Lessons We Can Learn From Nirbhaya (Braveheart)

While the nation mourns and comes to terms with the loss of an aspiring medical student to a brutal sexual assault there are many questions left unanswered. What will it take to heal a nation and leaders to confront reality? Will there be a time when women will be treated on par and be safe from crime? We may not have the answers just yet.

However there are lessons leaders and organizations can take away from this case to appreciate human dignity, improve their internal communications and be more sensitive to women staffers.

What made this episode galvanize the masses? Would this incident have got the attention it needed had media not followed the case closely? How can organizations be sensitive to the needs of their stakeholders? Is there a better way to handle communication related to such scenarios?

When one reflects on the timeline of the incident it isn’t surprising that peoples’ anger overflowed. The unprecedented wave of anguish that Nirbhaya (Hindi for Braveheart) received from across the country and outside resulted in knee jerk reactions that had people  unconvinced. People took to the streets and created online petitions to impress upon the government to take drastic measures.

The government and the police tried their best within the limited time and space available by nabbing the culprits, reaching out to people for their opinions for an upcoming change in criminal laws and setting up fast track courts to try such crimes. News that the police had been slow to react and that there were quibbles over ‘control’ of the case also perturbed people.

The brutality of the crime, the courage of the woman to fight back her assaulters and her will to stay alive made this a case like no other. The victim died on December 29 and people from all walks of life paid tribute to the brave woman.

People were miffed by a late acknowledgement of a crisis on hand and casual remarks by leaders only aggravated the situation.  The Prime Minister’s scripted message to the nation and appeal for calm felt weak as a reaction for a crime as heinous as this. Adding more fuel to fire was the #Theek hai comment that got his speech to be an infamous social media viral message. A lack of co-ordination and communication caused more trouble with ministers going public with their opinions and individual state governments announcing their own ways to tackle crimes on women.

Take swift action. Sort out differences based on a shared purpose. Get ahead of the situation and have everyone on the same page before communicating with stakeholders.

The fact that the nation’s capital has an infamous reputation accentuated the fury among the masses and not for the first time did we see an explosion of rage. The trend is alarming and with justice taking a while there are concerns of vigilante justice taking over. At the same time people compared President Obama’s reaction and televised address on the Connecticut school shooting incident.  Quite like the Jasmine revolution we are seeing a tectonic shift in how the youth of the nation can force the hand of authorities in power to bring about change in our social fabric.  Leaders need to sit up and look within their organizations as employees will shape and reaffirm the culture inside. The high handed treatment of protesters furthered diminished the goodwill the government sought to garner and pushed them into a defensive position.

Acknowledge the issue, be sincere and demonstrate that you mean business. Involve stakeholders in the change process. Muzzling peoples’ voices can’t help in building trust.

The personal touches of leaders to send the woman for treatment abroad and to receive the body at the airport didn’t make the situation any better. The decision to move the victim abroad for treatment at such a critical juncture caused more resentment so also the decision to cremate the body hurriedly got people more suspicious of the government’s intentions.  Finally, recommending that the girl’s name be disclosed and have the anti-rape laws be named after her seemed to deflect the attention from more pressing issues. In the nation’s consciousness this incident is top of mind and it doesn’t mean that issues such as corruption, declining ethics or other crimes have been erased from peoples’ memory.

People have long memories. Stick to the core issue. Stay honest with your actions and communicate often on progress and impact.

Many organizations and people were willing to contribute to the victim’s treatment and support her family.  Organizations can do more than arrange for self-defense classes or send an armed escort along with women who take office transport while working late hours.  The need for the hour is a change in attitude and the will to take firm action so that such acts of crime aren’t committed at all.

Focus on systemic changes rather than tactical measures. Gain the confidence of your staffers during the crisis.

Employees expect to be treated with dignity, know that they work for an organization which respects individuals and that the organization cares for their safety. It needs to start with the everyday language used by employees, especially managers while addressing their teams and not in tailored policies aimed at ranking among the best employer awards. Employers need to listen carefully for harassment and gender biases in the conversations their staffers. Phrases such as ‘hello guys’ while addressing an audience consisting of both genders sends a poor message and is proof that the culture within is eroding. Proactively break down stereotyping at the workplace – especially during job interviews the message that ‘women can’t work long hours’ or ‘women can’t add value’ doesn’t help to improve trust among potential employees.

The words we speak and the actions build strong and lasting cultures.

Intraskope’s 2012 in Review

I just received a WordPress.com 2012 annual report for my blog and wanted to share it with you. You can look up the most popular posts in 2012 and earlier.

Thank you for your views, perspectives and insights that fuels my passion for internal communications. I look forward to your continued support  as I aim to make this dialogue more meaningful to my readers – be it practitioners, academicians or students.

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 16,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 4 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

Does Gifting During Festive Seasons Improve Engagement?

Receiving a Diwali gift during this festive season is something most staff in India based organizations look forward to. Many organizations do so as an annual exercise irrespective of the state of the economy and most vouch that it does have a positive impact on engagement. Or at least in how staff perceive the organization and its health.  Diwali, the Festival of Lights is an auspicious occasion for Indians, especially the Hindu community.

However giving such gifts can also be a double edged sword. Navya, the internal communicator at ReadyServe Ltd discovered it the hard way while she went about the exercise of communicating the gift at her organization.

After earmarking funds for the Diwali gift Navya went about discussing gift ideas and sought help from her procurement team. She mailed people she knew within the organization and got gift options for the budget she identified.  Leaders in her organization wanted a say in the gift and gave suggestions on the potential categories that might interest staffers. Some were against making the gift a practice and setting expectations among staff while others were keen to continue the practice.

After many months of sourcing and negotiations the team finally managed to get a vendor who could deliver the gifts for 5000 staff in 3 weeks. Since the gift was procured in bulk the vendor provided a significant discount per piece which worked out to be an excellent deal. Navya crafted a suitable message from the CEO to accompany the gift. Each gift was packed neatly and kept ready for distribution.

However, as soon as the leader announced the news of the gift distribution many curious employees went online to check the product on e-commerce sites and began evaluating the cost and making judgments on the company’s intentions.

Here is a sample of what employees posted on the intranet as a discussion:

Vinod: “Hey, I browsed Tick Tock’s website and noticed the gift we are getting is available at a low cost! I am not sure why the company is giving us such a product.”

Vikram:”You have a point. Rather, they should give us a bonus in our salaries.”

Neha: “I think the product may not be the same as what we are getting. Has anyone seen it?”

Vinod: “I haven’t seen it but the image online looks similar to what the CEO shared. It is very disappointing”

Since ReadyServe had an open culture employees felt comfortable airing their concerns openly on the intranet but this discussion was taking a different turn. Navya’s hard work seemed like a waste of her time. People were trashing the product and making judgments without context.

• What can Navya do to reverse what looks like an internal communication crisis into a positive story?
• How can she ensure that employees get the right context?
• What can ReadyServe do better next time to ensure such scenarios are averted?

Please share your thoughts here.

 

Delight Your Clients. Enhance Their Effectiveness

If internal communicators were to participate in a companywide popularity contest chances are they may end up unsuccessful.  Amy realizes that when Julie wanted her article included in the internal communications newsletter. Read my earlier post on ‘Are Internal Communicators in the Business of Keeping Stakeholders Happy?’.

Not because we don’t try hard enough. It isn’t really what internal communicators were meant to do – ‘please’ stakeholders. From our vantage point we are in a position to objectively assess what our clients need to be successful, how an organization needs to craft its communication and what will make audiences sit up and take notice.

That doesn’t always go well with stakeholders who very often believe they ‘know internal communications’.  When internal communicators aren’t able to establish their credentials and build credibility about what they do and can achieve as an entity the gap is often filled by stakeholders who know a thing or two about ‘creating taglines’ or ‘writing articles’ or ‘designing ads’ or ‘suggesting the right vehicle’ to share information.

If you clearly articulate your agenda, how you value add and demonstrate impact the chances of clients listening to you is greater.  You can ‘delight’ your clients by going beyond the brief, thinking on their behalf, sharing best practices and connecting the dots. You can delight your clients by pre-empting potential gaps in the campaign, partnering with the team on championing standards and removing roadblocks in the process.

However, delighting your stakeholders isn’t about ‘doing what they expect you to do’ but clarifying why one approach works best in their interest. Make clients ‘happy’ not by ‘pleasing’ them but by elevating their thinking about the function.

Lastly, making clients ‘happy’ by avoiding confrontations or not clearly defining roles and responsibilities can result in angst as your internal communications programming matures. Internal communicators aren’t meant to be ‘taking orders’ from clients but are expected to listen, evaluate and recommend suitable solutions that makes stakeholders effective in their effort.

What do you think?

Faster, Higher and Stronger With Internal Communications

My earliest recollection of the Olympics is the 1984 Los Angeles Games when my brother and I woke up early morning to catch the opening ceremony. Carl  Lewis became a household name, the Indian hockey team came 5^th and P.T. Usha missed a medal by a fraction of a second. We eagerly awaited an update in the papers the following day to stay abreast of the news. Television barely carried a commentary although you were able to follow India’s hockey matches on the radio.

Fast forward to 2012, the London Olympics are on and as an observer I am amazed by how far the games have come and the role of communications in making this global spectacle riveting. I witness staff exchange e-mails about the games, share India’s updates real-time, watch live  coverage of matches, go on You Tube and check status on their mobile devices. For an internal communicator I believe there are numerous take-aways from how these games transpired.

The Games have gone through a transformation from when it started in Olympia in Greece. The Olympics covers over 200 nations and also has the Winter Games, the Paralympics and the Youth Games. A governing body selects the city to host the games and the symbols and rituals associated with the games such as the ‘flame’, the ‘motto’, the ‘flag’, the ‘creed’ and the ‘mascot’ make the games memorable and engaging. The 2012 London Olympics continued with the tradition (the torch relay involved the elderly and the youth alike) and it made the lead-up to the opening a wonderful journey.

Similar to the games, internal communications is meant to be all inclusive, consider audiences’ interests and make the messages enriching and sticky. Symbols can anchor messages well in internal communications.

Over the years the Olympics progressed from celebrating amateurs to allowing participation from professionals. Even though most sports now allow professionals to get involved some like football accept only 3 players above the age of 23 per team.  These games witnessed incredible images that highlighted how inclusive the Olympics have become. Be it Oscar Pistorius (the double amputee, also known as the Blade Runner) or the one-armed Olympics table tennis player Natalia Partyka  this Games celebrated the inspiration, spirit and passion of sports people globally. London is a melting pot of cultures and that got showcased in the way they conducted the event. Lord Sebastian Coe, the Chair of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympics Games rightly summarized this Olympics as the ‘games for and by everyone’.

Internal communications thinking and campaigns need to evolve with the times and stay close to the spirit of the message by involving staff in communication and conversations.

I closely followed the pace and commitment with which the organizers went ahead immediately after winning the right to host the games in 2005. They won it on their third attempt and despite the tragic London bombings which rocked the city the very next day after their bid victory the country went about their business without letting the episode mar progress.  Planning included getting a Minister level person to lead the effort  and having a legendary former British athlete – Lord Coe run the show.

There is nothing more powerful than having leaders sponsor large-scale internal communication rollouts thereby demonstrating the importance of the message. Having credible communicators to pitch messages makes it a lot easier for your campaign. Also, once you set your goals on achieving success there is no looking back.

The lead-up to the Olympics ensured people around the world felt connected and inspired as well as looked ahead to key events on this global arena. The battles such as Phelps vs Lockte, Bolt vs Blake, Australia vs Germany (men’s hockey) or the USA vs Japan (women’s soccer) make for interesting viewing.Many brands in India hopped on to the Olympics bandwagon and showcased their partnership with the Indian contingent. Amul, the sponsor for India’s campaign at the Olympics stood out with its Milk commercial that depicted the essence of the games. Businesses in India have been making the most of the games to engage and capture customers. Likewise sports can be a great tool and teacher to coach managers. Some companies in India have begun getting renowned sports personalities such as Anil Kumble and Martina Navratilova to come in and coach managers on the nuances of engagement, planning and other important topics.

Having an interesting lead-up to your internal communications campaign, sustaining the momentum through storytelling and helping audiences recall key milestones are all great ways to register success.

The London Olympics organizing committee stayed the course despite numerous obstacles – outrage over the sponsor, the inability of the security agency to deliver, controversies surrounding doping, the logo and its creation, the fear of terror attacks, the traffic worries, the negative press about empty seats, the concerns about security cover, separate Olympics VIP driving  lanes and lots more. However, what impressed me is the way organizers stayed focused on their job and continued being sensitive to the feedback they received. For instance, Lord Coe acknowledged the concerns of the Indian contingent who were shocked by the presence of a ‘mystery woman’ and understanding why ‘rules’ prevented Usain Bolt from carrying his skipping rope for training.

Staying centered, acknowledging issues, taking feedback constructively and course correcting helps to get a great internal communications effort over the line.

This games is also going to be remembered as the ‘social media’ Olympics with tweets, Facebook updates, Google+ reports, live streaming and sports personalities sharing perspectives making it all too endearing.  The official website allows for each nation to support their national players or get updates from events. There are clear social media guidelines for participants and accredited people at the games although some felt it didn’t make sense. The social media opportunities also had a fair share of blips. Protecting the brand and sponsors is a great way to keep communication consistent and organized. However, the overzealous ‘brand police’ went overboard trying to quell ambush marketing. I found the Olympic  ring sausage episode amusing.

While brand consistency and staying on messages are crucial for the success of internal communications one needs to balance between battles you need to fight and those that aren’t important.

This isn’t the end of the road for the winners or those who didn’t make it to podium. India got its highest tally of medals and discovered a few more champions in the likes of Saina Nehwal, Mary Kom and Vijay Kumar although for a country as large and illustrious as ours we would have loved to fare better! In four years from now many will continue to vie for honors at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The current crop of winners will be inspiration for people in their nations and hopefully the stories of their lives, struggles and triumph will continue to keep the flame alive.

Likewise internal communications is about keeping the connection; reinforcing the messages and helping people find meaning in their world.

Interested to hear what you think about the 2012 London Olympics and which stories struck you as noteworthy. Do post them here.