A view from the Communication Directors’ Forum
You have spent weeks (or even months) preparing a communications programme following huge change in your organisation. Literally hundreds of extra hours pouring over every concept, word and image but you now have a smart, high impact programme… The problem is you’ve lost them already.
Your employees are like the proverbial horse without the rider. Fast and furious, in a complete sweat and galloping into the unknown! And where are you? Sitting, mud up to your ears, feeling a bit wounded!
So, where has it all gone wrong?
Well, this was my seventh time on the Communications Directors’ Forum so I can tell you with some certainty the same issues are giving communicators saddle sores!
As communication practitioners, we all know that the main drivers of employee engagement are the attitude and actions of the leaders in the organisation, particularly during times of change. Additionally, the most preferred method for employees to receive information is via their line manager yet often the trust in leaders as a true source of relevant, timely information can be low.
And so it’s interesting to see that at the top of the list of concerns is your continuous challenge with both.
Here are the Top 5 hurdles communicators need to overcome:
1. Managers’ communication skills
Employees feel frustration with the communication process when key messages do not reach the intended groups because middle and junior management are unable to communicate effectively hence blocking the cascade process.
2. Leadership challenges on ‘getting change right’
Leaders and managers are insufficiently equipped to manage the challenges “change” presents in ensuring their teams are fully engaged. Change management is about people – it’s not organizations that change.
3. Remote and disengaged eployees
The challenge for communicators is to find practical, adaptable and accessible ways of communicating with employees who do not have access to PCs but represent a major proportion of the organisation.
4. Making budgets work harder
What is the impact on employees when you lose the budget for an internal newsletter or regular forum? What are the options for a less expensive alternative? How do employees fill the gap in the absence of any formal communication?
5. Social media best practice
The social media noise is deafening! How do we avoid a scattergun approach to harness the best options for our businesses and effectively monitor and evaluate it for the future?
Forum participants’ views speak volumes and follow-up discussions with you so far suggest we can help in a number of ways.
If you would like to find out more about how we would approach these issues and hear about Midas experience in employee engagement and leadership development, contact me, Andréa Thompson at andréa@midas.uk.com or 01494 787200.
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Andréa joined Midas on 01 March 2010 as a board director responsible for engagement and change. She has wide experience in strategic branding, change and people engagement and has worked with some of the world’s largest organisations to help them improve performance and achieve objectives. Andréa successfully managed her own consultancy Marmalade, prior to joining forces with Midas, helping blue chip clients such as Deutsche Post DHL, GlaxoSmithKline and Legal & General implement successful change campaigns. Prior to that Andréa was Managing Director of Perceptor, a brand and communications agency which she led, inspired and developed from a fledging business into a successful entity within the Triangle Group.
Midas is a consultancy driven to help you connect with your audience through effective branding and communications.
If you'd like to find out more about how we can help you, email
in-touch@midas.uk.com or call +44 (0)1494 787200