Nicole WelbanksAVP, Communications Manulife Canada

September 2019

Building a High-Performing Communications Team

Case Study

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POINT OF

ARRIVAL

PLAN OF

ATTACK

Setting the stage60 seconds about Manulife & me ☺

Hallmarks of Great Comms Teams My Top 10

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POINT OF

ARRIVAL

Super-connectors pointing the organization to it’s “true north”.

Alignment is a religion.

Accelerants for positive, meaningful change.

The voice of the company, it’s culture, and the “reasons to believe”.

Masters of “the pivot”.

Relentlessly positive.

Ask questions constantly.

Make no-regret decisions quickly.

Are shameless promoters (including of themselves).

Challenge bravely.

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FRAMING YOUR

THINKING GOING INTO

A BUILD

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POINT OF

ARRIVAL

PLAN OF

ATTACK

Step 1

Frame the build in a way that makes strategic sense

for your leaders

“Point of departure”“Point of arrival”“Plan of attack”

POINT OF DEPARTURE

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Your unique starting point.

Manulife Canada Communications…circa 2017

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POINT OF

DEPARTURE

AVP, CommunicationsNo leader in this position

for 10 Months

DirectorCEO Comms

(Exited Fall 2017)

Quebec Comms

Finance Comms +

CX Comms + Special Projects

(Contractor)

Customer Experience

(Maternity Leave)

CommsGeneralist

Marketing Comms + Special Projects

(Exited Fall 2018)

Quebec Comms

(Medical Leave)

CommsGeneralist

(Extended Maternity Leave)

“Orphaned Communicators” spread across the

Organization+

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

No one was clear how many there were, or what they were doing…

What we needed to solve for ASAP

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• Disparate Communicators with few (if any) connection points

• Minimal comms planning happening across the organization, with no aligned executive/functional comms plans at all

• No CX, Strategy, Marketing or HR comms plan

• No coordinated effort with respect to messaging, process or scheduling: this was creating a “noisy” workplace

• No special-project communication plans

• No comms plan to support Values & Mission activation

• New / limited connection to Change Management

• Minimal (possibly zero) measurement/tracking

• Lack of captivating, consumer-quality content

• Limited protocols/governance

POINT OF

DEPARTURE

• Strong Communications investment

• Meaningful executive support & participation

• Pockets of well-performing comms programs

• Adequate digital infrastructure, plus emerging technology opportunities

• New brand mission and values launching

• Optimal timing for renewed Communication focus & discipline: new leadership, new mission & values, strategy refresh, transformation programs

What was working in our favour

Recap: Our point of departure… or “reality check” going into the build.

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1. Overall, Internal Comms was well-resourced, delivering some results, and had some executive participation. It was also siloed, and not reaching its full potential.

2. Some executive team members critically required more support, including our President & CEO.

3. Siloed communicators were not consistently informed by Business Unit knowledge, Manulife Canada perspectives as a whole, and/or Manulife Global insights – and that meant neither were our employees.

4. Our people had clearly told us we’re a complex place to work, and they didn’t understand where we were going, or how we were getting there.

5. Transformational change is driving major projects, and impacting strategy, engagement, customer experience, culture and brand. This was unfolding without aligned, divisional communication resources, plans or messaging.

POINT OF

DEPARTURE

POINT OF ARRIVAL

What you want your team to become.

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Hallmarks of Great Comms Teams My Top 10

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POINT OF

ARRIVAL

Super-connectors pointing the organization to it’s “true north”.

Alignment is a religion.

Accelerants for positive, meaningful change.

The voice of the company, it’s culture, and the “reasons to believe”.

Masters of “the pivot”.

Relentlessly positive.

Ask questions constantly.

Make no-regret decisions quickly.

Are shameless promoters (including of themselves).

Challenge bravely.

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POINT OF ARRIVALA centralized, high-performing team that drives positive, meaningful change for:

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ORGANIZATION

POINT OF

ARRIVAL

EXECUTIVE LEADERS

• Communications becomes an accelerant for galvanizing the organization to deliver against it’s strategic priorities, and supports the evolution of it’s culture across key focus areas: Strategy & Transformation, Engagement, Customers and Brand.

• Our brand comes to life from the inside-out.

• Our culture becomes more definable.

• Increasingly positive perception of change.

• We realize efficiencies.

• Benefit from centralized communication service that’s informed by strong business knowledge, Divisional and Global perspectives.

• Executive communication plans that align and support each other.

• A stronger collective tone-from-the-top.

• Clarity of service.

• Higher management effectiveness scores.

COMMUNICATORS

• Centralized and aligned towards common goals.

• Best positioned to drive aligned planning and messaging.

• Engaged and developing, with better career pathing.

• Benefit from access to shared services.

• Clear line-of-sight to annual spend/investment.

EMPLOYEES

• Gain stronger understanding of strategies and plans.

• Hear consistent language & messaging across key areas: e.g. strategy/engagement/ brand/CX.

• Perceive leaders and functions as working in unity.

• Gain broader perspective and understand our Mission.

• Feel more pride.

PLAN OF ATTACK

Going from good to great.

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Building Manulife Canada Communications

5 Key Workstreams

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Centralize communicators into a “partner-model” structure.

Get operationally-disciplined (as a team) to rapidly support more effective comms planning, messaging alignment, measurement, and consistent tone from the top.

Bring alignment to life through a sharp focus on: Strategy & Transformation, Engagement, Customers and Brand. Ensure leaders endorse these focus areas, and then leverage them deliberately when setting team and individual performance objectives. Report on team performance using these focus areas as a framework for organizing the data.

Start measuring to establish a baseline. Remember that all data points help paint a picture.

Think big. Aim to break records and do things other teams have never done before. Explore future state opportunities: think bigger about language and technology.

PLAN OF

ATTACK

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Meet the TeamManulife Canada Communications

Manulife Canada Communications

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Nicole WelbanksAVP Communications

Manulife Canada

Kristen Nyenhuis Communications

Manager Customer Experience

(Cheryl Mallett)

Sean DevlinCommunications

Partner, CX

Sandi du ToitCommunications

Partner, CX

Jill Hastie Director,

CEO/People/Marketing Communications

CEO, HR, Strategy, Marketing

(Mike Doughty, Stacey Grant-Thompson,

Christine Robinson, Jason Lemieux)

Andrea Bailey-Smith

Communications Partner

(CMO & Real Estate)

Glenn HodgsonCommunications

Project Manager –Channels, Programs,

& MFTV

Kendra FoeresterCommunications

OfficerEvents & Digital

Production

Kim MacDonald Communications

Partner Group Benefits(Donna Carbell)

Marc Cassini Communications

PartnerGroup Retirement

Solutions(Brett Marchand)

Marny St. PierreCommunications

OfficerGroup Retirement Solutions Change

Management

Krissy ShantzCommunications

Partner Manulife Bank(Rick Lunny)

Cheryl Calic-Hoffmeyer

Communications Partner

Investments & Insurance

(Bernard Letendre & Alex Lucas)

Laetitia CanyCommunications

PartnerQuebec

(Richard Payette)

Julie FisherCommunications

PartnerIT & Innovation

(Hugh Cumming & Xavier Debane)

Amanda PaivaCommunications

PartnerFinance, Legacy, Risk

& Legal(Janice Madon, Lisa

Forbes, Kerry Reinke & Martin Guest)

Manulife Global Comms

US/John Hancock Comms

Manulife Asia Comms+

Manulife Canada Communications

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Nicole WelbanksAVP Communications

Manulife Canada

Kristen Nyenhuis Communications

Manager Customer Experience

(Cheryl Mallett)

Sean DevlinCommunications

Partner, CX

Sandi du ToitCommunications

Partner, CX

Jill Hastie Director,

CEO/People/Marketing Communications

CEO, HR, Strategy, Marketing

(Mike Doughty, Stacey Grant-Thompson,

Christine Robinson, Jason Lemieux)

Andrea Bailey-Smith

Communications Partner

(CMO & Real Estate)

Glenn HodgsonCommunications

Project Manager –Channels, Programs,

& MFTV

Kendra FoeresterCommunications

OfficerEvents & Digital

Production

Kim MacDonald Communications

Partner Group Benefits(Donna Carbell)

Marc Cassini Communications

PartnerGroup Retirement

Solutions(Brett Marchand)

Marny St. PierreCommunications

OfficerGroup Retirement Solutions Change

Management

Krissy ShantzCommunications

Partner Manulife Bank(Rick Lunny)

Cheryl Calic-Hoffmeyer

Communications Partner

Investments & Insurance

(Bernard Letendre & Alex Lucas)

Laetitia CanyCommunications

PartnerQuebec

(Richard Payette)

Julie FisherCommunications

PartnerIT & Innovation

(Hugh Cumming & Xavier Debane)

Amanda PaivaCommunications

PartnerFinance, Legacy, Risk

& Legal(Janice Madon, Lisa

Forbes, Kerry Reinke & Martin Guest)

Key outcomes this structure supports

✓ Communication Partners are empowered and accountable

✓ Communicators can see the big picture & connect the dots

✓ Aligned communication plans & messaging drive strong alignment

✓ Very consistent tone from the top

✓ Epic creative horsepower

✓ More effective and efficient response to crises/risks

Manulife Global Comms

US/John Hancock Comms

Manulife Asia Comms+

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PLAN OF

ATTACK

My Top 10Building for Success

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Get feedback: lots of it.

Relationships, partnerships, SMEs & networks matter – build connection and input points.

Seek to understand the strategy – both overall and by segment/function/business unit.

Sit at the right tables. (Not there? Ask to be there.)

Think about how you want the team to work operationally: processes, calendars, touchpoints etc.

Embrace the idea of “lift & repeat”.

Audit your channels and ask what/how/why/when.

Accept that living with pain points is part of the process. And it’s ok.

Say “I don’t know” when you don’t know.

Collect every bit of data you can as you go.

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Our PerformanceFull-Year 2018 & First Half 2019

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2018…a transformative year for Manulife Canada Comms

• Centralized to create a strong “Partner Model” and gained traction in key areas

• Executed one of the largest communications programs in the Company’s history

• Created Leaders in Loungers Drinking Lattés, a record-breaking new comms channel

• Established credibility across all business unit & functional leadership teams, and with Strategy & HR

• Manulife Global Stars

+11 points in strategic alignment

+3 points in customer focus overall

+7 points in “Customer Obsession” core value category

+ 4 points in engagement overall

+ 15 points in SLT engagement

“95% of Comms Survey respondents Agreed or Strongly Agreed that the communication they receive from leadership is helping them learn about strategy, Transformation, Values, wins and the kind of culture we’re

trying to build.”

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Snapshot on Canada Comms

Q4 2018

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Snapshot on Canada Comms First Half 2019

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Manulife Canada Communications

generated 706 communication

deliverables between January & June…

…and those hundreds of pieces of content were focused on our Strategic Priorities in this way:*

• Portfolio Optimization: 51 or 7.2%• Expense Efficiency: 139 or 19.7%• Accelerate Growth: 209 or 29.6%• Digital Customer Leader: 240 or 34%• High-Performing Team: 619 or 87.6

* As captured in SmartSheet. Note any deliverable can have any combination of one, some, or all Priorities. As a result, the total # of deliverables and %’s will not add up to 706 or 100%.

Snapshot on Canada Comms First Half 2019

First-half 2019 wins

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New Since January…

CXPress

GRS Corner

#DonnaDownload

#RickReport

Taking Care of Business

Innovation Alert - Quebec

Innovation Highlights

SLT Update

EMME

Spotlight On…

Global Quarterly Video

KW Move Hub

• Step-change in Communication efforts across all portfolios and major projects

• Operationally-strong team working to aligned goals & objectives

• The new values are everywhere

• Content, content & more content: 8+ new newsletters since January, first View from the Top, Change Maker, Innovation Week Montreal, Strategy Deep-Dive on Mission Control, etc.

• Quarterly reporting, with larger measurement efforts underway & BananaTag launched

• Dynamic, multi-channel headquarters move comms program underway

• Expanded “Unplugged” format across Manulife Canada, and helped execute other major events

• Forging new relationship with Change Management

• Stepping up to support reputation & issues management

• Delivered multiple high-profile external presentation decks

• Stars honourees + external industry recognition (IABC, Gartner)

• Supported internal arm of social media campaign for All-In Banking, resulting in ~20% lift

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What I know for sure…

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You have to be brave if you want to be anything.

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The people you spend the most time with help shape who you are.

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Hot Development Tip

^2019dtaed“For success in 2019, delegate today and every day.”

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Thank you