1. CIPR Inside case study ASDA #insidestory award winners 2014 Best in house team Best use of video

2. @ciprinside Asda is infamous in internal communication circles for its ground-breaking Green Room. The fact that its living its values of being transparent and making its internal website open to all is extremely admirable and for many of us desirable, brave and probably a bit scary. The principle is simple and thats what makes it so effective. Asdas colleague communication team has a lot more to be proud of. Asdas award winning examples of best practice 3. @ciprinside 4. @ciprinside Asda won two #insidestory awards this year (2014), scooping Best in house team and Best use of video. On reading these entries, and hearing the Asda team talk at the CIPR Inside AGM on 26 March 2014, simplicity seems to be a key theme for its communication. The team is focussed on delivering excellent and appropriate communication and the strategy is aligned with business objectives. Thats what made the team award-winning this year. Award winning 5. @ciprinside The winning team So we thought wed find out a bit more about how communication at Asda works, and share it with you here, whilst bringing in some of the details from the teams award entries. 6. @ciprinside As the second biggest supermarket in the UK, Asda has a team of 22 working on colleague communication. There are 180,000 colleagues working at Asda, with 587 stores, 27 depots and three home offices, its a big company requiring a big communication strategy and the team to deliver what it needs to thrive. Its team of 22 works across events, engagement communication and operational communication. The scale of its communication 7. @ciprinside The team has two key objectives: reduce and simplify communication free up colleagues to serve customers; engaging and inspiring colleagues so they feel proud to work for Asda. The colleague communication team delivered projects which were closely aligned to Asdas business priorities: making the most of technology getting communication right for different formats celebrating fantastic colleagues, customers and products reducing operating costs The focus 8. @ciprinside Going mobile in the store The introduction of iPads for stores has created simpler, more efficient and colleague-focused communication. Store managers can now spend more time on the shop floor with colleagues rather than in the back office. Introducing iPads means that they can coach colleagues at the shelf edge rather than in a training room, making the training and communication interaction richer for colleagues, paperless and more efficient. This has saved 500,000 in printing costs alone and even more impressively saved around four hours of each store managers time each week. So while the introduction of iPads across 587 stores was a significant outlay, its clear that the cost is outweighed by the savings and wider benefit of more efficient communication. So what did they do? 9. @ciprinside iPads for stores 10. @ciprinside The Green Room, Asdas ground-breaking colleague website has been fully mobile optimised. So now its quicker for colleagues to upload, download and share stories and comments on the site from their phones. Approximately 15,000 colleagues use the site weekly. The cost of mobilising the site has been covered by the advertising revenue generated by banners on the site. More colleagues have a smart phone than access to a computer or broadband at home, so making the site functional for mobile made perfect sense. Going mobile out of the store 11. @ciprinside Mobile Green Room 12. @ciprinside In a move to get the communication right for different formats, the team set to work on eliminating printing from Asdas small stores. A group comprising stakeholders from across the business then looked at every aspect of the stores way of working. Everything that was not vital to running a shop was removed, cutting the daily tasks such as implementing new ranges or installing POS and processes by approximately 50%. The daily tasks were reviewed to see what was necessary for a manager or what could be implemented by another member of their team and therefore cutting the time and number of steps needed to implement a given task. The right communication for the different formats 13. @ciprinside Working closely with the relevant teams the colleague communication team holds a weekly communication surgery, where the big colleague news stories are discussed, the focus is agreed and campaigns are born. Communication and campaign planning 14. @ciprinside Last year (2013) a new internal mission for the company was announced: To be Britains most trusted retailer. The team showcased this through its annual conference for senior leaders , engaging store and depot colleagues through a special Big Meeting delivered through TV and slides as well as cascades for head office colleagues. Being aligned with product campaigns has enabled the colleague communication team to contribute to double digit growth in market share across some of Asdas own brand products, demonstrating the power of effective communication celebrating its fantastic products. Communication and campaign planning 15. @ciprinside In a great demonstration of sharing knowledge and encouraging colleague participation, the film manager and the external production company run a weekly film surgery advising colleagues on the best, most cost effective ways of bringing their ideas to life. Requests for film for training or briefings for example would be worked through at these surgeries. This initiative has led to higher quality content being produced and cost savings where recommendations have been made against using film in a number of instances in the last 18 months. Film Forum 16. @ciprinside Talking Shop is Asdas weekly news programme for store managers. It won Best use of video in the #insidestory awards 2014. Its well thought through, clear, and has a consistent formula so store managers know what to expect, understand its purpose and are familiar with the format. Using TV means that each of the 587 stores gets a consistent message. In the fast-moving retail sector the ability to disseminate messages quickly and effectively is vital. For Asda colleagues, TV is a particularly effective communication channel as it is a media with which they are familiar. Talking Shop 17. @ciprinside Talking Shop A colleague presenter is used to link the programme, giving it credibility, reflecting the Asda brand and keeping to budget. Its well produced, but not too high-end deliberately keeping it at an every day low cost in-line with the company values of saving customers money every day. The programme is available to the store managers via their iPads, as well as on the in-store TVs enabling them to coach their teams on the shop floor. It is six minutes long, split into three segments covering up and coming product events and launches, operational news, and a motivational message from a senior leader. 18. @ciprinside Talking Shop 19. @ciprinside The themes always reflect the retail activity plan, and complement other communication channels. And most of the content results in action for the managers to implement e.g. point of sale campaigns. Clear production values balance impact, creativity and cost and align to the other channels used across colleague communication. The schedule is tight, and so the very structured and formulaic approach to production keeps it on track and on message. Filmed on the Tuesday, edited on the Wednesday, feedback and amends on Thursday, the final thought added on Friday allowing for up to the minute messaging, and then available in store to view from the Saturday morning. Talking Shop 20. @ciprinside Introducing iPads has saved 500,000 in print costs alone iPads have also saved on average four hours of each store managers time every week 15,000 colleagues use the mobile Green Room every week Daily tasks and processes have been cut by over 50% in small stores freeing up time to run the stores The film forum has saved 196,000, providing advice and advising against film where not suitable Each episode of Talking Shop is rated by stores and feedback provided Viewing figures are assessed and combined with feedback from contributors and exec improvements are fed back into the production process 70% of Asdas managers are regularly tuning in to watch Talking Shop Measurement and feedback 21. @ciprinside Colleague Communication has delivered fantastic results this year. The team makes sure that we are industry leading and continually challenges itself to do more for our colleagues at all levels of the business up to the shop floor. Mark Ibbotson, Asda Exec Retail Director. Before the small stores communication project began I had so much in my diary that I wasnt supposed to get a break until Wednesday lunchtime! The fall in the number of daily tasks and the removal of so many requirements on our time have made a massive difference. Its made my time on the shop floor really count so I can coach my colleagues and implement better. Chris Thickett, Store Manager, Kirkstall Small Store. What they are saying about Colleague Communication 22. @ciprinside Its great to get a consistent message delivered directly. We watch in teams to keep everyone involved in everything. Its a really good tool to use, to inform on content. What they are saying about Talking Shop. 23. @ciprinside Its clear that the Asda Colleague Communication team has made a real difference to the business, helping it streamline its communication and continually improve. Each action and communication ties back to the business objectives, giving the team a clear focus and direction. Conclusion 24. @ciprinside Thank you to the Asda Colleague Communication team for arranging for us to share their award winning communication practice from their award entries. Do you have examples of where your internal communication work supports the wider business or organisational objectives, has saved money, improved the quality of communication, and enhanced colleagues engagement? We are continually on the look-out for great examples of best practice, so get in touch, we can work together to share your story. inside@cipr.co.uk @ciprinside Thank you 25. Thank you