Can You Hear Me Now? M a k e W h a t Y o u S a y M a t t e r a n d Increase Your Chances of Being Heard By David Grossman ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA 1 A must-read for any leader
Your employees. You ve probably realized by now that they have a lot to do with the success of your company and your personal success. When engaged and inspired, they can move mountains driving productivity, business growth, and the success of your organization as a whole. When they re disconnected and indifferent, however, rest assured the exact opposite will be the case. Look for such telltale signs as an inability to realize strategic organization-wide goals, high turnover especially of talented employees, stagnant growth, declining public perception, unhappy shareholders, and the list goes on. As the leader of a less-than-inspired workforce, you might be looking around for someone to blame, but here s the hard truth: The buck stops with you. It s a competitive world out there, and it s up to leaders to create solutions, then inform, inspire and engage their people. You may think you re communicating, but chances are the information you ve shared is falling on deaf ears. Or, you ve only said something important once, thinking you ve communicated and you re done checked off the box. 2
I m not going to tell you it's going to be easy. In this business environment, employees are feeling more and more disconnected from their organizations and busier than ever which means that it s getting harder than ever to get through to them. But there s a silver lining. Hidden in these tough times is a defining moment for leaders to create real, meaningful connections with their workforce to maintain and, better yet, drive productivity. By understanding how to communicate with employees, leaders can minimize the disruptions that come with change and, even better, maximize the many upsides of change by accelerating results. It s a time for leaders to become leadercommunicators who paint a clear picture of how each and every employee fits into the overall vision to help deliver on even your most aspirational goals. Here at The Grossman Group, that possibly abstract goal of becoming a better leadercommunicator for better employee engagement takes concrete shape in the form of our messagemap methodology. The messagemap gives leaders a strategic, methodical approach to developing a core message platform that can be delivered in a clear, credible, consistent way. Gone are the days of pulling a group of people together to brainstorm messages, of hoping that everyone s on the same page, of a piecemeal approach to message dissemination 3
The messagemap has emerged over the years as a must-have, trusted communication tool for leaders across levels, functions and industries at some of the nation s most respected companies. The methodology is built on best practices in leadership, internal and organizational communications and has been proven, tested and refined over the years through our work with Fortune 100 and other organizations with big, complex stories to tell. Through aligned and strategic messages, leaders can connect with and engage employees to drive action and business results. This quick reference tool will help you think strategically about how to tell your company s, function s, team s, or even your own leadership story to get the actions and results you want. In the pages that follow, I ll share the principles at the heart of The Grossman Group s messagemap methodology. Use what we ve learned and mastered over the years everyday so you can become your own message master. P r o u d w i n n e r Product of the Year SABRE A w a r d s 4
In 2010, one of the nation s leading hospitality companies faced mounting external and internal challenges as it sought to grow and better serve guests amidst the recession. C a s e Study Fast-track transformation efforts were underway and the company was seeing results, but when it came time to roll out the next major wave of the business direction, leadership knew they had systemic cultural issues to address: 1. Low trust in leadership. Employee engagement scores had fallen significantly on how leadership communicates changes and confidence in company direction. 2. Perceptions that leadership wasn t communicating the strategy effectively. The company s track record for communicating strategy was poor and leaders and employees knew it; employees weren t part of the process and it didn t target the diverse employee audience. 3. A limited internal communication system was in place. The company lacked an integrated internal communications department, had no focus on key messages, no listening across employee groups, and haphazard vehicles that didn t factor in the multicultural and non-wired workforce. 4. Limited motivation for behavior change and poor employee perceptions of being listened to and recognized for contributions. Knowing that 81 percent of culture change fails, senior leadership was determined to beat the odds. The Grossman Group built a comprehensive communication program to drive culture change from the top, grow leaders communication capability, engage employees like never before, and create sustainable communication processes. We helped roll out the strategy and in doing so, established a disciplined, repeatable communication system for communicating business issues with employees over time. The program achieved its goals, including the primary goal to change the trajectory of the business. The hospitality company saw a strong rise in 2011, increasing more than 5% each during the two quarters following the strategy s roll out. In its earnings report, its parent company credited the gain as due to the transformation of its business model. In the summer of 2011, the company beat its peers, achieving the best performance in the brand s history. Employee understanding translated into significant business results as guest satisfaction improved, according to guest surveys. And the company surpassed its annual goals for reducing guest complaints, achieving its best quality performance in more than 20 years. In addition, annual employee engagement scores showed double-digit gains in the areas of: Leadership effectiveness, helping to build trust in leaders and improve perceptions of open, transparent communications Understanding the company s strategic direction Perceptions that employees are recognized for their contributions, signaling important gains in behavior change And for the small-but-mighty HR team that started on this journey, the efforts paid off with leadership commitment to fund a dedicated Internal Communications team, including bilingual internal communication experts a first for the company. 5
Effective leaders understand the following: Meaningful leadership communication goes hand-in-hand with better employee engagement and better business results. Why? Because it enables employees to get connected to you and the big picture so they can understand what s going on in the organization and what s important to you, and to know their role and what s expected of them to succeed. Message creation isn t a tool to create your strategy or vision, rather it s designed to help you articulate your strategy or vision. Explore www.yourthoughtpartner.com to learn about the other effective methodologies and practices you can leverage to create your strategy or vision.) When done right, your key messages can help you tell your story effectively both internally and externally in a way that connects with your specific audiences. Your messages can cover any kind of topic enterprise-wide, key initiatives, department plans and activities, your own leadership vision and goals, and more. The strategic message platform is a tool for you (and perhaps your communications advisor) to use. Building off the message platform, you can then develop customized communications to reach your end audience (i.e. employees, clients, customers, key stakeholders, etc.) so they re getting the information in a way that meets their needs. Meaningful leadership communication enables employees to understand what s going on in the organization and what s important to you, and to know their role and what s expected of them to succeed. 6
Message Success When done well, a strategic approach to developing messages lets you: Define and prioritize the audiences who will receive the messages and focus on the common ground between them Identify where key audiences are coming from and what their information needs are so the messages can influence and drive appropriate action Articulate clear, credible and compelling messages about the topic Outline what behaviors and actions are expected of key audiences Connect with your audiences so they know you and what s important to you Deliver your messages with confidence because you re well prepared, know your messages will hit the mark, and you can re-use your platform time and time again to master your delivery Validate the implementation plan on a topic and identify any gaps before going prime time 7
The makings of your message platform 1. Your Main Message Every message platform should start with a main message (or elevator speech) that s supported by additional messages, data and stories to reinforce specific components of the main message. The main message should summarize a topic at the 40,000-foot level and be able to be delivered in 10 seconds or less (imagine a short elevator ride from Floor 3 to Floor 6). A great main message: Provides a very brief snapshot of the topic and what s happening Is aspirational in tone Can be easily remembered and repeated (it should roll off the tongue and be free of jargon) Leaves people wanting to learn more or say tell me more 2. Supporting Messages The tell me more part comes with the supporting messages, which are the next level of what you need to communicate. The main message won t cover every detail or answer every question your key audience may want to know, which is why the supporting messages are so important. To amplify your main message, think about the key elements that make up your story and ask some tough questions around: What s happening and why it is critical What does success look like (the end state) What s new and different What are the benefits to key audiences What s expected of key audiences 3. Data, Information and Stories Using data, information and illustrative stories are critical because it answers prove it to me, which many audiences will want to know (or at least be thinking about). This section of your message platform brings your story to life and reinforces what s important through specific proof points, examples, testimonials and specific stories that describe the why, what, how and what s in it for me. Consider your key audiences here and where they re coming from. If you re reaching analytical, numbers-oriented people, you ll want data. Hint A story is worth a thousand data points. People remember stories better than any data chart. Use stories to reinforce your point and the behaviors and actions you want to drive. 8
When it comes time to structuring your message platform and putting it on paper know that there isn t just one way to do it. It can be organized in a variety of ways based on what suits you. The best message platforms: Fit on one page (so messages are focused and prioritized) Are easy to read and the key components of your messages are easy to identify Should guide readers through the hierarchy of messages so they understand the topic at a high level before drilling down into the details of the supporting messages, data and stories Factor in how your organization thinks (e.g., if your organization is visual in how it presents information, then your message platform could be too) 9
What? That s Where You Start In communicating virtually any message, you always need to start with the what what s happening? Don t assume people know. Set the stage and give the big picture first. Then cover the why. Explain the rationale. Next is the how and when how will this impact our team, the organization, and most important, the employee? When will this change take place? Last, check for understanding by asking questions and soliciting feedback. That s how you reach a shared understanding. Otherwise, you haven t communicated. 10
Other Key Dimensions to Consider as You Develop Your Message Platform Identify and Align the Key Players Think through who needs to be part of the message platform development so you can engage them in the right way and at the right times. For example, if you re looking to others to help you deliver the messages, let them be a part of developing the messages and hold a messaging session together. Consider how best to tap others for data and stories to bring your messages to life. Hint Involve the people who are ultimately responsible for delivering the core messages. That way, they ll know the messages and their meanings, believe in them and feel personally vested. Know Your Audience As you develop your message platform, keep your target audiences top of mind. Understand the key audiences that you want to reach, where they re coming from, what their information needs are and the kinds of questions they may ask. At the same time, also consider what it is you want those audiences to know, how you want them to feel and what actions you want them to take. Have these insights at the ready when creating your message platform because you want the messages to meet your audience needs. It s the best way to help them understand your message, believe in it and want to act on it. Hint Test your messages by running them by a few of your employees to see how they react. Don t just run it by the agreeable types either if you can test drive the messages with someone who may be more cynical and help them understand what you re saying, you know your messages are on the right track. Know When to Call the Experts If it s your first time developing a message platform and your topic is especially complex or sensitive, you might want to call in an expert. Do what you do best share your vision and subject matter expertise and let your outside partner do what they do best. 11
Make the Communication Vacuum Work for You The communication vacuum fills whether you want it to or not. Some call it the grapevine; others call it hearsay. No matter what you call it, it can be problematic and distracting. If you aren t talking proactively about issues that are important to your employees, chances are that someone else is. Use the vacuum to your advantage. Get your messages out first. In almost all cases, you know more than you think. You may not have all the answers (you never will!), but you have enough information to let employees know what you know. You ll get credit for proactively communicating and won t spend valuable time cleaning up the dirt in the vacuum. The key is developing messages based on your audience s needs and then communicating them in multiple ways. Engage key influencers and thought leaders who typically feed and influence the grapevine the most, along with supervisors throughout the organization. When employees hear the same messages from their supervisor (always their preferred source), from the CEO, read it on the intranet, and hear it through the grapevine, they re more likely to believe it and, most important, act on it. In fact, one of our clients has a publication called The Straight Scoop just one of the ways they re addressing the grapevine head-on. In the end, the grapevine can be a powerful resource if you tap it strategically and with discipline. 12
I don t promise that getting employees aligned around messaging and goals is going to be easy, but Rome wasn't built in a day. I do know from firsthand experience that charting a clear path and staying the course even when times get tough or busy guarantees you more productive employees, better business results, and a healthier organization. 13
Imagine having your own personalized business messages and stories in the palm of your hand. Click here to learn more Our leadercommunicator platform is now available for the ipad or tablet, enabling leaders to have quick and easy access to their core messages. Not unlike a political platform, the award-winning leadercommunicator platform is a customized tool for senior leaders to help them develop and articulate strategy, drive change, and engage employees to achieve business results. It's never been easier to ensure leaders stay on track with the messaging they want to drive. David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA is the founder and CEO of The Grossman Group David is both a teacher and student of effective communication and counsels some of the world s leading organizations on internal and leadership communication. He s author of the highly acclaimed, You Can t Not Communicate: Proven Communication Solutions That Power the Fortune 100 (Second Edition) and its follow up, You Can t Not Communicate 2. David is often quoted in media, providing expert commentary and analysis on employee and leadership issues. Specifically, he was featured on NBC Nightly News, CBS MoneyWatch and in the Chicago Tribune. Share your internal communication challenges or tips with David at dgrossman@yourthoughtpartner.com. As featured in: Available at YourThoughtPartner.com/Book The Grossman Group