The Inside Voice

Bosses Go “Undercover” to Learn, Engage Employees

2010-02-08T15:52:24-05:00

After last night’s Super Bowl, a new show caught my eye: “Undercover Boss.” The premise of the show is that for one week, a head of a large company hides their identity and goes undercover to work within the organization at entry-level positions.

Last night’s premier episode focused on Larry O’Donnell, Waste Management (WM) president and COO. Larry ditched his suit, avoided the razor, adopted an alias (“Randy”) and reported to duty for a week of manual labor. He was given menial tasks: cleaning toilets, riding the garbage truck route, working the recycling plant line, picking up litter in gusting winds, and working in a landfill office. "Randy’s" memorable highlights ranged from being fired from one job (picking up litter) to being asked to dinner at a coworker’s home. His weeklong experience gave him a new appreciation for each person he worked with during the week.

What does this TV show have to do with internal communications? Lots. Here are some great internal communication tactics that Larry used:

Start the conversation. Larry O’Donnell left the comfort of his office and had a conversation with employees in the field. He asked questions. He got answers. His coworkers shared good attitudes and things they liked about their jobs, things that frustrated them, and barbs about “corporate office” policies. Larry saw firsthand how his decisions had affected these people's jobs. Are you talking to your employees to understand what they love about their jobs, and what frustrates them?

Give feedback. Back at the office the following week, "Randy" revealed who he really was to the five employees he shadowed. He met with each and gave them feedback - about his perception of their performance and their attitude, and what he had learned from working with them. His feedback included insight that would help guide his decisions in his role of president and COO. Are you giving feedback to your employees on their job performance more than in an annual review?

Reward stellar performance. Larry admired the people he met and solved a key problem for each. But some stood out from the crowd. One young woman had several health issues, was covering multiple positions in the landfill office and didn’t missing a beat. At the end of the day, she invited “Randy” to dinner. At home, her father and her sister’s family were living with her. The family had to put their “dream home” on the market because of finances. Larry asked her manager to consider realigning her role to allow her a more manageable workload, and to see if WM could restructure her compensation to make it feasible for her to keep her dream home. She was moved to a salaried position and made bonus-eligible. She hired two employees to fill the open positions she had been covering – a well-deserved promotion. Are you rewarding employees who are going above and beyond the job without fail and complaint?

Make people part of the solution. While riding the garbage truck route, Larry was appalled to learn that women had to use a coffee can as their restroom to keep route productivity high. The following week, this woman was asked to be a part of a task force to address women’s concerns in the WM workforce. A diabetic was only able to work a certain schedule so he could go to dialysis three days a week, yet he was a highly productive employee. He was given a role that allowed him to help motivate others with health issues at WM. WM also instituted paid time off for certain medical issues. How can you engage employees in solutions for the challenges that touch them?

Announce the changes. After meeting with the employees individually, Larry held a small company meeting to announce what he had learned and the resulting changes the company was going to implement. He let people know what to expect from him and the company. After you get feedback from employees, are you communicating the results back to them?

Does it make sense for the rest of us to go undercover inside the company to get employee feedback? Probably not. But Larry sets an example of internal communications tactics that can help your company build a stronger relationship with your employees.

Do you have an ongoing conversation with your employees? Do you have tips that have proven to be successful for you? Click on the comment box below and add your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.

Tips to Better Communicate with Senior Management (Part Two)

2009-12-08T09:47:02-05:00

Last week, The Inside Voice interviewed Roberta Fiore-Kittell, an Executive Coach and Partner at OptimaHR. Roberta provides insight and tips to help HR managers better communicate with senior management. Today’s blog is the second of two parts.

Speak Up! Tips to Better Communicate with Senior Management (Part Two)

Interview with Roberta Fiore-Kittell, Partner, OptimaHR

What are some tips on how to get senior managers to pay attention to what we need to tell them?

I always go into a senior manager meeting with a one-pager that we discuss and it also serves as a leave-behind. I may have the background information behind it, but everything can be condensed to one page.

It is critical that you spend the same amount of thought on the preparation as the meeting. Very senior managers prepare for conversations, just as they do for presentations. For every hour of a meeting, you need 30 to 60 minutes minimum to prepare so you can be very clear on what you want to communicate, what questions you want to ask, what questions you are going to be asked, what are the most important takeaways that need to happen in a meeting. A sports analogy comes to mind: Your preparation is the amount of “practice” you are willing to do to get ready for the big game (the meeting). And, just like in sports, you don’t get a do-over if you blow the game (the meeting). The book It’s Not What You Say, It’s How You Say It by Joan Detz is a great book that explains this.

How do you determine the best vehicle to use to communicate with senior management?

Start by asking yourself a few questions. Know your purpose: Is it to inform? To get buy in? Is it just an FYI? For complex issues, the only time you want to put anything in writing is to prepare them in advance so you use your time efficiently. You should think about how you can most succinctly communicate. Is that in an email or another type of communication?

Then work through understanding the background. What’s the outcome I want to have happen as a result of what I’m telling you? And what are the steps I am asking to take? And then what’s next? What are the key takeaways that I want as a result of this meeting?

That’s a lot of information you’ll have to present. So write what you want to say, then put your communications on a diet. The number one complaint senior leaders have is that people who come to them are too much in the weeds giving them too many details. Senior managers don’t want to know that much detail.

What are the biggest considerations that HR managers should keep in mind as they communicate and interact with the senior managers?

The top tips I’d recommend for HR managers:

1. Be prepared and be clear. Have a framework for your communication, whether it is written, a presentation or a conversation. Most people should have a set way of preparing.

2. Know your audience. Ask what information they’re looking for and how they want to receive the information in advance. Know the “secret handshake” – how they communicate, what they value and what they don’t value.

3. Good presentations are good conversations. Don’t be one-sided. Engage your audience. Listen to them. Make it interesting and make it a dialogue to get engaged.

What has worked for you in communicating with senior management? Do you have tips that have proven to be successful for you? Click on the comment box below and add your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.

Tips to Better Communicate with Senior Management

2009-11-30T22:34:03-05:00

Understanding your audience is critical in effective HR communications. Having a crystal clear picture of your audience: who they are, how they like to receive information and what information is important to them will help you get the response you need. You spend much of your time crafting a variety of communications that are widely sent to employees. But do you spend time understanding the best way to talk to your executive audience?

This week, we share an interview Roberta Fiore-Kittell, an Executive Coach and Partner at OptimaHR. Roberta provides insight and tips to help HR managers better communicate with senior management. Today’s blog is the first of two parts.

SPEAK UP!

Tips to Better Communicate with Senior Management (Part One)

Interview with Roberta Fiore-Kittell, Executive Coach and Partner at OptimaHR.

How is communicating to the senior management different than communicating to the rest of the company?

Effective communication starts with knowing what’s important to the senior manager and knowing the lens they look through. A senior manager’s lens is driving and running the business and what’s going to help it be more effective. What this means is that you need to have a much broader focus when communicating with senior management than you would when communicating to employees globally.

Time is at a premium, so focus on the most critical things you need to tell a senior manager. If you only have three minutes, what would you really say? Someone communicating to senior management should focus on the three most important things they want to get across. You should know: Am I informing them of something? Trying to get buy in? Trying to persuade them? Know your purpose in coming to the table.

How do you know what are the most important things to a senior manager?

A senior manager is more likely to pay attention to the things that are more important to him or her. That’s a question to ask the most senior leaders: “What are the most important things I need to tell you?” Ask what they want to know.

If HR could approach communicating with the senior manager more as a consultant would approach this, it would be helpful. Of the senior management team, what is your critical customer base?

Many people overcommunicate, so many senior managers discard the information if it’s too much. Ask the senior managers “over the past year, of everything I’ve communicated, what has been the most valuable?” And is there a means of communication that you liked the best?

Many times, HR managers work with senior management teams rather than individually. What should they do to ensure a successful meeting with a senior management team?

Make sure you do your homework beforehand. If your purpose is to meet with them collectively, you want to have the “meeting before you have the meeting.” Get as much information and opinions together before you walk into the room. The information you gather will help you understand your audience and tailor your message appropriately.

Next week, The Inside Voice will publish Part Two of Roberta Fiore-Kittell’s interview with tips on communicating to senior managers.

Company Success News Can Help Fuel Employee Engagement

2009-11-12T12:49:18-05:00

We're experiencing more cautious optimism about the economy these days. Positive indicators continue to surface, the market is on the upswing and the number of first-time unemployment claims dropped to the lowest level since January. I'll bet your company is experiencing some positive indicators as well. Have you shared the good news with your employees?

To better engage your employees, make sure they know of the company successes. Employees always appreciate getting the "inside scoop," and it makes them feel more a part of the company team.

Gathering The News

Where do you start? First, identify the type of news you have to share. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Sales. Does your company have a new noteworthy or significant client, or maybe one you've been pitching for a long time? Have your sales numbers started to climb? Are you making progress toward closing a new client, such as being included in the finals of your company's ideal client?
New lines of business. Are you introducing a new line of business or changing an existing one that is noteworthy?
Significant cost savings. Are you implementing a new process or program that will reduce costs and help the company's bottom line?
PR and awards. Has your company been in the news? Have you received an industry or civic award?

There will also be other success areas that are specific to your business that are important to your employees. Include those on your success news list as well.

Communicating The News

Once you have determined the type of news you want to share with employees, what is the right vehicle to use to tell the story? Some guidelines:

Intranet. This should be the go-to place for all of your company's internal communications and news. If your senior management has a regular column on the intranet, include the news in that column or article. If it's a really big deal, do an additional article to trumpet the news.
Internal blog. For companies with a blog, this is a great place to tell the news, and then listen to employee feedback. This is a great way to get employees to join the conversation and feel more a part of the company. It also allows you to monitor the level of employee excitement.
Twitter or Yammer. If your company is already using social media for internal communications, Twitter or Yammer is a great way to blast a big news announcement. Be sure to include a link to your blog or intranet article as well so they can get the whole story.
Staff meetings. For departments that have regular staff meetings, pointing out successes from other departments can be very effective. It allows one department to discuss what steps they need to implement to support this change. Are more staffing or realigned resources required? Getting more departments engaged in the success can help the positive progress continue.
Email. Email is a great way to communicate, but it is often overused. To effectively use email for success announcements, don't do an email for each success, unless it's a really big success. Instead, consider doing a weekly or monthly email with several updates in it. This will help employees realize the value of each email, increasing your open rate.

As you continue to tout the success the company is having to your employees, you are engaging them in being a part of the success. And don't be surprised employees begin to provide you with new suggestions to include in your success news.

What success news do you communicate to engage your employees in a recovering economy? Have you already implemented a renewed approach to engaging your employees now that the economy is returning? Click on the comment box below and add your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.

Communicate to Help Employees Make Smart Medical Plan Decisions

2009-10-06T17:19:00-04:00

Last week, we blogged about the importance of using your benefits communications to more effectively engage employees. Today, guest blogger Elizabeth Borton, president of Write On Target, a benefits communications firm, provides practical tips you can use in communicating your healthcare options to employees.

TIPS TO HELP YOUR EMPLOYEES MAKE SMART MEDICAL PLAN DECISIONS

Guest Blogger: Elizabeth Borton, President, Write On Target

As benefits specialists, you understand the differences between the various medical options offered through your organization. However, those differences are not so obvious to your employees. In fact, MetLife 2008 Employee Benefits Survey found that 55% of employees felt that they didn't get the resources they needed to make informed decisions and felt either confused (25%) or frustrated (24%) while selecting their benefits.

So how can you design annual enrollment materials that truly assist employees in the decision-making process?

The following are tips which have worked well in past enrollments:

In addition to providing side-by-side comparisons of plan designs, use real-life scenarios to illustrate the different types of medical users and the plans that best fit their situation (e.g. - a single person versus a family versus an empty nester). In this way, your employees can easily identify which plan might best fit their needs, based on their medical usage.
Mail targeted post cards to homes that compare plan costs, side-by-side (segment your mailing data based on the plans and cost paid by various groups within your organization.)
Illustrate possible cost savings through easy-to-understand examples. (For example, a section entitled "Are you paying too much for coverage?" could show the difference between the cost to buy versus the cost to use.)

Many health care providers provide a similar tool on their websites, which you should promote in your enrollment materials. Employees enter certain information (such as an estimate for the number of times they went to the doctor the year before, types of services they needed, etc.) and the tool compares the cost of being in "Plan A" versus "Plan B."

A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) can help offset costs if moving to a higher deductible plan, but you have to provide quality education about what an FSA is and how it works before employees will take advantage of the plan.
Employee meetings work well. If you have a small population and are making big changes, you may require attendance. Or you could pass out the enrollment packages ONLY at the meeting to encourage attendance.
Don't forget to send materials home, and if necessary, hold webinars! In general, research shows that families make up 60 to 70 percent of healthcare costs and are often making the benefits decisions. Do not overlook these important decision makers. They can heavily influence the decisions make at annual enrollment.

What communications have you used to more effectively get benefits information out to your employees and help them make more informed choices? Share your insight with us by clicking on the comments section below and adding your ideas.

Engage Your Employees Using Your Annual Benefits Enrollment Communications

2009-09-29T15:56:35-04:00

One of the most visible employee communications within a company tends to be its annual benefits enrollment. This program takes many hours of your time mired in endless detail. Once you get the contracts are in place, more work hits: developing and delivering the communications, sending out the information, answering questions, employee follow-up, answering even more questions, and so on. Because this is such a large project focused on the end results of finding the right benefits and getting employees enrolled, companies sometimes miss the opportunity to use this as an effective employee engagement tool.

Here are a few tips to help you use your annual benefits communications to better engage your employees:

Tell Your Corporate Message. This is a great opportunity to reinforce your corporate message - briefly highlighting the company beliefs and the employees' roles in it. Include this message in your various benefits communications: the information packets you send, the reminder communications, as well as any other tools you use as a part of your campaign.
Appreciate Your Employees. Let the employees know how much you appreciate them and the work they do. Studies consistently show that employees want to feel appreciated in their jobs. Your benefits package is one way the company shows its appreciation. Remind employees of this "thank you present" with heartfelt message of appreciation.
Add the WIIFM. To boost your enrollment response, remind employees of the WIIFM: "What's In It For Me." Although benefits are something that your company offers the employees, letting them know the reasons they should enroll may help boost your response.

As with all effective HR communications, be sure to incorporate the fundamentals:

Know Your Audience. If there are different benefits for full- and part-time employees, can you send them only the information that is appropriate to them?
Select the Right Tools. Use the tools that your audience prefers. Are they more adept at online communications or print? Providing the tools in a format they are comfortable using will be more effective in getting across your message.
Tell Them, Then Tell Them Again. Use more than one communication channel to help ensure that your employees received the message. Even if you send them a printed packet, is the information also available online? Briefly discussed in a staff meeting?
Be Clear. Make sure that your message is crystal clear. The benefits selection affects employees as well as their families. They really need to understand the details.
Call to Action. Let employees know the actions they need to take and by what date. Highlight it, repeat it, whatever it takes. But make sure it's clear when they must respond.

This huge annual communication is a great tool to engage your employees and reinforce your company message. Use it wisely.

Have you had success in using your annual benefits communications to better engage your employees? We'd love to hear your story. Click on "comments" below and share your successes.

Next week, we'll feature an article on Tips to Help Your Employees Make Smart Medical Plan Decisions by guest blogger Elizabeth Borton of Write On Target.

With the Economy Rebounding, Are You Engaging Your Employees So They’ll Stay?

2009-09-18T00:07:52-04:00

Many articles over the past few weeks are citing indicators that the economy is on the upswing. Positive news at last!

When the economy begins to recover and the job market shows signs of improvement, what will your employees do? Many employees have been hunkering down for many months trying to avoid being downsized. But with a renewed economy and job prospects appearing, employees may begin to feel comfortable looking for a new job.

Have you engaged your employees enough to make them want to stay?

You’ve spent your time the past few months cutting costs, focusing on doing more with less money and resources. And that can lead HR departments to spend less time building employee engagement. In a down economy, these “left behind” employees weren’t going to leave. But if they’re not engaged once the market starts to open new jobs, will they continue to stay at your company?

Here are some tools you could consider to engage your employees now before they start to look for new opportunities:

Appreciate your employees. Studies through the years have shown that the top “perk” employees want most is to be appreciated for what they do.
Let them know their worth. Make sure your employees know what they are making – not just in salary but in perks and benefits as well.
Make sure they feel like part of the team. Communicate company progress – and the employees’ role in helping with the progress.

These are just a short list of communications that may help engage your employees in a changing economy.

What tools have you used to effectively communicate and engage your employees through the down economy? Have you taken a renewed approach to engaging your employees now that the economy is returning? Click on the comment box below and add your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.

Should Employees Access Social Media at the Office?

2009-09-08T07:30:47-04:00

According to new data from ScanSafe, a web filtering company, companies are cracking down even more on employee use of social media sites in the workplace. They indicate that 76% of companies now block social media sites, a 20% increase over the past six months, making social media sites the most blocked type of site within companies. ScanSafe says employers are linking the negative impact of productivity to the use of social networking, online banking and Webmail.

Before blocking these sites, are companies thinking through how they could use social media to benefit the company? Using social media appropriately can be used to increase customer service, and can help boost employee engagement.

Other sources, such as Watson Wyatt Worldwide, suggest social media is the new frontier for companies to communicate, especially internally. They compare companies' productivity fear to the 1990s productivity fear, which was based on allowing the internet into the workplace. They recommend taking the same steps as in the 90s - establish clear acceptable usage guidelines while also adopting social media for internal purposes.

On the sales and marketing side of the business, companies are rapidly embracing Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites to promote the company, build traffic to their website and retail locations, as well as buzz about their products and services. Effective HR communicators know that employees need to understand the role they play in your company marketing. Do your employees understand the company? Its products and services? Its goals? How you market your business - including on social media sites?

Of course, there may be some employees who abuse the privilege of having access to social media sites. But the other benefits to allowing employees to access these sites - higher employee engagement, better customer service, etc - can far exceed the downside.

Establish some rules around usage - appropriate sites to visit on company time vs. over the lunch hour, limit the amount of time allowed on social media, posting to company sites, etc. Once your policy is in place, be sure to send your employees links to the company marketing social media sites, so they can understand what the company is doing, and become a more engaged part of the team.

How is your company handling social media with its employees? Have you blocked access to social media, or do you encourage employees to learn the technology? How have you used social media effectively for your employees? We'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas - click on the comments section below and let us know what's worked for you.

Nonprofits Engage Employees in the Conversation

2009-08-19T15:22:54-04:00

Recently, I visited with two nonprofit organizations that shared their disturbing news with me – their funding was being cut. Substantially. These funding cuts meant reviewing already strapped budgets to see what other expenses they would have to eliminate. Services to its clients? Employees? Freeze or cut wages, or the few employee benefits they’ve been able to offer?

We discussed potential options. I was pleased to hear that the approach both organizations turned to first was communicating the news with their employees – appropriately, and at a high level. They talked WITH the employees (as opposed to talking “at” them) about funding issues and the economy. They brainstormed for ways to reduce expenses that were nice-to-have, but not necessary. In one organization, they held discussions with managers about ways to grow some of the services that could bring revenue into the organization.

Will these organizations still need to cut expenses, and maybe cut headcount? Sadly, they will most likely have to take these steps in the short-term. But by adding the conversations with the employees, they’ve taken some positive steps:

Sent the message. The organizations let the employees know that costs had to be cut significantly. This isn't fun news to share. But when the cuts do happen, they will be less of a surprise to the employees.

Engaged in a common goal. Conversations engaged their employees in working to be a part of the solution, which encourages positive conversations throughout the organization.

Set the tone. The employees understand that the employers are actively doing their best to cut costs and save jobs. And ultimately, work more efficiently toward their established mission and purpose.

What other steps could an organization take to get the employees focused on helping be a part of the solution? Do you think that these were the appropriate steps for the nonprofit to take? What else would you suggest to organizations in this situation?

Share your comments below by clicking on "comments." We'd love your feedback.

How WIIFM Can Boost Your Employee Response

2009-07-28T11:30:44-04:00

The most important part of any communication is making sure that you have a clearly written message that includes the WIIFM targeted directly to your audience. What’s "WIIFM"? It’s the core message that you need to send to employees – it's simply what we're all looking for: “What’s In It For Me.”

Many internal communicators are focused on getting out their message and as a result, they focus primarily on the basics:

Who needs to receive the message
What you want to tell them
When they need to respond
Where they can find information
Why they need to take action
How to take the next step

But the other “W” – WIIFM – is the most important “W” you can use to help you get a response from your employees. The WIIFM helps your employees understand the value of each message you send. The value that you, as an employer, place on having them as an employee. The value that you, the employer, want to add to their lives or their – through the benefit, service or whatever you are discussing in this communication.

By consistently adding the WIIFM in your employee communications and speaking to what’s important to them, you will encourage your employees to:

Open more of your communications - you're talking to them, not at them.
Understand your true message - they'll understand why this is important to them.
Respond and take action - why wouldn't they? You've told them why they should care.

What are some examples of the WIIFM you've added to your employee communications? How was your response? We’d love to hear how this has worked for you. Click on the comment link below and tell us what's worked for you.