Internal Communications Global Survey Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) vs. North America

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2 Inside IC: introduction: by Andrew Blacknell Earlier this year we surveyed over 700 internal communication professionals about a wide range of IC issues including channel usage, resources, involvement in corporate strategy, measurement and time management. In October, we published the summary of our global survey of those IC specialists, who came from a wide cross section of industry and organizations. Here, we delve deeper into the poll results, looking specifically at Europe, Middle East, and Africa () and North America (), comparing, contrasting and analyzing findings that should stimulate debate. During my time based in Atlanta with Willis Towers Watson, I often saw this first hand. Although London is a bigger city, Atlanta had literally dozens of companies with more US employees than any UK company has UK employees. Home Depot and UPS, based in Atlanta, both employed over 350,000 people each - more than any company in the UK. In 2016, the Fortune Global 500 included companies from 33 countries - but 85% of that total (425) come from just 10 countries. North America (Canada, USA) account for, while five Western European countries (France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, UK) have and three in East Asia (China, Japan, South Korea) contain one third. The number of large companies based in North America provides a different internal communications challenge in terms of scale and homogeneity than that in. 1

3 Inside IC: In practice, this presents a challenge (how do you communicate a consistent message or listen to feedback from 350,000 people?) and an opportunity (IC spend per employee is lower and there are less cultural and legal differences than in ). My US clients would make significant investments in IC, for example with healthcare consumerism, financial education, employer brands or corporate change programs. As a consequence, companies like Newell Rubbermaid and Delta Airlines built some of the first HR portals using single sign-on and personalized data over a decade ago. By contrast, the workforce in may be smaller but it tends to be more dispersed and remote with offices or outlets in multiple countries. This presents a different challenge - how do you communicate with a more remote workforce across different cultures and countries within different legal structures? How has the challenge and opportunity presented by scale and homogeneity affected IC in North America and? How does IC practice differ between North American and? Our aim, in this report, is to compare IC practices between the two areas, highlight any differences, offer some explanations and encourage learning and best practice. About the author Andrew Blacknell is a Change & Communication Consultant with over twenty years experience in internal communication and change management both in-house and as a consultant based in Europe and North America. His expertize includes employee research, employee engagement, change management, employee value propositions and leadership development. Andrew formerly led the UK Communication & Change Management practice at Towers Watson and now runs his own consulting business. His book Leaders Journal provides an easy-to-use way for any leader to map their future direction and strategy with 40 days of fresh insights and leadership tools. It s available on Amazon. 2

4 contents Executive summary Strategy Reporting lines Channels Measurement Resources

5 Executive summary Some Key Points Communicators in were more positive about their influence inside their organizations and the future of IC than their counterparts. communicators were more likely to see themselves as trusted advisors to senior leaders, got invited in earlier to significant corporate changes and were more likely to be involved in corporate strategy. also had larger budgets and were more likely to expect these budgets to increase. This may be because they have more access as trusted advisors to the senior leaders who sign off their budget or because access to those same leaders is easier in smaller organizations within. However, IC in is also now a mature, efficient function that has benefited from years of investment and improvement. 4

6 Executive summary Some Key Points communicators were more likely to report into marketing whereas tended to report to HR, perhaps reflecting the communication needs in those markets. Given their focus in one or maybe two countries, communicators have greater ownership of communication activities, such as benefits enrolment and annual results, than their counterparts. This may explain why they have more of a marketing discipline and approach to their customers (employees). is more dependent on local leadership for interpretation, translation, cascade and feedback. The more diverse and varied legal arrangements in also support HR s ownership of IC and delegation to local leaders. 5

7 Strategy Communicators are increasingly seen by senior leaders as trusted advisors and drivers of employee engagement. Fifty five per cent think that senior leaders see them as trusted advisors more now than in years past. This picture was even more positive in than in. The larger size of companies may make it more difficult for IC to access senior leaders and to make changes to mature, complex communication channels and approaches. To what extent do you agree with the following statements about your internal communications department? It is difficult to gain senior leadership s support The internal communications department is viewed by senior leaders as trusted advisors The internal communications department is involved or influences how complex messages are communicated (e.g. strategy etc.) Leaders understand the value added to the organization by the internal communications department 6

8 Strategy However, this access and confidence is not translating to involvement in corporate strategy. Less than half are involved in corporate strategy and only half are involved early enough in strategic decisions. When asked Why are you not more involved in corporate strategy?, 9 reported that they were not invited to the strategy table (Newsweaver s October 2016 webinar). IC needs to improve its own strategic competence and build stronger relationships with those more closely involved with corporate strategy. Employee engagement increases significantly when employees understand the why and those involved in developing the strategy know the why. Metrics showing employees understanding and commitment to a strategy would also help to build this linkage between IC and strategy. IC is seen as owning or at least having a significant stake in employee engagement, pension and benefits and the deal. However, they do not have the same ownership and involvement in strategy. IC professionals are often quite technically expert in employee engagement, pay, benefits and contractual changes but less so around strategy. This can be a vicious circle with low involvement leading to a lack of strategic competence, leading to low involvement etc. Below are seven questions to ask your corporate strategy team based on my book The Leaders Journal: 7

9 Strategy STRATEGY QUESTIONS OPPORTUNITIES 4 WHAT WILL HELP YOUR MAP 6 RISKS WHAT MAY HOLD YOU BACK? 1 CURRENT POSITION WHERE ARE YOU ON THE JOURNEY? VALUES GOALS WHAT ARE YOUR 3 GOLDEN RULES? 5 WHAT WILL SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? 2 NEXT STEPS WHAT ARE YOUR MID-TERM PRIORITIES? 7 VISION WHAT IS YOUR BIG ASPIRATION? 8

10 Strategy To what extent do you agree with the following statements about the challenges facing your internal communications department? The internal communications department is involved in corporate strategy The department is not involved in strategic decisions early enough to impact effectiveness of communication It is difficult to show how internal communication effects change among employees within our organization There is a long-term strategy in place for the internal communications department Internal communications is seen as a key driver of employee engagement sees IC as internal engagement. North America sees IC as more of a marketing function and in IC is more of a strategic partner and involved earlier. Communicator within Education sector in IC in is still a function that executes. Communicator within IT sector in North America IC reports to corporate comms and corporate comms are involved with the corporate strategy. Communicator in Professional Services sector in North America 9

11 Reporting Lines Two thirds of communicators report through corporate communications, HR or marketing. It is not surprising that IC is most likely to report through corporate communications in both and. However, the second most popular reporting line in each geography was different. One in four IC professionals in report through HR compared to half that in. Almost one in five in report through marketing compared to half that in. Marketing may be more prevalent in due to the greater number of large, homogenous organizations and the need to run annual campaigns around health, wellness and benefits. businesses have more cultures, languages and legal differences and fewer predictable annual campaigns. 4 35% 25% 15% 5% Corporate communications Which department do you report to? External communications Human Resources Internal communications IT/ Technology Marketing Other (Please specify) 10

12 Reporting Lines Marketing discipline and capability is probably more deeply embedded in IC. They have developed and used brands and run campaigns for annual enrolment, employee value propositions and recruitment. At its worst this can mean, as some reported in Newsweaver s webinar on these findings, IC is more top-down (see Channels below). However, a truly marketingoriented IC is led by an understanding of its employees as customers with diverse needs. These needs can only be understood through two-way rather than top-down communication. Employee segmentation can then help to meet those needs

13 Channels and the intranet are the most widely-used channels. Video has now become an established channel along with electronic publications and is used by four out of five companies. The multiplicity of channels may explain why has remained the most widely used and trusted. Given the absence of measurement across most of these channels, has become the go to channel for essential communication. Leaders and IC cannot be sure that communications via other channels will get through to the majority of people. Which channels do you use? Digital signage Electronic publications Internal social networking tools Intranet Leadership town hall meetings Mobile Print publications Video 12

14 Channels This may go some way to explaining the lower use of the internal social networking and mobile channels. Channel usage was similar in and for every channel except mobile and internal social networking tools where usage was almost lower. To what extent do you agree with the following statements about the challenges facing your internal communications department? It s possible that the further development of internal social networking tools and mobile has stalled more significantly in after the initial excitement. The business case for both may be more difficult to make when dealing with large numbers of employees mostly based in one country. Those employees are already well served by many established channels and may be complaining about too much communication. 5 45% 4 35% 25% 15% 5% It is difficult to know which channel to use to best communicate with the audience You have a process that describes the purpose, audience and measurements for each channel 13

15 Channels and lack confidence in their channels. This may be because the majority have not defined the purpose, audience and measurement for each channel. was more confident in how it should use each channel and more likely to have defined its purpose. Two channels were used very differently in and - leadership town hall meetings and internal social networking tools. Leadership town hall meetings are the best channel for Building awareness Collaboration and problem solving Driving change / getting a response or action 14

16 Channels sees the primary role of leadership town hall meetings as driving change and getting a response. saw them primarily as awareness building. This would support some of the comments we received about IC in being more integrated with change management as a discipline. However, it may also reflect the marketing approach that is more prevalent in. Large companies, with the vast majority of their employees based in the US, have developed mature, regular, disciplined processes for communicating with all their employees. Many of these communications use regular leadership town hall communication to make leaders aware of changes in advance and make sure that they support the message with their teams. Leadership town hall meetings covering a number of countries are not as typical and regular in and when they do happen, they are often associated with a specific change, such as a new product launch or merger, that will require action. 15

17 Channels 6 5 Internal social networking tools are the best channel for... Internal social networking tools and mobile (see below) are more widely used in than. This may be because of the more remote nature of the workforce, as outlined in the introduction. The distance between employees who need to collaborate may encourage a greater use of internal social networks in than. 4 Building awareness Collaboration and problem solving Driving change / getting a response or action is grounded in a more group-centric, less individualistic model. Talking to each other and sharing information is key in. Communicator, Professional Services sectors in North America 16

18 Channels 25% How does your internal communications department communicate using mobile? is using more rich media in its mobile communications and this will be increasing their readers engagement. However, overall, both and have some way to go in using mobile. Mobile may be higher in because they have more company apps and a mobile friendly intranet. This is likely to be a virtuous circle. 15% 5% A mobile friendly intranet Company apps Texts Video 17

19 measurement Two out of three communicators in and found it difficult to measure IC but almost 10 thought it was important to do so. To what extent do you agree with the following statements about the challenges facing your internal communications department? It is difficult to measure the effectiveness of internal communications It is important to measure the impact of internal communications 18

20 measurement Which of the following channels does your internal communications department currently measure? 8 7 About half the respondents measured a few channels, typically those with built-in metrics, such as the intranet and internal social networking tools Digital signage Electronic publications Internal social networking tools Intranet Leadership town hall meetings Mobile Video Print publications None of the above In, 12% do not measure any channels at all, and this climbs to 17% in. Businesses measure what is important and there are signs that IC are building measurement capability when it is not built into the channel. Four out of 10 are creating tools and have the capability to measure and leadership town hall meetings. Perhaps reflecting its lower usage in, internal social networking tools measured significantly less in than in. 19

21 measurement Which tools do you use to measure Internal Communications? The majority of communicators are not using any tools to measure IC except survey software such as SurveyMonkey. 7 Many IC professionals are not aware of the range of tools that can help them measure, such as Newsweaver Analytics. Not having the right tools was the main reason given for not being able to measure IC. Many of the tools used, such as SharePoint and web analytics, come packaged with the channel, which suggests that IC have not yet been able to build customized tools. However, survey software, such as SurveyMonkey, is popular because it can be customized So why aren t IC professionals using more of these tools to measure IC? What is stopping them from measuring IC? Web analytics (e.g. Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, etc.) Intranet analytics (e.g. Cardiolog, Webtrends, etc.) SharePoint native analytics Survey software (e.g. SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, etc.) tracking for outlook marketing software IC software None of the above 20

22 measurement What are the greatest challenges to measuring IC (1 st and 2 nd combined)? 45% 4 There is quite a varied picture between and. 35% respondents said that financial resources and IT support were the main barrier to measuring IC. The greater diversity of language, systems, legal restrictions and data privacy across multiple countries may make it more difficult to measure IC in than. 25% 15% was less confident about what IC metrics to measure i.e. the volume of communication, its reach or the desired outcome / behavior change. 5% respondents also highlighted not having the right tools and finding the metrics too difficult to get. The metrics are non actionable The organization does not know what to measure (i.e. volume, reach, behavioral changes, etc.) It takes too much time to measure internal comms IT will not run the reports/ need to generate the metrics The organization does not value the metrics The metrics are too difficult to get It is too costly The to measure organization internal does not communication have the right tools 21

23 Measurement Tools like the one provided by Newsweaver are giving power to today s internal communicators. Not only does it make the job of Newsweaver s ground-breaking cross-channel analytics is giving easy and powerful measurement capability to internal communicators like and never far before. easier, it also allows internal communicators to manifest their worth Newsweaver to the Analytics whole makes organization. it easy for communicators to measure campaigns across , the intranet and video, enabling you Newsweaver to easily understand Analytics how makes a campaign it easy for has communicators performed, its to reach measure with all campaigns employees across , your organization, the intranet which and employees video, enabling engaged you to the easily least understand most, and how what a content campaign was has performed, its reach with all employees across your All in organization, one easy tool. which employees engaged the least and most, and what content was Our goal is to give professionals actionable insights and capabilities so that they can show not just outputs, but tangible outcomes and real changes on employees behaviors. Says Mossy O Mahony, VP of Product at Newsweaver All in one easy tool

24 Resources There was not much difference between and in terms of access to tools and software and the percentage of their communications that was planned, or unplanned and ad-hoc. Have you the right tools/software for your internal comms? How much of your communications are ad-hoc and unplanned? However, IC budgets are significantly bigger than those in The complexity of markets may demand larger budgets for IC teams. IC may need more IC professionals per employee in order to place one IC professional in each significant country to manage translation, legal review and work with local leaders to customize and tailor messages. The department does not have the right tools or software What precentage of your communication is ad-hoc, unplanned? In contrast, IC may benefit from economies of scale as they communicate with a more homogenous audience. Typically, organizations have also invested over many years in channels such as the intranet, and video, that communicate effectively with their whole audience. These channels will often not be as well developed in smaller countries in. 23

25 Resources Over the next 24 months, how do you expect your internal communications budget to change? are also more optimistic about their IC budgets in the future with expecting them to grow This may reflect their stronger position as a trusted advisor to the senior leaders who provide sign-off on the IC budget. It may also be that organizations are recognizing the complexity of IC in and prioritizing it as they seek to operate more globally, consistently and effectively. Increase Remain flat Decrease 24

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