‘Going Green’ with the help of the Intranet

Intranets have the opportunity to play a front line role in corporate efforts to combat global warming. That is according to the Intranet Benchmarking Forum’s (IBF) latest brieifing paper: ‘The green intranet’.

The document provides organisations with 10 tips for using the intranet to combat climate change and build environmental practices. It draws on real-life examples from organisations including: IBM, Aviva, BT, Highways Agency, Nokia, Yahoo! and Sun Microsystems.

Here are the IBF’s 10 tips in summary: 

  1. Automate administrative processes 
  2. Use web meetings to cut travel 
  3. Convert travellers into online collaborators 
  4. Use the intranet to enable telecommuting 
  5. Enable car pooling 
  6. Make more efficient use of office space to enable reductions in real estate 
  7. Migrate printed documents online 
  8. Engage employees in greening the organisation 
  9. Provide environmental performance data 
  10. Provide visibility of employees’ availability and whereabouts
Melitta
By | June 17th, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

Neglecting Internal Communications is failing employees, says survey

A recent YouGov survey of 524 white-collar workers in the UK, commissioned by financial comms agency Financial Dynamics, found that only 15 per cent of respondents felt that their employer had communicated news about job security “very well”, while 37% said communication had been poor or non-existent.

And the worrying statistics don’t end there.

Less than half (48%) agreed that they had a clear picture of their company’s performance – with the ‘rumour mill’ seen as a more trustworthy source of information than official channels.

And when it comes to leadership communication, only 28% of respondents said they trusted messages from their chief executive more than “a little”, and just one third have regular face-to-face time with their superiors. Yet a significant 81% said that face-to-face contact with their line manager was the most trusted form of communication.

Nadia Kelly, director of PR at Ask Jeeves, warned: ‘Too many companies have turned their attention to protecting their external reputations during the recession at the expense of their internal reputation. But the two need to be absolutely integrated, especially in uncertain times such as these.’

For more information, read the PR Week article >

Melitta

 

By | June 7th, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

Companies underperform in CSR, survey says

Half of employees are disappointed by their companies CSR performance according to a new study led by coaching, consulting and training company Krauthammer, the University of Amsterdam and Erasmus University of Rotterdam. One explanation for the split could be that some companies just aren’t communicating their CSR activities to staff well enough.

“CSR is needed, especially during an economic crisis,” said Professor Rob van Tulder from Erasmus University.

“The global economic crisis puts the spotlight on CSR in an almost perverse manner. On one hand everybody acknowledges that the causes of the economic crisis lie with a clear lack of CSR. On the other hand, it’s fiercely disputed whether the solution to the crisis entails stepped-up CSR efforts. In the end, the systematic nature of the crisis demands longer-term approaches involving all relevant actors.”

Four findings from the survey

  • Employees are doing it for themselves (PSP) – and are watching. 
  • Corporate performance is divided. Around 50% are operational or exemplary. The other 50% are perceived to be failing. 
  • There are serious gaps between the practice employees seek and experience they get when it comes to: People, Planet and Profit.
  • What employees really want… 
    People – Training, with 96% expecting it systematically, with external trainers
    Planet – 60% of people want their company to practice the belief that “the economy and ecology are one, taking responsibility”
    Profit – 59% want it to practice the credo that “long-term competive advantage depends on the efficient use of resources

For more information, download the Executive Summary or full report >

Melitta

By | May 21st, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

Communicating to boost morale and performance in a downturn

Only 40% of full-time UK employees feel their company has a clear plan to withstand the recession, according to a new study by Threshold Communications, specialists in communication and behaviour change.

These figures are particularly important to business leaders as the research also shows that a link with productivity and morale. Of those who feel strongly that their company has a clear plan to withstand the recession 82% have considerably more enthusiasm in their day-to-day jobs and 86% feel committed to their organizations long-term success.

The research also stresses the importance of good manager/employee communications, stating that: “People don’t leave companies – they leave managers”. Key in this relationship is the managers ability to listen and respond to staff. 

Other key findings:

  • The extent to which employees beleive their company has a plan to withstand recession, correlates directly with their motivation and long- term commitment.
  • Most employees are not confident that their organization has a plan to withstand recession.
  • Employees are considerably more likely to trust their direct line managers than senior leaders.
  • Only 32% of employees feel that the way in which their line manager communicates with them supports their motivation.
  • Where line managers talk through company plans and aims employees are  significantly more likely to feel motivated and committed.
  • Where line managers genuinely listen and seek input and ideas, employees are significantly more likely to feel motivated and committed.

For more information about the survey and its findings, see the full report >

Melitta

By | May 20th, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

Origins and purpose of Internal Communications

With tomorrow’s GCN lunch being on the topic of Internal Communications, I thought it would be interesting to take a quick look at the origins and purpose of this discipline.

In a series of blog posts, a journalist explores what could be the first ever book published on the subject of Internal Communications called ‘Sharing Information with Employees’  – way back in 1942!  Read posts >

But if this does not satisfy your curiosity about the roots of IC; then perhaps UK agency, 44 Communications, can offer more insight in their document: ‘A Quick History of Internal Communications and its value’.

With regards to the current purpose of IC, experts and practitioners seem split, as demonstrated by a recent discussion on Melcrum’s LinkedIn Group. Russell Pearson, who started the debate, has summarised the various views on his blog.

Liam Fitzpatrick, tomorrow’s GCN speaker who also contributed to the Melcrum discussion, offered the view that while there may not be a definitive purpose for IC,  there are five main reasons why companies embark on and invest in internal communications; to:

  • make people stay with the company and feel great about staying 
  • direct people towards working harder on the right things 
  • get people to say the right things about your organisation 
  • get employees behind change, to support and see through change 
  • to remain legal and compliant.

I agree that there is no one definitive purpose – that’s why we IC professionals take so much care to align our comms strategies to the purpose and goals of the overall organisation and develop the right messages and channels for each organisation. There are no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions. For me, it’s this ongoing challenge that makes IC one of the most exciting and rewarding areas of communications to be involved in. 

Melitta

By | April 23rd, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

Help writing social media guidelines

Social Media is a fast evolving area of communications and most organisations are starting to develop and issue guidelines for staff regarding use of Corporate blogs and networks, as well as restrictions on the use of social media outside of the office to prevent any company secrets being leaked or colleagues being maligned.

If you are planning to develop such policies, then help is at hand as the CIPR has released Social Media Guidelines to help advice the communications community on how social media should be handled. 

Read the CIPR Social Media Guidelines >

Melitta

By | April 14th, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

BM Survey: Role of Purpose and Performance

The current recession is deeply related to a loss of confidence and trust and, in many cases, is negatively impacting corporate reputation. Purpose & Performance in a downturn makes business sense; it helps restore trust, provides focus for business strategy, is a reputation differentiator, and can motivate employees and give them a sense of direction.

To find out more about how companies communicate Purpose and Performance (P&P), Burson-Marsteller conducted a Europe-wide survey of 200 leading corporate executives and opinion-makers in 11 countries. Highlights from the survey were:

  • Purpose and Performance is relevant to all businesses
  • Business reputation is driven mainly by Performance – but Purpose is gaining ground
  • More than 90% see corporate Purpose under increasing scrutiny compared to five years ago
  • CEOs are key to the oversight of P&P
  • 98% say CEOs need to drive a broader sense of Purpose with employees
  • 69% believe that companies that focus on P&P are seen as role models, and even deflect criticism
  • Nearly 3 in 5 see a tension in focusing on both P&P

Purpose is key to both internal and external communications. Employees need to understand, engage and take ownership of this corporate purpose. External stakeholders need to be aware and convinced by it.

“Companies need to ensure that trust and confidence is maintained. External stakeholders will need fact-based evidence that the corporation is serious about its commitments as a corporate citizen, including corporate governance,” said Joanna Corsaro, Head of Burson-Marsteller Geneva and Vice-Chair of the EMEA Corporate Practice.

“This is a difficult exercise, and Burson-Marsteller’s Purpose & Performance Diagnostic Tool can help understand where the corporation stands in the eyes of different stakeholders and where it wants to go in the future.”

Find out more about Burson-Marsteller and their Diagnositc tool >

Melitta

By | March 26th, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

Engagement: YouGov survey results

Sharing power, not ‘communicating at’ people, is the most effective way of engaging employees to improve business performance. This is one of the major findings of the largest ever survey of employee engagement in the UK. YouGov and the Engage Group surveyed 23,585 people across Great Britain in October 2008, including 2,500 board-level executives – 2,000 of them from FTSE 500 companies.

The study’s findings establish a direct relationship between an organisation’s financial performance and the extent to which employees are engaged to perform. It also unearths a set of ‘new world’ elements of successful engagement, which define a radical new approach to getting the best out of employees.

“We now have definitive data that say people become more engaged when they are more closely involved with decision-making – both every day and at the point of change,” says John Smythe, deputy chairman of Engage Group. “Performance is better when they are engaged and change is better managed.”

Read FT article on the survey findings >

Download the full report here >

Melitta

By | March 20th, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

A definitive framework for internal communication

In 2008, Melcrum developed a framework for members of the Strategic Communication Research Forum, Melcrum’s global membership group for senior internal communication professionals. One year on, they have published an article looking back at the thinking behind the Framework’s creation and how it can enable Internal Communications to become a more value-adding function. Two Forum members who have been using the framework also offer their insights into how they have been using the tool and to what effect.

Read the full article >

Melitta

By | March 14th, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments

The corporate silo lives!

A recent working paper from Harvard Business School has revealed that despite the efforts of many organisations to break down internal boundaries, the corporate silo is still alive and well.

For the report, titled: Communication (and Coordination?) in a Modern, Complex Organisation, the authors spent three months analysing communications between staff within a large unnamed company with more than 100,000 employees.

The team was taken aback by the lack of communication across the organisation. They found that most people tended to communicate with others in their own group or with peers. With women being one of the few exceptions.

Although the research doesn’t try to answer why corporate silos are so difficult to tear down, the authors hope that the data will help managers understand, pinpoint, and remove bottlenecks within their own organisations.

Key concepts from the report include:

  • Inside the studied company, practically speaking, little interaction occurred across three major corporate boundaries: business units, organisational functions, and office locations.
  • Communication patterns were extremely hierarchical: Executives, middle managers, and rank-and-file employees communicated extensively within their own levels, but there were far fewer cross-pay-grade interactions in the firm.
  • Junior executives, women, and members of the salesforce were the key actors in bridging the silos.
  • Relative to men, women participate in a greater volume of electronic and face-to-face interactions and do so with a larger and more diverse set of communication partners.
  • Server logs can provide valuable information to managers on communication flows within their own organisations.

Read more in a Q&A with co-author Toby E. Stuart >

Melitta

By | February 24th, 2009|Other resources|0 Comments