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mandy.thatcher@melcrum.comNovember 8th, 2007
Dear Communications Professional
A few weeks ago I shared some of the headline findings from a new report on 21st Century Leadership Communication.
The interest in this topic has prompted me to share some additional insights from the report, revealed when questioning CEOs on what other levels of management should be doing to improve the quality of internal communication.
Here's an interesting extract from the report.
An appeal to internal communication professionals
The CEOs [interviewed] are frustrated that layers of management are unable or unwilling to step up and “do their bit”. But there’s also, perhaps, an anger that internal communication practitioners are taking the easy way out.
It’s certainly easier to use the ready-made communication symbol of the CEO
as the figurehead for everything. In the short term, it may also be the most
effective strategy and a lot less complicated than trying to cajole, train, follow
up, support, etc., hundreds of managers to carry the communication can more.
But this short-termist strategy won’t work in the longer term, when it’s vital
to engage senior and middle management as communicators as much as the
CEO. So, the frustrations voiced by the CEOs we interviewed can, perhaps,
also be seen as a plea to internal communicators to start getting tough with
senior and middle management: get them working harder and stop taking
the easy route out through me.
The first part of that is simply understanding the audience better – knowing
what will and won’t work for a management audience, taking on board their
needs as communicators, and endeavoring to tailor materials and coaching to
their specific needs.
Positive message
But there’s also a positive message here for communicators. Many internal
communicators are keen to do more to improve the face-to-face leadership
skills among their management tiers. And, those communicators who want
to turn complaints about poor managerial communication into an
improvement program of training and support may find it easier to get
approval and funding than they might have believed.
At the same time, CEOs, who seem from our interviews to want their internal
communication people to “get tougher” with managers, need to tie it into
their key business objectives and ensure that their board makes a proactive
investment in the necessary training.
Extracted from 21st Century Leadership Communication: Best practice internal communication through the eyes of the CEO.
Enjoy the rest of this week's issue and see you next week.
Mandy Thatcher
Editor
mandy.thatcher@melcrum.com
Today’s CEOs know internal communication is key to realizing their strategic agenda. In their landmark joint research, Melcrum have partnered with The Company Agency, one of the UK’s most progressive management consultants in communication, to question CEOs from leading global corporations.
Don't miss out on saving up to 35% off this report as well as other Melcrum research reports, journals and practitioner guides until November 30th.
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The latest guide to be published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is intended to help organizations fully develop their employer brand for maximum impact.
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Angela Sinickas, Melcrum's Measurement Newsletter, November 5, 2007
If your finance department is putting pressure on you to convert a printed publication to online only, they're probably focusing on an easy-to-capture number on their spreadsheets – the cost of printing in your budget. They mistakenly believe eliminating that item from your budget will help your organization's bottom line. Which is more important for leaders – what we say, or what we do?
Using video storytelling at WestJet Airlines
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Get a preview of Melcum’s CommsCanada 2007 Summit next week in this interview with keynote speaker Richard Bartrem, vice president of culture and communication at WestJet Airlines. Bartrem discusses how video storytelling has helped to sustain employee engagement and drive his organization onto the "Top 100 Employers in Canada" list (interview begins at 18:46).
What should readership levels be for internal newsletters?
Kate Senter, Melcrum’s Communications
Network, September 17, 2007
Are there any benchmarks that I should be aiming for when it comes to the level of readership for an internal newsletter? We publish a fortnightly e-bulletin and although I know roughly what we're achieving I don't know if this is "good" or "poor". Has anyone got any thoughts?
Are you adequately prepared for 2008's comms challenges?
Annie Waite, Melcrum Blog, November
2, 2007
As many of you who read this blog have no doubt been doing at your own organisations, yesterday Melcrum's US office held a thoroughly productive and worthwhile strategy planning and roll out meeting for 2008.
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