Aligning employees with change

ALIGNING EMPLOYEES WITH CHANGE A Communicator’s Point of View Bill Faust Managing Partner @ologie @williamfaust Internal Communications Every year, organizations spend millions to extend their messages through external media like advertising and public relations Strong brands, however, also communicate from the inside out Because what good is a strategy or brand if your associates don’t know how to deliver on it? Or why they should care? Working from the Inside Out A strong brand is grounded by a clear purpose and a strategy that translates it to internal and external audiences The strategy: • informs employees about the purpose (mindset) • engages associates by helping them understand their role (skill set) RNAL AUDIENCE E T EX A RNAL UDIENC E T E IN ATEGY STR • inspires associates by making the purpose tangible and meaningful (motivation) This approach ensures consistent delivery of the strategy and strengthens employee engagement PURPOSE A Word about Purpose To make life easier and more fun through innovation To enable people to experience the joy of driving To be a relentless ally for every investor To create happiness for people of all ages To fuel the athlete in everyone To be hospitable To give people the freedom to fly To be a place to meet, work, relax, and enjoy To save people money so that they can live better To provide choices for nurturing the body, the community, and the planet Creating Alignment Above all else, internal communications create alignment across all segmenta of the employee population: Philosophical Alignment Behavioral Alignment Emotional Alignment (Mindset) (Skill set) (Motivation) About the strategy About their actions About their role Purpose Vision Values Experience Brand Story Engagement Inspiration Incentive Creating Alignment Bottom line: Strong internal alignment is closely linked to business performance And associates want it High associate engagement can improve employee performance by 20% A global survey on employee engagement shows that: • 33% of employees feel satisfied with their level of engagement today • 92% say they want to improve their performance • 82% want to better understand their company’s vision • 87% want to know what role they can play in helping the company realize its vision Employee Value Proposition Some internal communication programs include a promise to employees That promise is the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) It defines the commitment between employee and company, and strives to balance the needs of both EVP Balance the needs of company and employees Create a great place to work What’s in it for me? (The reason I work here) Deliver the experience externally What’s expected of me? (My role in delivering the brand promise and executing the business strategy) Change Communication Tends to focus on: But is interpreted as: • Technology investments • Reorganization • Process changes • Streamlining • Structure changes • Business as usual TOP-DOWN mentality BOTTOM-UP reactions Most common question: Is my job safe? When We Listen To Our Teams We Learn Some Interesting Things: + – • Most people want to change • But they don’t feel empowered • They crave collaboration • But they are siloed • They are open to new ideas • But aren’t used to being customer-driven • They want to be proactive • But are used to being reactive We Also See Some Common Subcultures Within Companies: + HAND-RAISERS “We can this Let me help.” + – FENCE-SITTERS “I'm going to wait and see.” – SKEPTICS “We will never change.” The Big Takeaway Don’t over-emphasize SKILL SET And don’t under-emphasize + MINDSET To create meaningful change, we need BOTH Communicating Internally Through a systematic approach, a strategy can be reinforced at every turn Over time, it grows stronger, even more authentic, and self-reinforcing as it’s translated to: FUNCTIONAL TOOLS BEHAVIORAL TOOLS INSPIRATIONAL TOOLS FUNCTIONAL TOOLS PNC brand video (embedded) FUNCTIONAL TOOLS BEHAVIORAL TOOLS BEHAVIORAL TOOLS INSPIRATIONAL TOOLS INSPIRATIONAL TOOLS univita brand video (embedded) In Summary, Internal Communicators Need to Consider: THE BIG Top down and bottom up Mindset and skill set Inspire and inform People support what they help create thank you [...]...The Big Takeaway Don’t over-emphasize SKILL SET And don’t under-emphasize + MINDSET To create meaningful change, we need BOTH Communicating Internally Through a systematic approach, a strategy can be reinforced at every turn Over time, it grows stronger, even more authentic, and self-reinforcing as it’s