• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
DIRECTIONSSUPPLEMENT
JULY /AUGUST 08
TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE WORLDOF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS
Why putting employees genuinelyat the heart o the organisation is about genuinely listening to individual needs
Onelumpor two?
 
Directions Supplement
July / August 08
What’s so great about working at Google?According to Avinash Kaushik
1
who spent 11months working there and wrote a blog aboutit, it is not only that the food in the canteen issuperb, but that the chefs come and ask youwhat you think about the food – ‘to your uttershock the rst few times. They actually care’.Of course, Avinash writes in his blog aboutother great things about working at Google,like the scale of the impact you can have, thegreen policies and the brilliant people. But thisdoes illustrate that small things can make abig difference. And if you can make a personfeel that the organisation cares by asking themwhat they think about the food, how would itmake people feel if you asked them about thedirection of the organisation? Or what we shouldbe doing about climate change? And doing soin such a way that people feel listened to, feelthat they have an inuence – and also thatthey have a responsibility.It is probably fair to assume that Avinashis not one of the ‘massive middle’ thatprofessional services rm Towers Perrinidentied in their Global Workforce surveyof nearly 90,000 employees in 18 countries.These are the 71% of employees who areeither partially engaged or partiallydisengaged. It seems to us that this is actuallyless of an engagement gap, and more of agaping void – as well as a lot of latent energyand potential waiting to be released.Avinash’s story embodies Towers Perrin’sconclusion that the organisation itself isthe most powerful inuencer of employeeengagement and that companies have‘a real opportunity to dramatically improveengagement levels, starting with listeningto what their own employees have to say’
2
.
Olivia Sprinkel
Head of Employee Engagementsalterbaxterosprinkel@salterbaxter.com
 Anyone or a cup o tea?
We are running a breakfast seminar exploringsome of the issues raised here in more depthin September.For more information andto book a place, email Louise atldudley-williams@salterbaxter.com
Welcome to the July/August edition of Directions Supplement.In this issue we go inside the organisation and look at why taking the time toinvolve employees, ask questions and listen is vital for successful employeeengagement (cups of tea not obligatory).Lindsey Oliver of British Gas Energy and Penny Lawson of ITV shed some lighton how they have listened to and involved their employees in decision makingand ways of working which affect the whole company. And Tom Smith of Lane4,a leading performance development consultancy, and Stuart MacKenzie ofMaynard Leigh, a leading behavioural change consultancy, look at differentways of creating the organisational conditions for engagement.
In the spirit o questioning and listening, we’d love to hear what you think. All o these articles can be ound online at:www.salterbaxter.wordpress.com. Do you agree? Or not? Pleaseshare and take part in the debate. Plus tell us what you thinkare the most important issues that businesses ace today inengaging employees.
1
http://tiny.cc/RqylZ (a shortcut to Avinash Kaushik’s blog post)
2
http://tiny.cc/EuhRN (a shortcut to the relevant page on Towers Perrin’s website)
 
What was the background to the project?Why was a new vision required?
Signicant changes in our industry andin our senior management team over theprevious two to three years meant our oldvision ‘Real people enabling businesses to dobusiness’ was losing its meaning and wasn’tresonating with our people any more. Thiswas made particularly clear in 2007 throughthe feedback we received from our peoplevia the Financial Times and Sunday TimesBest Companies surveys and our ownannual employee engagement survey.
How did employees get involved?
When we examined the feedback we hadreceived, we were able to see ve clearthemes that our people felt needed addressingand were very important to them. Thesethemes were around leadership visibility,personal growth, empowerment, recognitionand of course vision and direction.In January 2008 our MD, Badar Khan, sentout a simple e-mail to the whole businesssummarising the ve key themes, asking forvolunteers who would be keen to be involvedin developing ideas and initiatives that wouldaddress each one.We received over 100 responses and so set upve cross-functional, cross-level Ideas Teamsof 20 people, each responsible for working ona different theme. Each team was allocated avolunteer Chairperson from our EmployeeEngagement Champion network and sponsoredby a Director who gave them support andguidance when they needed it.
What did the Ideas Team responsible forthe vision do?
The senior and then wider Leadership Teamhad already done a lot of work around thevision, with mixed results! So they handedit over to the Vision Ideas Team as therecognised ‘voice of the people’ to see whatthey could do with it.
What was the vision that was developed?
Our new vision is ‘Energy Experts poweringBritish business’ and is supported by sixstatements which describe how we’ll achieveit, including ‘we value and invest in our people’and ‘we get every bill right rst time’. In quitea unique turn of events, the vision didn’tactually get nal approval from the board.It was the Ideas Team who had the nal say,and it was their nal say we have today. Badarwas involved throughout the process but itwas fully owned, agreed and nalised by theIdeas Team.
What’s the key difference between the visionoriginally developed by the Leadership Teamand that developed by the Ideas Team?
The Ideas Team took the wording and thesentiment that the Leadership Team haddeveloped and simplied it. The originalversion was a bit too detailed and prescriptive– not, well, visionary enough. The Ideas Teambrought a level of condence that we could‘drill down’ into the detail at a later stageand that it wasn’t required up front.
Lindsey Oliver
Employee Engagement ManagerBritish Gas Energy
Owning a vision– How British Gas Business employees generated a new vision for the company. Lindsey Oliver speaks to Directions.
British Gas Business (BGB) is the B2B arm o British Gas. Just under 2,500 employees at fve sites who are mainly ofce-based and include account managers, billing, debt, and sales.In 2008, British Gas Business was listed in the Financial TimesTop 50 Best Workplaces UK index or the ourth year running.“  All the ocus wasimmediately placed on ‘How can weachieve the vision?’” 
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...