Archive for employee communication
I just returned from a joyous concert by the U.S. Army’s “Pershing” Band, as it is known, that was in town for its annual concert at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. As I sat there with friends tapping my feet and applauding every brassy patriotic song, I thought what a great lesson I was learning about communications. And that’s this: when you communicate with joy, you turn an audience into your biggest fans.
And there was no doubt the musicians were having as much fun as the audience. At the end, the Band played the anthem for each of the service branches and one by one young and grizzled veterans stood proudly while the audience cheered wildly.
I thought: let’s pretend the bandleader is a company CEO. He’s leading his musicians with infectious joy. Wow, it’s great to work for this company. Is there any employee who won’t want to follow? How about making it a point to write to employees whenever there is some good news to report – big or small. Don’t let every communiqué be about the next layoff or we’ve all got to tighten our belts again. Your employees know that things may be rough in the company, unless they’ve got their heads in the sand, which is doubtful.
This is the truth: bad news spreads via the grapevine faster than good news. Fire just one person and before you know it the grapevine has translated that to more layoffs. So, if you’re the CEO, make sure you feed the grapevine and your normal communications channels with all the good news you can. It will make you feel better and your employees will become your loyal fans.
The CEO as the Chief Communication Champion
Posted by: | CommentsThe shadow of a leader – meaning the impact an executive has on his or her employees – is always bigger than you think. This is especially true when it comes to trust and believability in internal communications. For internal communications to be meaningful, it is important for executives to lead by example: “Don’t just do as I say, do as I behave.” In addition, employees in most companies are craving leadership – they want champions they can trust to lead them in new directions.
The CEO must also be the CCC – Chief Communication Champion of the company. S/he needs to ensure that other executives are truly leading the development of a Culture of Communication – meaning that all corporate communications are reliable, truthful and contain the full story. The CCC needs to establish a Champion Program with rewards and incentives to instill new behaviors. A healthy two-way communication culture will lead to better performance. For the Champion Program to succeed, it must ensure that:
• The CEO is the visible leader of corporate communications
• Executive behavior in support of positive communication is rewarded
• Communications ambassadors are created at all levels of company
During bad times – such as layoffs, a hostile takeover, a product recall – those CEOs who are truly CCCs will have already gained the trust and commitment of employees to work through any crisis.
