Internal Communications - Part 1

Internal Communications Training Session Part One Piers Schreiber HR Academy - 6 th February 2007

The Agenda Part One: Setting the Scene What is Internal Communications? Why is it important to HR? How does it fit with ACE objectives Survey results - workshop Part Two: Building the Skills Principles of outside-in thinking Checklist for internal communications Two key tools: Messaging Matrix + Q&A Scenario practice - workshop Part Three: Avoiding the Pitfalls Spotting the errors Corrective strategies Conclusions

Setting the Scene What is internal communications? Strategic management of information flows to ensure the optimal level of employee engagement Top-down, bottom-up, side-to-side communications harnessed as a means of delivering messages, listening to concerns and motivating staff Reinforces the vision, values and culture among employees, who can then communicate it to internal & external audiences

Setting the Scene President Kennedy once visited a NASA site and met a janitor. Kennedy asked the janitor, "And what's your job?" The reply was, "Mr. President, I'm helping to put a man on the moon."

Setting the Scene What is good internal communications? Clear Credible Concise Consistent Constructive … and Timely What good is internal communications? Builds understanding Promotes engagement Reinforces values Primes people for crises

Importance to HR Dialogue Open dialogue between staff & upper management Facilitates flow of information through organisation Crisis & Change Channels in place in disseminate critical information Credibility in delivering messages Decision-making Access to employee input improves decisions Promotes inclusivity – greater buy-in to decisions

Relevance to ACE 2011 $30 billion Growth $6 billion 70 million Confusion MD HRD TBA Elysé TRAORE Laure DAMIBA Business Partner Training & Development Resourcing C&B Pascal OUEDRAOGO Business Partner

Relevance to ACE “ By 2011 we aim to have a market capitalisation of $30 billion, 70 million customers and $6 billion EBITDA” Internal Media Investors What does it mean for me? Why should I care? What role do I play? How do I know if we are on course? Who’s who? What’s next?

The Survey Audience 47 people connected with HR Timing 25-30 January 2007 80% response rate Objectives Understand HR’s view of internal communications Set a benchmark for improvement Methodology Online survey + qualitative/quantitative responses

Importance of internal communications 50% 100% 0% Very Important 95% Feedback: Everyone sees internal communications as important Sets scene for evaluation of performance Quite Important 5% In your opinion how important is internal communications to the success of an organisation?

Performance of OpCo in Internal Comms? 50% 100% 0% Feedback: Only 5% said it was managed ‘very well’ About half gave positive responses 10% had no opinion Positive 52% 48% Negative How well do you feel internal communications is managed within your OpCo?

Quality of HQ-OpCo communications? 100% 0% Positive 33% 66% Negative Feedback: 48% said it was ‘managed poorly’ or ‘very poorly’ 19% gave ‘no opinion’- presume negative 31% said it was adequate How well is internal communications managed between HQ & your OpCo?

Frequency of Communications Feedback: In a third of the operations staff receive messages from the management only once a month How often do your employees receive messages from management?

Internal Communication Channels Email Letter Team Meeting All staff mtg Newsletter Conf. Calls Other* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 46% 2% 17% 21% 5% 4% 4% Current Use of Channels Email Letter Team Meeting All staff mtg Newsletter Conf. Calls Other* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 29% 2% 30% 31% 4% 0% 6% Most Effective Channels * Intranet, social events/awards, memoranda * Celtel People, Intranet, Q&A Sessions, Memoranda, Notice boards etc

Benchmarked against other Research

Dedicated Internal Comms Resource Dedicated Resource Partial Resource No Resource 26% 26% 54% Feedback: A quarter of OpCos have no focus on internal communications Partial resource may reflect size of operation & priority

Responsibility in a Crisis 5% 7% 5% 43% 40% Feedback: Responsibility shared between MD and HRD Need definition of strategic and tactical execution In the event of a crisis who would take responsibility for internal communications?

Internal Communications Strategy Do you have a strategy? Feedback: Almost 60% are not aware of any strategy being in place Consequences?

Tools for Promoting Dialogue Suggestions Box 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 25% Tools to Encourage Dialogue Team Meetings 36% Other* 14% Intranet Forum 9% Live Q&A 8% HR Clinic 4% Brown Bag Lunches 4% * Employee surveys, town halls meetings, open door, Bus Partnering

Challenges in Motivating Staff Top challenges Need for a clear career progression plan Talent management Job descriptions Need for a transparent reward & recognition system Fair salaries Involvement of staff in decision-making Sense of belonging & engagement Clear internal communications Company objectives Constructive leadership, especially on changes

Most Needed Information Top Information Needs Change & Integration Strategy and direction Organisational and policy changes Company Performance Company’s progress against plan Competitive position Personal Performance Feedback on performance & career Best Practice Examples from other Operations New developments in technology & sector

Wish List for Improvements Top Improvements Better internal communications Dedicated resource supported by clear strategy Commitment throughout organisation to focus on it Timely response to employee concerns & changes Culture of openness More frequent all staff & team meetings Wider range of channels/forums for feedback & debate Tools & Practices Intranet System for instantaneous global updates Focus on clear, direct & honest communications

Best Practice Examples EXCO WALKING ABOUT Monthly all staff meetings Equal attention to bottom-up and top-down communications The more time taken to explain, the better the result Regular cross-functional meetings All policies on a CD Circulate weekly update on ExCo decisions Effective management of a cascade system to ensure ownership An Excellence Week – to showcase contributions to global objectives Recognition & celebration of company, group and individual performance Strategy off-sites CEO visibility

Group work Three Tasks How do the conclusions relate to your experience of Internal Communications within Celtel? What are the top three priorities we need to fix? What solutions would you propose to fix them?

Internal Communications - Part 1

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