Introduction - Internal communications - employee engagement and cultural integration - Tài liệu tham khảo môn Tiếng anh ( TA8 ISW) | Đại học Hoa Sen

1 ✜ Introduction ✜ Internal communications, employee engagement and cultural integration
When 190 people were fired by the British entertainment retailer
HMV at the end of January 2013, upset employees found a
new way to vent their displeasure: social media. The 190 firings were
subject to a fierce Twitter storm with tweets being followed by over
63,000 followers. No more the discreet escort out of the building or
the cameras capturing images of dismissed employees carrying out . d
boxes of personal effects – this is a new age of transparency. ver se er s th
The HMV Twitter feed was a blow-by-blow account of how major gir llA
disruptions in the life of a company, troubled or not, erupt in our .deti
social media age (Figure 0.1). The notion that ‘good PR’ can control miL ,
the communications space is gone forever. In today’s organizational e g a P
and business world employees are your communicators, and you n a g o
cannot take for granted that they will toe the ‘company line’. You K .71
need to engage your employees, and you need to find innovative ways 0 2 © t
to have dialogue within your organization to ensure you are not the h gi yr
subject of the next Twitter feed entertaining and amusing the outside p o C
world as your inside world is in turmoil.
Cowan, David. Strategic Internal Communication : How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance, Kogan Page, Limited,
2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/detail.action?docID=4865262.
Created from rmit on 2021-07-18 13:00:43. 2
Strategic Internal Communication
F I G U R E 0 . 1   No longer listening to his master’s voice: HMV Twitter feed hmv  @hmvtweets
The Official hmv Twitter. The music, film, games and tec h you love. #WeAreEntertainment UK . http://www.hmv.com 22,490 981 63,922 Following TWEETS FOLLOWING FOLLOWERS Tweets All / No replies hmv @hmvtweets 58s
...and those hard working individuals, who wanted to make hmv
great again, have mostly been fired, there seemed no other choice. Expand hmv @hmvtweets 2m
Under usual circumstances, we’ d never dare do suc h a thing as
this. However, when the company you dearly love is being ruined... Expand hmv @hmvtweets 3m
Just overheard our Marketing Director (he’ s staying, folks) ask
“How do I shut down Twitter?” #hmvXFactorFiring Expand . d hmv @hmvtweets 16m ver
Sorry we’ve been quiet for so long. Under contract, we’ve been se er
unable to say a word, or -more importantly - tell the truth s th #hmvXFactorFiring gir l Expand l A .deti hmv @hmvtweets 17m miL ,
There are over 60 of us being fired at once! Mass execution, of e g
loyal employees who love the brand. a #hmvXFactorFiring P n Expand a g o K .7 hmv @hmvtweets 18m 1 0 2
We’re tweeting live from HR where we’re all being fired! Exciting!! © #hmvXFactorFiring t h gi Expand yr p o C
Cowan, David. Strategic Internal Communication : How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance, Kogan Page, Limited,
2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/detail.action?docID=4865262.
Created from rmit on 2021-07-18 13:00:43. Introduction 3
The CEO of BP deals with disaster, or does he?
‘I have said all along that we will be judged by how we respond, and that
remains the case. The strength of the BP balance sheet allows us to take on
this responsibility. I know that many of you have questions about how this
incident will impact BP, your jobs, pensions, and our future plans. We have
demonstrated robust cash flow generation over the past few quarters and at
the end of 1Q our gearing ratio was below our 20 to 30 per cent target range, at
19 per cent or some $25 billion. We can therefore afford to do the right thing,
and we will do just that – our financial strength will also allow us to come
through the other side of this crisis, both financially secure and stronger as
a result of what we have learned from this tragic incident and how we have
responded… The financial scale of our response is just one illustration of
theserious way in which we are stepping up to our responsibility to clean
up the spill and mitigate its impacts.’ (Tony Hayward, Chief Executive, BP, Financial Times, 19 May 2010)
As CEO, Mr Hayward focused on profits and pensions, but how much time
was devoted to understanding the psychological impact on employees and
any sense of shared culpability? The language is typical of a CEO letter to
staff, though he did give more information and honesty than one tends to find
in letters to employees. However, this was offset by his emphasis on BP as
a safe environment at a time when employee perception of BP’s record was
at a low point, suggesting the need to encourage dialogue. It also pushed
some agenda points, such as attacking the media, which also undermines the credibility of the letter. . d ver
This book, and specifically the approach it describes – the ‘Dialogue se er
Box’ – will help you to move your organization into becoming a s thgir
communicating community that shares open dialogue to move trans- llA .
parently forward and to address challenges internally and externally. d eti mi
The Dialogue Box can help any organization that has an internal L ,eg
audience to communicate to, whether it is public or private, and a P n
whether it is a business, voluntary, government or academic. This a g o K
is not a book for the faint-hearted! It will raise many questions and . 7 1 0 2
highlight the need for many difficult conversations internally, which © th
may be quite different from the internal conversations you have been gi yr p
used to or that your organization has been in the habit of accepting. o C
Cowan, David. Strategic Internal Communication : How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance, Kogan Page, Limited,
2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/detail.action?docID=4865262.
Created from rmit on 2021-07-18 13:00:43. 4
Strategic Internal Communication
This is a brand new world and a new way of approaching internal
communications is essential for survival. This is not simply a book
that tells you how to do something about it; it also seeks to chal-
lenge you to question all the assumptions you make as you go about
the task of internal communications. Even if you find yourself disa-
greeing along the way, I hope you will find the questioning strategy
helps strengthen your approach to internal communications. That
said, I hope you will embrace some new ways of thinking as well,
and more importantly some new ways of approaching the dialogue
your organization needs to engage in to become a better communi-
cating organization. This is a book on strategic internal communica-
tions, bridging the critical functions of communications and human
resources and linking to the three-way process of internal commu-
nications, employee engagement and cultural integration, which can
refer to both geographic and organizational differences. This is also a
book aimed at any organization seeking to communicate effectively
with their internal audiences: business enterprises large and small,
educational institutions, government and public services.
The approach I have created to help organizations to become better
at communicating is called the ‘Dialogue Box’. The Dialogue Box
helps companies to explore what kind of dialogue they need to have
with their employees to address internal and cultural challenges, by
breaking dialogue down into zones: intelligence, emotion, interpreta-
tion, narrative and dialogue. The Dialogue Box allows managers and
leaders to understand the intelligence and emotions of their com-
pany, and how these link to the ways employees interpret events and
information and the narrative that emerges within the organization
as a result. The result is the end zone of effective dialogue. Hopefully . d ver
you will find much of what is discussed in this book to be intuitive– se er
things you sort of know about already – because the aim here is s thgir
to illumine so you can make connections you may not have drawn llA . before. d eti miL ,eg
To enter into a realistic dialogue and get internal communications a P n
right begs the question, what are the benefits? After all, leadership a g o K
can exercise its right to lead, get rid of many of those who don’t fit . 7 1 0 2
in and amply reward those who do fit in – to a fair extent this is © th
precisely what happens in various ways in organizations everywhere. gi yr p
So the answer has to be, is there a choice? Communications as a cost o C
Cowan, David. Strategic Internal Communication : How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance, Kogan Page, Limited,
2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/detail.action?docID=4865262.
Created from rmit on 2021-07-18 13:00:43. Introduction 5
centre and just ‘PR’ is an outmoded concept, and today, in our age of
interconnectedness, there are considerable benefits and real financial
rewards to doing communications well, and doing it in a more engag-
ing way to make the most of the talent and efforts of all the people
in the organization. This is what the book is aimed at helping you to
achieve, and there are clear benefits in getting this right.
The structure of this book
The initial chapters of this book offer some insights into communi-
cation and dialogue, and also provide, I hope, some thought leader-
ship. Business management is often very utilitarian in its practice and
approach. The communicator should be the in-house conscience, the
philosopher in the organization, who is able to offer an objective
view of people and events. These opening chapters are for communi-
cators and managers alike to consider the ideas and thinking behind
modern communication. The latter chapters are the practical chap-
ters that teach the Dialogue Box, founded on the approach taken
in the earlier chapters. Together these chapters should help you to
think more effectively as a communicator and give you tools to
engage more effectively in dialogue with employees, and indeed with
anyone in any situation. In Chapter 1, I set the scene, lay out some
communications principles to guide you and address the cornersof
the triangle – internal communications, employee engagement and
HR – before addressing cultural integration, which I then takeup in
Chapter 2. In Chapter 2, I examine the third corner of the triangleand
tackle the question of organizational culture in a fresh and provoca- . d
tive way, and then introduce you to the Dialogue Box. In Chapter 3, I ver se
look at change management communications, and the Dialogue Box er s th
as an effective tool to address change in your organization. Chapter gir llA
4 looks at technology and how this is changing in the digital world .deti
that is revolutionizing our communication today. In the next four miL ,
chapters, 5 through 8, I explain each zone of the Dialogue Box – e g a P
intelligence, emotion, interpretation, narrative – with insights into n a g o
these areas, all of which will intuitively appeal to you and should K .71
draw the reaction of thinking it seems obvious – it is obvious because 0 2 © t
of the intuitive appeal. I am seeking to draw out many of the things h gi yr
you already know, and thus help to deepen your appreciation of each p o C
Cowan, David. Strategic Internal Communication : How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance, Kogan Page, Limited,
2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/detail.action?docID=4865262.
Created from rmit on 2021-07-18 13:00:43. 6
Strategic Internal Communication
element. Finally, I draw all these elements together to explain the end
zone of dialogue, and how you can use dialogue to foster powerful
internal communications and improved employee engagement. Questions 1
Do you have examples of Twitter conversations from your employees? 2
Have you accessed comments by employees made online? How would you categorize them? 3
Assess recent letters by you, your CEO or other leaders. How engaging
are they? Have you experienced a difficult situation? If so, what was
said and how realistic was the message and direction? 4
Before you set out on a new journey with this book, write down what
you consider to be your view of internal communications. Note what
it does, how it does it and what the priorities are. Also, consider how
internal communications fits within your corporate communications
function, and what the relative priorities, people and budgets are. You
will compare this with how you answer this when you have completed
the book, so be as honest and forthright as possible. 5
Finally, write a brief assessment of how internal communications is
handled in your organization, and give it a rating out of 10, based on
the answer to the previous questions. . d ver se er
s thgir llA .detimiL ,egaP nagoK .7102 © thgiyrpoC
Cowan, David. Strategic Internal Communication : How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance, Kogan Page, Limited,
2017. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/rmit/detail.action?docID=4865262.
Created from rmit on 2021-07-18 13:00:43.