| There are two distinct ways to use employee
communication; one is to inform employees about what is happening in an organization, the
other is to engage employees in the process of change. In this article we are going to
highlight 3 case studies that demonstrate clearly the different techniques and approaches
to ensure that your employee communication strategies bring about transformation in your
organization.
Employee Communication Case Studies
Employee Communication Case Study 1:
At this telecommunications manufacturing plant, the company
decided to involve employees in the organizational changes that were taking place. The
company is involved in high technology and has approximately 1,900 employees. After a
senior management workshop it was decided that a customer service change program be
developed.
One of the methods introduced was the round table concept.
The communications team organized for 18 people from a specific area to have a 90 minute
meeting with senior managers. However, the key to the success of these meetings was that
the employees did most of the talking and the senior managers, most of the listening. The
organization planned to learn from these meetings what the barriers were to success and
customer satisfaction. Over a 10 week period, 50 round tables were scheduled. At the
completion of this exercise, approximately one third of the total of the organization's
workforce were involved in the round tables. Participants in the round table program were
selected from every employment level with a balanced representation of gender and race.
Patterns in the issues that were raised began to emerge and
senior management began to take notice of what were to become the main elements of the
customer service change program. What was critical with this approach was that soon after
the round table program of 10 weeks, employees began to actually see their suggestions
adopted, and changes taking place. To supplement the face to face meetings with managers,
a bi-weekly newsletter was produced. Each issue was 2 pages in length and included a
dedicated space for employees to make suggestions to managers for improvement in customer
service.
Employee Communication Case Study 2:
This hospital wanted to cut costs and at the same time
ensure that patients were not adversely impacted by the changes. It was also a major
provider of healthcare in a small community so it was essential that the reputation of
high quality care was not reduced.
So they sought feedback using focus groups, telephone
surveys and also contacting the carriers. Three key attributes in patient care came up as
the main contributors to patient satisfaction. The hospital staff concentrated on
improving these 3 areas whilst still reducing costs. Cross functional teams were
established with employees volunteering to take part. An employee with strong project
management skills was selected to lead each team. A list of options to improve the
experience of the patients was presented to management with details of costing and
timeframes for implementation. Agreement was reached on the changes and the senior
management team ensured line managers were not blockers to the changes.
Employee Communication Case Study 3:
The main objective of this strategy was to educate staff in
reading and understanding the company financial statements and how they directly related
to the work that they were doing. The other minor objective was the need for employees in
other departments to understand how what they did impacted on the remainder of the
organization and the bottom line.
Employees from all areas were encouraged to review the
company books and financial statements. An extension of this policy was to talk with all
employees in groups and discuss what the figures meant, specifically how they related to
the work that they were doing and then to the big picture of the organization's
profitability. The strategy was more than an attempt to educate the workforce; rather it
focussed on action plans when the budgets and finances were off course for their
particular area. The staff would then look at their operations and how they could do
things differently to remedy the situation. This method included training on understanding
financial reports, which has the benefit not only of learning how to read the financial
statements of the organization but also what action the team in each department could take
to change the financial outcomes. Copies of the financial statements were distributed to
employees once there was recognition that they would understand what was being conveyed.
By understanding and teaching employees the direct relationship between their work and the
financial results of the organization they are more inclined to understand the message.
The Role of the Communicator
Finally the role of the communicator is to ensure that all
employees have understood the key message and that it means something to them. Employee
communication is all about using a variety of methods and techniques to ensure that no
matter how complex, long term or risky the message is, the desired outcome for the
organization will be achieved. Employee engagement and employee communication are uniquely
connected and by combining the two outstanding results can be achieved. |
