aligning employees with change

ALIGNING EMPLOYEES WITH CHANGEA Communicator’s Point of View

Bill FaustManaging Partner@ologie@williamfaust

Internal Communications

Every year, organizations spend millions to extend their messages through external media like advertising and public relations.

Strong brands, however, also communicate from the inside out. Because what good is a strategy or brand if your associates don’t know how to deliver on it? Or why they should care?

A strong brand is grounded by a clear purpose and a strategy that translates it to internal and external audiences.

The strategy:

• informs employees about the purpose (mindset)

• engages associates by helping them understand their role (skill set)

• inspires associates by making the purpose tangible and meaningful (motivation)

This approach ensures consistent delivery of the strategy and strengthens employee engagement.

Working from the Inside Out

PURPOSE

INTERNAL AUDIENCE

EXTERNAL AUDIENCE

STRATEGY

A Word about Purpose

To make life easier and more fun

through innovation

To be hospitable

To be a relentless ally for every

investor

To be a place to meet, work, relax,

and enjoy

To enable people to experience the joy

of driving

To give people the freedom to fly

To create happiness for people of all

ages

To save people money so that they

can live better

To fuel the athlete in everyone

To provide choices for nurturing the body, the community,

and the planet

Creating Alignment

Philosophical Alignment

(Mindset)

About the strategy

PurposeVisionValues

Behavioral Alignment

(Skill set)

About their actions

ExperienceBrandStory

Emotional Alignment (Motivation)

About their role

EngagementInspirationIncentive

Above all else, internal communications create alignment across all segmenta of the employee population:

Bottom line: Strong internal alignment is closely linked to business performance. And associates want it.

High associate engagement can improve employee performance by 20%.

A global survey on employee engagement shows that:

• 33% of employees feel satisfied with their level of engagement today

• 92% say they want to improve their performance

• 82% want to better understand their company’s vision

• 87% want to know what role they can play in helping the company realize its vision

Creating Alignment

Employee Value Proposition

Some internal communication programs include a promise to employees. That promise is the Employee Value Proposition (EVP). It defines the commitment between employee and company, and strives to balance the needs of both.

Balance the needs of

company and employees

EVP

Create a great place to work

What’s in it for me?(The reason I work here)

What’s expected of me?(My role in delivering the brand promise

and executing the business strategy)

Deliver the experience externally

But is interpreted as:

• Reorganization

• Streamlining

• Business as usual

Most common question: Is my job safe?

mentality reactions

Change Communication

Tends to focus on:

• Technology investments

• Process changes

• Structure changes

TOP-DOWN BOTTOM-UP

When We Listen To Our Teams We Learn Some Interesting Things:

• Most people want to change

• They crave collaboration

• They are open to new ideas

• They want to be proactive

• But they don’t feel empowered

• But they are siloed

• But aren’t used to being customer-driven

• But are used to being reactive

+ –

We Also See Some Common Subcultures Within Companies:

HAND-RAISERS

FENCE-SITTERS

SKEPTICS

“We can do this. Let me help.”

“I'm going to wait and see.”

“We will never change.”

+

+–

–

The Big Takeaway

Don’t over-emphasize

And don’t under-emphasize

+SKILL SET MINDSET

To create meaningful change, we need BOTH.

Communicating Internally

Through a systematic approach, a strategy can be reinforced at every turn. Over time, it grows stronger, even more authentic, and self-reinforcing as it’s translated to:

1 FUNCTIONAL TOOLS

2 BEHAVIORAL TOOLS

3 INSPIRATIONAL TOOLS

1 FUNCTIONAL TOOLS

PNC brand video(embedded)

1 FUNCTIONAL TOOLS

2 BEHAVIORAL TOOLS

2 BEHAVIORAL TOOLS

3 INSPIRATIONAL TOOLS

3 INSPIRATIONAL TOOLS

univita brand video(embedded)

In Summary, Internal Communicators Need to Consider:

THE BIG 4

1. Top down and bottom up

2. Mindset and skill set

4. People support what they help create

3. Inspire and inform

thank you