Communication is absolutely. vital as a connector between. the strategy of the company. and how things get done.

Transcription

1 Communication is absolutely vital as a connector between the strategy of the company and how things get done. Kevin Warren, president, Xerox s U.S. Solutions Group SALVO PHOTOGRAPHY 20 Communication World September October

2 2010 excel award Original thinking Xerox s Kevin Warren shares how communication has kept the company on track by Natasha Nicholson When Kevin Warren, then CEO, president and chairman of Xerox Canada, took the stage at IABC s World Conference in Toronto in June to claim his EXCEL (Excellence in Communication Leader ship) Award, he was beaming. There was no doubt that Warren is a person who understands the value of good communication and how it can benefit an organization. He delivered a beautifully written speech. But it was when he stepped out from behind the podium, opened his arms to the Communication World September October

3 2010 excel award Most employees want to do the right the 2010 excel award winner Kevin Warren began his Xerox career in 1984, as a sales trainee in Washington, D.C. He assumed sales and sales management positions with increasing levels of responsibility, including vice president of Federal Sales. In 2007, he led the successful integration of Global Imaging Systems, a US$1.5 billion purchase, into Xerox, and was appointed chairman of the board, president and CEO of Xerox Canada. In July 2010, Warren assumed the role of president of Xerox s U.S. Solutions Group. thing. The challenge is making sure they know what the right thing is. about the author Natasha Nicholson is executive editor of CW. audience and started to answer questions that we truly understood why he so richly deserved the award: Warren has what cannot be faked with any amount of training. He s real. And it s that authenticity, candor and heart, balanced with a logical business mind, that make him a rarity among his peers. In my interview with him following the speech, Warren, eyes twinkling and with an infectious laugh, shared his thoughts about communication, his company and his beloved employees. And as I was captivated by every word, I saw the qualities that make Kevin Warren what he truly is: the most outstanding business communication leader of the year. In the following interview, Warren shares his perspective on how communication serves as the linchpin of organizational excellence. Natasha Nicholson: What s your approach to communication, and how does it fit in with your position? Kevin Warren: When I look at the best way that I can leverage the performance of a company, it s really about getting the most out of the employees. They are the most important asset that we have. So how do we make sure they understand what we need them to do? Because most employees want to do the right thing. The challenge is making sure they know what the right thing is. How do they know what the priorities are, what s going on with the company, how they should be spending their time? Does the com - pany resonate with them, do they feel loyalty to the company, etc.? And the best way to do that is really through communication. So it s not something that s off to the side; it s something that s integral in the way we work. Communication is absolutely vital as a connector between the strategy of the company and how things get done. It s really about making sure that communication takes our strategy to the people, so they know how to do it, and it becomes real. NN: Let s talk about the communication plan, because sometimes it can be this abstract thing. What makes it real, and specifically, what makes it real for you? How do you track back to it? KW: The challenge for any executive is managing your calendar. There are so many things competing for your time. What makes it on your calendar shows what you value. So we schedule it, and we make sure that we have regular cadence for the different venues in which we ll communicate. The broadest one from our employees standpoint is our town hall webcast. We ll do different venues, so we ll rent out a space, we ll invite all the local employees to be there live, and the employees throughout the rest of the com - pany can see us via the Web. They can ask questions live via the Web. We also save it and put it on our web site so they can click on it on demand and see everything. We might have a person who does an interview with me. They ll tee up questions, whether it s on service or whether it s on HR programs, etc., and then we take questions from the audience or from the Web. What I like about that is that we get a high-touch feel with the local people, but also it s broad because every employee in Canada can have access to it and participate. NN: Could you cite some examples of where you feel employee engagement led to the business thriving? KW: One example is that we wanted to integrate our sales channels. We used to manage our sales channels separately our direct salespeople were employees who were managed by one group and then our authorized agents were managed by another group. We thought that there would be 22 Communication World September October

4 You can t sit behind a desk and just make decisions. We talk about the importance of twoway communication, but I m also a lot smarter when I hear what s going on in the street. Xerox s Kevin Warren accepts the 2010 EXCEL Award at the IABC World Conference in Toronto. SALVO PHOTOGRAPHY Communication World September October

5 2010 excel award There s a challenge between the high-touch intimacy of one-to-one talking to somebody and then also making sure that I get to all 3,800 of my employees. synergies if they came together, and that was a big change. There was some concern, some thoughts that maybe we weren t as committed on one channel versus the other. So, with the agent channel in particular which was the one that was feeling the most challenged we set up quarterly round tables where we met with the agent owners and we heard all of their issues. I was able to talk about the state of the business, what was going on, and they would tell us what they were seeing in the marketplace. So I would hear directly, unfiltered, what issues they were coming up against. We would take those issues and then come up with tactics and strategies, and then shrink-wrap them and take them back to the market and help them compete more effectively against the competitors. They would also understand the reasons why we did certain things and then we could hear what they were dealing with, and it would help us make smarter decisions going forward. That also builds trust. Last year the revenue was soft, and these are independent business owners, so they were worried about keeping the lights on. By hearing their issues, we came up with special compensation incentives to kind of hold them through. Now their performance has turned around, and they always say they ll never forget how Xerox stood behind them. You can t sit behind a desk and just make decisions. We talk about the importance of two-way communication, but I m also a lot smarter when I hear what s going on in the street. Sometimes it alters my thinking, whether I might need to tweak something or maybe even go in a different direction. NN: You measure employee engagement through a survey. How do you act on that? What are you trying to get from that? KW: A few things. One, the survey goes throughout the whole organization I get feedback from my direct reports and they get feedback from their direct reports, and the managers get feedback from the frontline employees so it s throughout the organization. We can see which questions we scored the best in and which questions we scored the worst in. Then we tally it from the organizational level so you can see if different groups are out of whack with the organizational results. Where you are off, that s where each group has to have an action plan. They have to develop the action plan, and then they share that with their manager and with their team. Then they work that action plan, so that s really the action part of the measuring. For instance, let s say there s a situation where we thought it was a strength and it resonated as a weakness. That tells us loud and clear that we have a communication issue. So then we might own up, and in the next webcast we re going to hit this from a communication standpoint. Or if it s a strength in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary, but Vancouver sees it as a weakness, then I know my VP in Vancouver needs some help with communication. NN: I understand that you serve pancakes to the employees once a year. What does that interaction give the employees, and what does that give you? KW: First, it gives employees access to the executive and to the senior team. And I guess we re doing something right, because they want access. They really enjoy chatting, getting to know you, making comments, asking questions, etc., so it provides access. Second, it does send a message that the pyramid is really inverted that we re here to serve them. There s a humility part of that which is not lost on them. The third thing is it brings us all together. So this team building, this morale building, builds this esprit de corps. There s a challenge between the high-touch intimacy of one-to-one talking to somebody and then also making sure that I get to all 3,800 of my employees. So we have a process, a plan, where we can kind of do both. The round tables, the town halls are more high-touch; the webcasts and podcasts are more broad. And we do a blend of both. NN: What was your biggest challenge and how did you approach it? How did you use communication to tackle it? KW: The recession was the biggest challenge. My 24 Communication World September October

6 about the excel award The Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award, one of the highest honors IABC can bestow, recognizes a person who is not an IABC member but who exhibits leadership in fostering excellent communication. These contributions include such achievements as initiating, directing, supporting or sustaining outstanding and effective communication programs. This international award is often given to a chief executive officer, managing director or president. For information on the 2011 EXCEL Award, recognition@iabc.com. The nomination process will open in October. In the webcast, we took every question, and we followed up first year, in 2008, we said we were going to grow the revenue, and for the first time in 10 years, we did. And we were rocking and rolling until the end of the third quarter. We had enough momentum that we were still able to grow in And then right at the end of 2008, and into 2009, it was scary for every business. Our revenues, instead of growing, started dropping. And, being a Canadian company that buys our products from the U.S., when the loony dropped 20 percent, our costs went up. How do you manage that? With the revenue decline and costs going up all at the same time, there was such a lack of con - fidence because we didn t know if we were going to have a depression. We knew we had to make some tough decisions. We took away, temporarily, some of our employee programs. And we had a four-day furlough for our employees to save costs, which limited how many jobs we had to reduce. We did have to reduce jobs, but not nearly as many as we would have if we hadn t done this furlough. This is where communication really comes in. We d never done this this was a very controversial but needed step. Because we had this communication plan, we already had a date for a webcast. So we timed it so that we would introduce this on the webcast. The furlough really limited any further layoffs. That was the good news. But it did mean that people s salaries were going to be temporarily affected, so we decided to close down on these four days for most of the business, so that people would get the day back as opposed to just a dock in salary. In the webcast, we took every question, and we followed up with a Q-and-A period afterwards, because I wanted employees to hear directly from me what the issue was, as opposed to there being this kind of chatter at the water cooler that was inaccurate. So I was able to kind of control the message directly with them, tell them how it was, that it was temporary, what would have to happen for us to end up putting the programs back. And at the kickoff meeting this year, in 2010, we announced that we were putting back most of the programs. I felt incredibly accountable to make sure that we were able to do that. That was personal for me that was more than business. And I think it resonated with the employees. NN: You talked about the importance of the culture, and nurturing that culture. Some CEOs don t value communication the way that you do. What can you say to convince them that nurturing the culture and communication are a way to make the business thrive? KW: As I said in my speech, culture eats strategy for breakfast. If you come up with the greatest idea in the boardroom but people don t buy it, it will never get done. Conversely, if you come up with an idea that resonates with people, they believe it, they understand it, and they know how to execute on it, you ll be a hero. It s not about how smart the idea is; it s about the people buying into it and believing it and making it happen. A CEO is one person. The most impactful thing I can do is to leverage my 3,800 employees, to give them more information, to inspire them, to give them more tools. Not what I do myself. So it s a leverage deal. And communication and people and that connection from ideas in the boardroom is how it all gets done. with a Q-and-A period afterwards, because I wanted employees to hear directly from me what the issue was. Communication World September October