I'm delighted to introduce what I hope will be a regular feature of this blog, "Five Questions For . . ."
The idea is to showcase leaders in the field of employee communications, as well as working practitioners, in an easy-to-read, informal setting.
What better way to kick the whole thing off than five questions for my old friend, Shel Holtz, ABC, one of the world's leading experts in the applications of online technology as it relates to business communication. Shel travels the world consulting with companies and delivering speeches and workshops. He's on a personal quest to help organizations take advantage of all the new tools and channels being spawned by the next-generation web technologies.
Shel has a rare combination of techno-geek and deeply humanist qualities. He demystifies technology and evangelizes its benefits, but is also happy to warn us of its various misuses and abuses.
Here are my five questions and Shel's answers:
Question #1: You’ve always been a big proponent of strategic employee communications. Why do you think it’s so important in today’s workplace?
Shel: The idea of being strategic doesn't mean the tactics don't count; it just means you START with strategy. It's not rocket science. Being strategic just means that your communications are designed to achieve business goals. To be strategic, then, you need to do the company's plans, its initiatives, its challenges and its issues. You communicate in order to influence employees' opinions, the extent of their commitment, their behaviors and their actions in support of the business.
I remember when I worked at Mattel (where I knew Barbie, personally), I listed the key business issues across the top of a whiteboard and a 12-month calendar along the left-hand side. Then I listed which vehicles we would use to communicate each of those issues during each month. It was a constantly evolving, fluctuating plan, but it helped keep us focused on achieving business goals rather than just communication goals.
Oh, and of course you have to measure your efforts in order to show management that internal communication IS, in fact, helping achieve business goals. With the kind of pressure business is under these days, and the number of layoffs taking place, if you can't show management that you're providing real business value, you're toast.
Question #2: Which company do you think does internal communications best, and why?
Shel: I'm reluctant to pick "the best," because there are a lot of companies whose internal communication programs I haven't seen. That said, I've always been impressed with the communications at Best Buy. It's open and candid. It promotes business literacy. It uses multiple channels. And they're always open to new ideas. Not too long ago, for instance, they introduced the Blue Shirt Nation, a social network for retail workers accessible over the World Wide Web. It has become a force of nature. Twenty percent of retail workers have created profiles. Turnover in the retail workforce is about 75%, but among those with BSN profiles, it has dropped to 8%. These are engaged employees with a solid network of colleagues they would have to abandon if they left.
Question #3: When it comes to using social media/Web 2.0 inside big organizations, what are the most exciting and most disturbing trends?
There are more exciting trends than we have time to list here. Of course, at the top of the heap is the fact that companies are employing social media -- "enterprise web 2.0" -- at all. It's a leap of faith to relinquish that control, trust employees, and open the ability for employees to network with one another. The introduction of social networks in companies -- like Blue Shirt Nation -- is terrific, as is the notion of "employee-generated content," where employees can produce videos, podcasts, blogs, and the like, and share them freely with other employees. It's also great that companies have begun releasing both hosted and installed software solutions designed for the enterprise. Just this week, for example, Yammer launched, which provides companies with a hosted platform for a Twitter-like environment.
The most disturbing trend is the resistance to these tools from IT, Legal, and management. It's a knee-jerk reaction without foundation in fact. The companies that have deployed these tools almost unanimously report positive benefits.
Question #4: What’s the most powerful argument for using these new tools in the workplace? What is the pitch or business case that is guaranteed to change a reluctant CEO’s mind?
Shel: The company will make more money. I mean, honestly, these tools improve productivity, innovation, commitment, and competitiveness. But at the end of the day, that all translates to profit, doesn't it? By the way, I've recorded a video on exactly this subject, which you can find at http://www.viddler.com/shelholtz.
Question #5: How is the role of the internal communicator changing, and what does he/she need to do to be successful in the next decade?
Shel: The role of the internal communicator is expanding. That is, the original role of the communicator is still critical in an organization. But communicators also now are becoming coordinators of communication among employees and groups of employees. A lot of departments might lay claim to ownership of enterprise web 2.0 -- IT and marketing, for example -- but it belongs in employee communications. We have to facilitate the conversations among employees so they are as relevant and productive as possible.
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You can find Shel at his blog, a shel of my former self. He also co-hosts (with fellow guru Neville Hobson) a great podcast about technology and communications called For Immediate Release.
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