. Can you share your experience in conducting a recent and successful internal communications campaign where you took steps to overcome challenges of time, resources and/or outcomes?
2. If you were to change one element in how the campaign was conducted what would that be?
3. If you realize that there is a mismatch between the expectations of the assignment you play and your career aspirations, what will you do?
4. You have many ideas on how the role needs to be played but you are finding that your colleagues aren’t open to them? What steps will you take to get your team aligned?
5. Share an example of an internal communications assignment that you conceptualized and conducted independently?
6. State a case where your colleagues or your supervisor provided feedback on your abilities or performance and what you did about it?
7. Are there any personal factors that may prevent you from delivering to your best on the job?
8. How open will you be to reskill to be more productive in this role?
9. Suppose the infrastructure provided isn’t on par with what you got in your earlier assignments and prevents you from doing a great job, what will you do?
10. Do you know the growth opportunities the role provides?
11. What is your motivation to take on this specific role?
12. If you don’t get this job what will your next course of action?

Have other ways to gauging an individual’s potential vs performance in internal communication hiring? Share them here.