Bringing Pretty Plaques to Life

Effective leadership means connecting the dots for employees - David Grossman

This is the truth. Too often, strategies and plans fail because the executioners do not fully understand the direction. Yes, they may have a brief which outlines what is required. Yes, they may have the tools to complete the given task. But do they fully understand the importance, the impact, the background - the why, what, where, who, when, how?

If you were to ask an employee what their company's mission or vision was, chances are some of them could rattle it off by rote. But unless there is engagement around what those words on that plaque stand for, then they are just that - words on a plaque.

This week, we started a new ad campaign and yes, we sent a brief to the agency. The truth is though, I had to connect the dots especially since this was an internally produced strategy sent to an external provider to execute. Creative they are, I am sure, but it was only in fully talking through the brief with the account executive and giving her the back story - the 5Ws and the H, bringing some relevance to the document before her, that she had that "ahhh" moment.

Employees often are taken for granted when decisions are made from way up top. The days of handing judgements down from the throne are over. The days of open communication, active engagement, soliciting feedback and opinions are here, now. Successful tactical delivery, employee satisfaction and loyalty are just some of the end results of taking internal communications to a level that goes beyond "all users" emails and memos from faceless executives. More managers, for example, have to be empowered to have cottage meetings with their staff, and to share their feedback through the management chain. The tools available to internal communicators - intranets, social platforms, video, podcasts, video conferencing, to name a few, make engagement easy and creative.

The reality is, without communication, there can be no leadership. Leaders will ultimately fail if they are not communicating regularly and effectively and all the big MBA sounding words on far reaching plans and policies will remain inanimate if there is not real passion and engagement around them and employees. Getting employees to understand and have that "ahhhhh" moment is a huge part of why companies are successful.

Are companies really ready to take the necessary steps to breathe life into words on plaques and plans?

Out of Touch with the Public's Reality

Though I have been caught up with the football, I am still in touch with the rest of the world. This is more than I can say for Tony Hayward, who thought it would be a good idea to go boating in an elite yachting event while barrels and barrels of oil gush into the ocean. It says a lot about not just Tony Hayward but about executives in general. There are many senior executives who somewhere along the way have completely lost touch with the "small people".

Their daily lives are somehow spent in a bubble where they fraternise among themselves and share the same belief systems, honed after years of living in said bubble. So when it comes down to dealing with life situations outside of that bubble - be it internally with employee issues or externally as in the BP case, they believe what they know to be right. It's when these issues manifest themselves in the public domain, that we recognise the growing chasm between those "up there" and the little people.

They spend much of their day at internal meetings, getting information from their managers. They get advice from their boards, who tend to be older men and a few women who are even further detached from the web. Board members have even less of a clue. So most CEOs are probably having the wrong conversations about the wrong things with the wrong people. - Business Week

Maybe if more leaders went "undercover" as in the CBS reality show Undercover Boss, or more realistically, spent more time interfacing with people other than their elite peers - employees, customers for example, they would better understand the way the real world works and how real people are affected by events that somehow don't seem to matter much to them.

"The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume." - Tony Hayward, May 14.

And it is these out of touch with reality statements and actions from BP and its executive which continue to exacerbate what is already an insurmountable scenario. It makes even the term "public relations" a misnomer because if he in fact had any type of real, honest to goodness relations outside of his myopic inner circle, then he would probably not be so regularly angering the public.

Are you Happy and Engaged?

I found this video to be hilarious, but the not so funny part of it is that the strategies mentioned here for engaging employees are very real in many organisations, leaving a lot to be desired.



Engagement ends with management - How many times does your management team go on retreat to discuss strategic direction, and somehow the real meat of the matter never gets back to you? You're just told, "this is how it's going to be" and are expected to tow the line, no questions asked.

The email - Do you feel valued or engaged when important issues, which heavily impact your core functions, your team or your welfare are communicated via a company-wide email, which most times may get lost in your inbox and you only go search for it and read it after someone who has read it asks your opinion on it?

The ad - Do you know what's happening in your organisation before the wider world, or are you just another nameless face in the sea of nameless faces targeted by expensive advertising? Do you feel empowered to sell what your company is selling, because you have been fully involved in the process from conception to development to implementation?

The Power Point, with loads of clip art - Are you huddled into the staff training room and with your eyes taped open, confronted by a 100 slide Power Point presentation, with charts and tables and revolving text and clip art, which may be full of relevant information, but not dynamic enough to "fire you up" and get your buy-in?

"Noone says they're not". - Are you motivated? Do you feel like you're making a difference and that your work is appreciated and makes an impact on the overall operations and strategic direction of the organisation? Do you feel like getting up in the morning to go do what you do? But more importantly, does management care if you do? Do they ask? Is there any engagement initiative internally to gauge employee morale and solicit feedback?

I can't find HR - Is your well-being shackled to the people in Human Resources? Do you have to be depend wholly on them for any type of information that impacts you, or is there an organisation-wide tripe C structure of communication, collaboration and consultation, which makes giving and getting feedback painless?
Are you an important part of a well oiled machine or just one of a million screws trying to hold it all together? Is internal communications a vital part of your organisation's strategic plan or is it an "aside" that gets remembered when it's time to set targets and deliverables?

Are you happy and engaged?

Who's managing your brand?

Yesterday afternoon, after a week of craving, I headed to this particular fast food outlet to just get it over with. What I saw when I got there was alarming to say the least. There was one girl at the counter, and she was both cashing orders and packing them. That is a problem in itself but that was not the issue. What struck me was her appearance! The young lady was wearing the company branded shirt, and it was riddled with holes. Not tiny pinholes but gaping wounds in the fabric. I looked at her in horror as she stood there, non-plussed about her appearance, casually serving people their artery blocking meals.

There was a huge hole, probably the size of a 50 cent piece in the front of the shirt and she simply wore a matching red tank under the shirt, in some lame attempt to disguise it? I don't know. I cannot fathom what purpose this was supposed to serve. There were holes at the back of the shirt, some sloppily patched up with black thread, which by the way, was a stark contrast. There was, what looked like a bleach stain on the back,  and the shirt's collar looked as though rats made a meal of it. But yet on the breast was the brand EMBLAZONED for all to see.

I am not sure what the managers of these outlets are responsible for, but I would hope they would be caretakers of the brand in the absence of a Marketing VP. It is NOT the responsibility of a Marketing VP or Human Resources VP to monitor how the brand is represented to the public. Did her manager not realise she needed a new polo? Was a request made for one? I shudder to think that a request was made and denied, or that they don't have extra polos lying around. It was pretty distasteful and I don't care if you're frying french fries or giving a speech on global television, there is something to be said about image and how your employees maintain the image of your company. Even if this employee could not give 2 hoots about her ratty shirt, someone else should have.

I was just rather stunned by this as you can tell. It reminded me of any evening, at happy hour, I saw a young lady, resplendent in her bank's uniform, going down low with glass after glass of spirited drinks in her hand. And I thought, "Couldn't she go home and change out of the people's uniform before she came to embarrass herself in this manner?" There is something to be said for engaging your employees about how your brand lives everywhere, even in their appearance and actions. Every individual in an organisation is a brand ambassador. It's not solely the responsibility of the people in the Board Rooms to protect and manage the brand. It starts from the frontline and goes all the way up. Clearly this escapes some.

I don't think this franchise is in dire financial straits that they cannot afford polos for their staff. The long lines on any given day, at any given time remind me that fast food is king in Trinidad and Tobago. And while not everyone may care about the image of your brand and just want their box of oily mess, good Lord...the employees should care. How much do you care about your corporate brand?

Hip and Happenin' CSR

A lot of people are getting caught up in the whole CSR thing, without really knowing or understanding what CSR is really about. It's a new and hip tagline for some, a nice section for the Annual Report, with pretty photos of hugging kids or planting trees. But there is no substance, no tie in to the business, no buy in from staff.

It makes me recall a disturbing conversation I had with a colleague once. Her company had partnered with an NGO which focused on HIV/AIDS education and awareness. Oh, there was the big corporate splash, with internal blasts and a media release and the requisite pretty photo for the website etc. During an internal event, geared at promoting wellness, the "partners" from the NGO placed posters throughout the office about prevention and condomising. Somehow the word "condom" and the accompanying image did not find favour with the chief exec, who was aghast that such a poster would be placed in the building, and he demanded that it be removed forthwith. Furthermore, there was to be no distribution of condoms to staff. Only pamphlets, and that was a miracle she achieved through no meagre effort.

And that's what a lot of businesses are doing, to one degree or another. There is a lot of talk but no real action or ownership of CSR initiatives. If that exec's personal convictions about condoms were so strong, perhaps he should have explored another cause to support, if he was really and truly interested in genuine CSR activities in the first place. It's a lot of gloss really in some organisations. Companies support a cause - and it's either usually a one-off event with no follow through, no sustainability, no partnerships, or a cause they do not thoroughly examine and assess for relevancy to their business, their core values, their people.

And the people part they often ignore completely - both externally and internally. Sponsorships are not CSR. Let's get that straight. Anyone can hand over a cheque, but CSR really should place greater focus on the human resource as opposed to the financial resource, and the long term benefits of partnerships to both the community and the organisation. CSR does not live with any one department, but it should be such an integral part of the social fabric of the organisation that the employee should feel a sense of ownership, commitment and responsibility. But often, that people element is missing. And it's simple things. Like the Finance Team helping an NGO out with their accounting or the legal team guiding them on governance issues. Or the communications team helping them to build a social media presence to promote their work and attract volunteers. It comes down to how employees are engaged, how policies and systems internally foster empowerment, creativity and company loyalty.

So all this hip and happenin' CSR talk around the place means nothing if there is no real commitment from organisations to really get it right. But do we want to do the work to get it right? Or is it just easier on everyone to snap the photo and get on with the rest of it? That's the burning question.

When your brand ambassadors don't know...

I have been sick with a bad cold for the past few days and yesterday was the worst, with my head feeling like a hot air balloon just about ready to over-inflate and burst. And after the suggestions of a few colleagues, recognising that my self medication tricks were not working, I went to a pharmacy to get the much recommended Theraflu. Now though I have never used the product, somewhere in the ether I knew they had hot drinks as part of the product line. Noone had told me exactly what to buy, but I knew I wanted one of those hot drinks. So I approach the counter - walking germbot that I was - and asked the girl (I dunno if she was a pharmacist or not) whether they had Theraflu. She said they did and picked up a box of Theraflu caplets. So I told her I wanted the hot drink instead. Ay caramba!

- Hot drink?
- You know, the hot teas with all the yummy healing stuff.
-No. They don't make that. (pushes the caplets towards me)
-You sure? (eyeing the caplets annoyingly)
-Yes. They only make the caplets. You want it?

I think my nasal congestion had by this time gotten the best of me, so I decided to not argue, since I was not 100% sure anyway, but to just take the caplets, go home, medicate and knock myself out.

But you know I could not just go home and take the caplets, but I immediately went online to the Theraflu site and there was a very useful and snazzy "Theraflu Treatment Selector" where the sick and dying like myself could go find the right product for their symptoms. Guess what I found?

I mean, I am sorry but I don't care if you're running a corner shop or a multinational organisation, you really should have a fair idea of what you're peddling. And this is just a small example. I have gone into large organisations, with huge marketing budgets, which promote products and services to customers, often successfully. Then you go in, meet someone on the frontline who cannot give you a clear understanding of what the product is, how it differs from what is on the market.

Now, in the case of the pharmacy girl, she is not selling HER product per se. She is a third party provider for Theraflu, so I will give her a small bligh. Maybe not. She is representing her pharmacy and representing its brand as my dependable, knowledgeable neighbourhood drug store. I simply cannot forgive a customer service representative who does not know enough about his/her company's product to make me, the customer, want to buy it or support the brand.

Investing, up front in employees, so they understand the company, its products and services, its history and culture and how all these and more tie in to the brand, is probably one of the most important parts of employee management. An uninformed employee can cost a company sales and reputation. How am I to believe what you are selling, if you clearly don't know and thus don't believe in it? The efforts of the marketing and comms team in getting persons to talk about what you're offering and seek you out for more information can all be for nothing if basic understanding and participation are absent not only on the frontline, but throughout the organisation. Every employee becomes a product advocate and brand ambassador from the time they sign that dotted line. Leaving that responsibility to chance is suicidal for any organisation.
So what can you do?

• Fresh meat preparation: New employee orientation sessions should include product and sales training
   
• Ever heard of the Lunch 'n' Learn? Oh gosh, how many of these have I been to? Some people come just for the lunch, but if your presentation is engaging, interactive and informative, they leave with much more, and you end up with much more - an informed and excited ambassador. Not recommended for training on a new product or new employees, but it can be a good "tune up" session and a refreshing change from sitting in stuffy conference room with a dull PowerPoint presentation
   
• Specific interval training - Be it for frontline staff, supervisors, managers, continuous training on your company and its product are essential, especially since any good product undergoes periodic reviews and revisions to meet the ever changing needs of the customer
   
• Regular communcations on company and product development - And though intranets and newsletters are fun, when it comes to customer service and product knowledge, managers should be the first contact for information, Q&A, etc. Face to face discussion can help clear up misconceptions which you do not wish to communicate to a customer, reinforce knowledge, gain an understanding of what customers are asking/customer FAQs.
• Role playing. Great for testing out what the employee knows and how he/she reacts to any given situation with any type of customer - from the very savvy, to the very green, from the calm and patient, to the irate. Can be a great team building session as well.

And when you're informed, your communications skills are stronger cause you can speak confidently and with conviction and meet customers' objections and questions head-on. Ummms and maybe's don't quite work in persuading cynical customers to support your product. And not only should employees know about what you're selling but also what your competitors are selling. You better believe when I go to buy anything, I know what the other guy is offering and I ask a lot of questions and if you cannot convince me that yours is better because you simply don't know about what else is out there - bye bye.

I am not sure my corner pharmacy has a training plan set out for its staff, cause I only saw 2 people in there, but a little product knowledge is recommended for the future, cause had I been 100% sure the hot teas existed in that brand, and was dead set on getting it, I would have left and nursed my cold elsewhere and lost confidence in that pharmacy as well. I mean, if you do not know about a simple hot tea for a cold, what else don't you know about more serious drugs??? I have a serious problem with this!

And special thanks to Theraflu - I feel human again!

The other side of the brand

I'm sitting here just finalising my group's presentation on "Harmonising Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management". It has been a really good programme and I have said it enough times that Trinidadians and Tobagonians, just aren't fully aware of their rights as employees, and their rights in general. But that is an entirely different conversation that can go down a long road.

But from a brand management perspective, I am not sure that many HR people recognise just how important their role is in managing a company's brand. People hear "brand" and automatically think marketing or PR, but every person has a role to play in how a company is perceived in the outside world.

I have worked in various places - both private and public sector - and there will always be employer-employee disputes, but how one manages them and also how one works on ultimately preventing them goes a long way on how the company's brand is managed. Because the truth is, an annoyed, disgruntled employee or ex-employee just needs to go sit in a bar on a Friday afternoon, and start telling his friends, their friends, the bartender and anyone within earshot about his boss, the company's poor HR practices, the compensation, the policies, how overworked and undervalued he feels, how favouritism keeps him from moving up, how unfair recruitment is, etc and there goes the neighbourhood.

When I am scoping out potential places to work, I never go by what the employer has to say. You want to talk to a subject matter expert don't you? Someone who is currently in, or has been in the trenches so to speak. These employees, dear managers, are your brand ambassadors, who can either make you or break you.

Companies cannot now expect only to attract the best talent through snazzy websites and good pay  packages. Today's employees are looking for other less tangible but equally important, if not more important features.

• Work-life balance - Employees want to have weekends, evenings with their families and friends. And please don't think only married people want personal time. Single people want to have a life too.
• Great health plans
• Flexi-time
• Telecommuting - In an age of so much technology, driving long distances to work, sitting in an office all day, when you can probably do all the same things at home is just so played out.
• Work environment/Good employer/employee relations - Noone wants a pill for a boss. I don't care how many zeros are on that pay slip. You spend most of your day with them, so who wants a butt biter?
• Open door policies, without fear of reprisals - I have a problem, I want to know I can talk to you, and not be ostracised in the lunchroom the next day or victimised.

These are some of the things one wants ideally from an employer and if your current employees aren't feeling your brand, and aren't loyal to it, what do you think their communication message is going to be? How do you intend to attract the best of the best from the labour force? I have had people call me, as a former or current employee of an organisation to ask about the organisation in order to gauge whether it is a place they may wish to work. And though everyone's experience is different, and what I may find fantastic, another person may be miserable with, people still ultimately want to know. It's like buying a new car, where you get to drive it around the block a few times before you buy it. Those phone calls are akin to the test drive. It may handle really well at the dealership but when you take it home, it cannot start. It may sound good, but it may not be all that it's cracked up to be.

HR can no longer work as a silo. They have to work with managers and supervisors to get them on board the programme. They say people don't leave jobs, they leave people and I am sure many of you have left that bitchy boss, that biased manager, that uncaring company, where business came first, people came way after. What makes it scarier is how online tools can practically take that Friday happy hour rant to the masses until you have Facebook pages, tweets, YouTube videos slamming, ripping, shredding and totally destroying a company's brand. And once that happens, it's near impossible to stop.

Strong brands need strong HR. How can we expect employees to buy in to internal and external communications plans ? And HR needs to start thinking a little bit of PR and also work closely with PR when managing employee experiences cause really, there is only so much a PR team can do to save a brand that has been massacred by the people closest to it - the employees.

Holding the communications big stick over employees' heads

One of the challenges communications peeps have to face is engaging employees against a myriad of performance indicators - none of which include communicating. What I mean is, employees usually want information and in surveys they leave comments that while information from management is all well and good, they want to also hear from their peers - the average Jill and Joe in a cubicle, who they eat lunch with, who is not part of the hierarchy. And don't think we don't listen. We do hear. But then comes the issue of targets, performance, job description - all those yucky business terms that they bang into your brain while holding your bonus to ransom.

• How does this fit in with productivity?
• How does this help me achieve my KPIs?
• Do they have time for this?
• I don't want my staff on Twitter all day
• I will get to it after I do this mountain load of work on my desk.
• My boss does not think this is critical.

And the list goes on and on. Corporate social responsibility activties in many instances are part of the balanced scorecard/KPI type system. In a previous role, everyone had to get on board the CSR train, as it was ultimately tied to their performance and financial incentives. You would have persons at the end of the year scrambling to get on board the train when they realised that a couple thousand dollars would be left on the table if they did not. Is it the right way? Maybe not. I always believed that the company should work on building a more genuine culture of CSR but that's a moot point at this time.

Do we then incentivise communications - be it for internal or external purposes and practically force staff to get on board? That sure does not sound effective or fun.

The question recently arose of thought leadership and communications, and getting subject matter experts to weigh in on some of the issues which stakeholders are interested in learning more about. On paper it is easy to say that Paul or Bill or Brigitte will be roped in to lead social media discussions on what they know best. In reality, Paul, Bill and Brigitte barely have the time or the authority to make that commitment. It's usually always a "push back" when trying to get employees in the communications mix and to get them really talking.  And especially if management is not yet completely sold on the importance and value of it. "How will this affect Paul's work for me?" "Why can't you do it?"

I'm not sure where the whole idea that employees being part of the communications machine of an organisation is a time-intensive type activity that infringes on performance. Writing a blog post on a subject one is familiar with, with some coaching from the comms team, should not be a challenge of epic proportions. It should not feel like a chore either - one I have to do so you can release my salary increase from bondage. Managers recognise that employees should know what's happening, but not enough emphasis is placed on employees being part of what's happening. Managers also need to recognise that employees are the people who drive the mission and vision, and they do not stand apart from the rest of the organisational machine. So somehow we need to cross this barrier and it's up to us to work on building a stronger communications culture to get them all on board the comms train - and because they want to be, not because we push them on.