In today’s business environment we face a number of challenges when crafting communications that effectively engage our staff. Internal communications compete for space in inboxes, time in diaries and the attention span of busy professionals. In order to cut through the clutter, appropriate channel selection and stakeholder management is essential. In this session The Fifth Business discusses the anti-spam approach to communication:

• The sniper approach to Stakeholder Analysis
• Messages that connect with your audience
• Channels: the good, the bad and the random
• easurement beyond the “hit rate”

Over the past 18 months, Pfizer has been immersed in a transformation initiative incorporating structural, process and cultural change. The structural aspect had a major impact on field employees – around 70 percent of Pfizer’s commercially focused UK workforce ­– making it essential for the company to adopt a range of innovative engagement strategies to reach this audience. The session will cover:

• How viral communication methods were used to engage employees at Pfizer
• How “behavioural champions” have been engaged to promote actions that will drive company growth
• Additional engagement initiatives that support the viral approach
• Approaches to measuring the success of viral campaigns

Hear how British Gas Business engaged it’s people in the development and integration of its internal values, and how they’ve been embedded into all aspects of the business. You’ll hear about the approach used by the company to:

• Create a step-change in it’s culture  
• Bring the values to life for it’s people
• Measure and demonstrate the benefit of embedding internal values into every aspect of the organisation
• Translate internal values into brand values

Last year, Pharmaceutical company Nycomed acquired ALTANA Pharma. This session will examine how the new organisation approached the engagement challenges of getting employees to support and adapt to changes during  the merger, and the outcomes post merger. Hear more on:

• Integrating two companies with different styles and cultures and managing resistance
• Working with senior managers to engage employees and drive cultural and process change throughout the organisation
• The specific engagement challenges and key communication strategies used
• Lessons learned and how to assess post-merger attitudes

Intranets shouldn’t be graveyards where endless documents are stored; they should live and breathe, become the lifeblood of the organization and ultimately drive engagement. Hear how Yellow Communications helped property company Knight Frank embody the company’s pioneering spirit in a new global intranet, appropriately called “Life”. This session will cover:

• Understanding the benefits and challenges of SharePoint
• Selling the need for a compelling look and feel
• Creating a new identity for the intranet
• Content creation and management
• Measuring the impact Life has had in the business

Westminster has embarked on a mammoth change programme involving 36 transformation projects. This session will examine how Westminster made its staff keen advocates of the organisation and active supporters of transformational change. Find out:

• How Westminster’s internal communicators evolved from channel managers to strategic advisors
• Practical ways to listen to your staff and understand their views
• How to gain management support through insight rather than statistics
• How to appeal to the emotions of your internal audience
• How to prove your success

Paul Middleton,

Many organisations have an annual survey to monitor employee satisfaction or engagement. But is the annual measurement survey sufficient to generate current and meaningful performance indicators? How can organisations establish and sustain effective interim measures for employee engagement? Ipsos Mori will share its experience based on extensive work in employee engagement research. Learn how to:

• Establish regular engagement “temperature checks” in your own organisation
• Link measurement to business performance
• Maintain momentum and drive action through measurement

Getting employees to feel inspired and committed to what the business is trying to achieve requires an ability to transform complex or “boring” corporate information into more compelling messages and stories that address the burning question “Why should I care?” In this session panel members discuss the pros and cons of engagement techniques such as storytelling, and take questions from delegates keen to try out similar activities in their own organisations.

Susan Jackson, Head of Internal Communications, Parcelforce
Tony Quinlan, Principal, Narrate
Mike Pounsford, Managing Director, Couravel