Successful measurement of internal communications
Yesterday we held our first breakfast networking of the year. This workshop was focused on measurement and was a sell-out. Vicki Davies, Head of Internal Communication at Highways England and Rhian Moore, Head of Internal Communication at GWR, led the conversation and the excellent discussion that followed.
Vicki Davies started by talking about a recent measurement project. Helping business and project leaders to really focus on what they are looking to achieve, as opposed to what they want to say, has really helped to ensure a more targeted communication approach.
Vicki worked with HarknessKennett on an internal communications review to help demonstrate the reach and relevance of the existing internal communication channels. The research involved interviews with leaders, twelve workshops, including with remote workers as well as a quantitative survey. The response from the business was much greater than expected with over 50% taking part and more than 3,000 comments from colleagues.
A key finding was about the volume of information, that communication was ‘inconsistent’ and that there was ‘too much jargon’. Although this didn’t come as much of a surprise to Vicki it provided the ammunition they needed to bring about change. The main areas for improvement are
Better targeting of audience groups
Personalising the message to each audience
Channelling the message correctly
Rhian Moore from GWR then shared with us her experiences of measurement during a challenging period of change.
When Rhian joined GWR in November 2016 she was tasked with taking internal communication to a new level – moving away from reactive posting of messages to a place where effective internal communication was making a positive impact on the business, delivering colleague engagement, improving performance and increasing customer satisfaction.
With an investment of £7.5 billion, GWR are transforming two million journeys a week and over 100 million journeys a year. But it isn’t just customer journeys that are changing; it’s GWR’s culture too. Cultural change is a key driver for them as they shift from a delivery-focused business to one that emphasises improving the entire customer experience.
Rhian talked about the context for measurement. It must be focussed on the business imperatives, and any measurement strategy needs to focus on the impact on this. Measurement needs to be the science behind the plan.
At GWR measurement is a not one off and subsequent pulse measurement is occurring following a second audit. The results of this second survey show that the hard work has paid off and the feedback has improved significantly.
Externally, the team has also won CIPR PRide Awards for 2018 for their leadership conference and for a special edition of WesternLines. Rhian stressed the need for ongoing measurement – that you can’t simply do an annual survey. This cautious approach has enabled them to keep their communications focused; they don’t just send stuff out any more, they push for communication objectives that can be measured in terms of behaviour and actions.
So, what did we all take from today? For us, it was that going back to business priorities is critical in successfully measuring internal communication. Don’t be afraid to question and challenge – ask your business and project leaders ‘what do you want people to do, say and feel’ – and make sure you can find a way to measure the outcome. Be brave, persistent and keep chipping away!
If you’d like to join our email distribution list about future events drop me a line at: tanya.mcclelland@harknesskennett.com
Published by Tanya
