Talk Internal Communication

I read recently that many leading companies are printing employee communications on the office toilet paper! Thankfully that was a joke. However, it is a fact that more and more organisations are using the company restroom as an opportunity to communicate with employees. In an article entitled  ‘It's okay to 'stall' employees’ Employee Benefit News outlines how  you can boost communication by capturing employees attention while they are taking a break. They rationalise that i n most American homes, the bathroom is the library so it is logical that companies should use their restroom facilities to provide company reading material Among their suggestions to effectively use the restrooms for communication are: 1. Post communications at eye level for those seated in the stall. 2. Keep the in-stall info sheets to a single page. 3. Include images, since people are more likely to pay attention to messages with pictures. 4. Change the materials every two weeks. 5. Use differ

There is no doubt the riots in the UK will be a very interesting case study from a pr perspective. Interest in London had increased due to the royal wedding and the upcoming Olympics and it will be interesting to see the reputational damage the riots may have. Given that the riots appear to now be under control PR may be able to sell it as “a moment of madness”. Interestingly, social media sites have come under fire as the PM suggested that Facebook, Twitter and Research in Motion (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry, should take more responsibility for content posted on their networks. This will be another interesting angle to watch.

Motivated and engaged employees lead to improved results and higher levels of performance. However, many organisations struggle with engagement and many managers feel pressure to be the motivators of their teams. Many organisations would like some assistance in this area. This is why the Harvard Business Review article “How Customers Can Rally Your Troops” caught my attention. The article describes how a five-minute meeting motivated university fundraisers to increase their weekly productivity by 400% and how a photograph drove radiologists to improve the accuracy of their diagnostic findings by 46%. The interesting element in the article is that it wasn’t managers who motivated employees but customers. The article outlines the growing body of research which shows that end users—customers, clients, patients, and others who benefit from a company’s products and services—are surprisingly effective in motivating people to work harder, smarter, and more productively. The article prov

Most of us now know of the Gallup poll that says the number one reason people leave their job is because of a poor relationship with the boss. “People leave managers not companies…in the end, turnover is mostly a management issue.” Gallup adds that poorly managed work groups are on average 50 percent less productive and 44 percent less profitable than well-managed groups. There is a long list of “bad boss” behaviours that contribute to poor but, the most common complaint is, “My boss doesn’t listen to me.” The way to become a better listener is to practice "active listening". This is where you make a conscious effort to hear not only the words that another person is saying but, more importantly, try to understand the complete message being sent. In order to do this you must pay attention to the other person very carefully and take the following steps: L: Look – make eye contact. I: Inquire – Use who, what, where, when and why questions but do not mak

No-frills employee focus groups can sometimes be the best way to get employee feedback. Below are five tips to help ensure you get the most out of your focus groups. 1. Keep it intimate. Invite only 10 to 12 participants to the session. The more people you have in a room, the easier it is for some of the more reserved participants to withdraw and keep quiet. If you have a smaller group, they will feel more a part of the discussion. 2. Mix it up. Work to have as departmentally diverse a representation as possible, depending on the topic. You want to get input from different workgroups in the organisation. 3. Set ground rules. The purpose of the roundtable is to gather input on a chosen topic. At the outset, let participants know that what they say is confidential, that you are there to listen, capture feedback and report on general comments. 4. Stay on track. Try to keep the session to one topic if you can. 5. Keep it short. Keep your focus groups to about 45-minutes. In my ex

A number of change models have served me well. I used all or a version of all the five models listed below. They are useful to have in your change toolbox and they are all must reads if you are going to be working alongside those involved in organisational development.   1.   Kotter’s 8 step model . This was the first change model I used and it appears to be the most widely cited. It is probably the oldest of the change models but that doesn’t mean it is not still useful today. It was developed by Harvard Professor John Kotter and he spent a career perfecting it. It is very intuitive and clearly presented. I have found the 8 step model a very useful guide.   2. Bridge’s Change model. First outlined by William Bridges in his book Managing Transitions, Making the Most of Change . This model provides step-by-step strategies for minimizing the disruptions caused by workplace change .  The primary model is “Endings, Transitions, and Beginnings”, but the book also has other useful tools, c