An interesting article about the Barack Obama campaign and its use of social networking tools to engage with and motivate a community to action. In this case it is supporting and helping to fund his campaign. Whilst UK political parties could take note it also has lessons for business in terms of an outreach programme for both employees and customers.

Gordon Brown is sure to get more 'brick-bats' that plaudits for using YouTube to ask for video questions. Shame. To my mindthis is a great initiative. I feel it works on multiple levels. I have never met him personally but relatives of mine (not labour supporters and members of the public) have said he is a very nice person to meet and talk to. YouTube maybe less adversorial and suit his communication style better. Equally it gives him a direct contact with his 'customers'. What a great way to get feedback on some of the issues the electorate feels unsettled about. Opinion polls and research by others can never replace hard-wired feedback. Policians do hold regular clinics for constituents but being in the Westminister Village does cut you off from reality. YouTube sould help reconnect.

So what lessons can business learn?

• Too many senior executives live in the 'boardroom bubble' where they become detached from the daily issues facing their customers. they see and hear 'massaged' and presented data from their management team. In some cases the boards attitude means that the 'messangers' present the data in the most favourable way possible. YouTube feedback could help the management team engage better with customers. What are the hot issues? What are management doing to address them?
• It is a great 'dip-stick' research tool. Instead of the annual satisfaction surveys that are virtually out of date before being presented why not use YouTube as a form on ongoing 'sentiment' checking?
• Why not extend the principal to employees? Look at research. How many times does it say management is 'out of touch' with employees? Employees do not understand senior managements strategy or their personal role in it? That they are de-motivated as they feel disengaged?Could a YouTube type initiative but behind the 'firewall' help? 

Interesting survey done by Clearswift about HR's handling of employees use of web 2.0 and social media technologies.

Although based upon US data it shows that almost 1/4 of HR professionals do not understand web 2.0 and social media and leave that to IT. It seems that almost 2/3rds of companies ban employees using social media sites.

The issue for companies is this:

• If employees are not allowed to use social media tools who is monitoring the internet for a companies brand reputation or being allowed to join in the active conversations?

There is a wider issue at play here. All the recent research shows that employee engagement in the UK is poor. Employees feel that managers fail to communicate with them. They do not know or understand the companies vision and mission. 

The result? Upto a 1/3rd of employees would not recommend or promote the company and a large percentage would actually say negative things! 

Companies that are banning social media use by employees during work time do so with the best of intentions but just what are they risking?

Great post into IBM's use of podcasts (thanks to Paul Gillin). Senior management have sensibly not tried to micro manage the process but allowed employees the ability to drive the project forward.

We do all the production work for internal podcasts by another IT multi-national. They use them in the UK for two reasons - logistics and knowledge sharing. Their management at European level uses podcasts to get monthly information and business updates out to the team who are based in offices and 'home offices' across multiple countries. Whilst a podcast can never replace a 'face-to-face' communication it has far more impact than an e-mail. The other use is knowledge sharing. With teams working on projects that may not see the light of day for a while it is easy for parts of the workforce to become detached with what is happening. Podcasts are a great way for these projecst to get some visibility and if employees are interested they can keep in touch with progress.

The UK tax authorities have produced their latest podcast and this one is based upon questions from listeners which takes it to the next level of interactivity.

This could be used as a model for any commercial organisation where they need to communicate with customers or employees and get feedback as part of an ongoing conversation.

Scary headline!

This seems to be the conclusion of research by Croner as reported by the BBC. The essence of the story seemed to be that employees risked being sacked if they put ‘derogatory or damaging’ comments in their personal blogs.

Out of 2000 people surveyed 39% said they made ‘harmful comments’.

The report uses legal speak from a spokesperson at Croners to explain the situation – ‘if there is a negative impact...that...breaches the implied term of mutual trust and confidence, the employee could be dismissed..’

Possibly true but employers need to be concerned about how they deal with personal blogs by employees too. Take the case of Catherine Sanderson. Employed by an English company in France she had a private blog which did not reveal her real name, nor her employers name. She did occasionally write about aspects of her office job and the company. Her employers dismissed her in mid-2006 for damaging the company’s reputation. She took them to a tribunal. She won her case earlier this year and received a years salary as compensation.

Now before making a post like this I always access the source material and read it. Then I put some personal comments on it based upon my personal experience. What I wanted to do was understand the questions that were asked. What was considered ‘harmful’? As the Sanderson case proved, ‘harmful comments’, can be a matter of dispute. I also wondered if bloggers were doing this despite a company having a blogging policy?

The BBC report had no source reference so I went to the Croner web site. It is a rich content site. The area listing reports and research contained no mention of this research so I used the web sites ‘search facility’ and entered various combinations of words. Up popped something called ‘Bloggy hell!’ Unfortunately it was a summary and not a detailed report so I sent them an e-mail asking for more details.

The point Croner wanted to make was that blogging should be treated like e-mails and be included in the contract of employment and employee handbooks with appropriate training where necessary.

This is exactly what companies have done that encourage employee blogging. They see it as an extension of customer engagement. They have guidelines and training programmes in place for anyone who wants to blog. For them they want their employees to act as ambassadors for the company. With that objective and attitude it is far less likely that employees will deliberately set out to damage the company.

A thoughtful post by Shel Israel on the world of CEO text blogging versus video blogging.

Coming from the world of corporate video and corporate communications I really think it is down to what platform the CEO is happiest with to ensure they really engage with their audience.

I have worked with some CEOs that were not ‘natural’ communicators. They looked uncomfortable and ‘wooden’ on a podium or in front of an audience but they were visionary and inspired and wrote wonderful e-mails, strategic documents and front pieces to the annual set of accounts. Of course with coaching and support they are able to pass muster but it does not feel right. You know what I mean. John Wayne had a flair for cowboy and uniform films. Put him in a modern setting and it just did not feel right.

Equally I have worked with some CEOs who leave all the detail to COO’s or CFO’s. They can ‘wow’ any audience – from VP to office receptionist – seemingly at the drop of a hat without any script. You can see that with politicians. Blair seems most comfortable in front of the TV cameras. Cameron too. Brown may surprise us but I bet he is most comfortable in small meetings and putting reports together. He seems ill at ease compared to others. Davis lost the Conservative party election as he just did not engage with the audience.

From the edit suite I can tell you ‘light editing’ may be possible but only on the basis that for some people we have had dozens of re-takes. They keep fluffing the line. Autocue I hear you say. Don’t be fooled – reading that without sounding-as-if-you-are reading-in-a-script-as-it-rolls-by in a non-monotone-voice is not as easy as it looks. Watch all those professional presenters fluff their lines so imagine what some executives are like. Having been through a few CEO recordings from hell I can tell you video is not for them. They will spend just as much time preparing, rehearsing and re-taking as it would have been to write a blog. Again coaching can help but somehow it often just does not sound or look right.

There is a half way house – audio podcasting. Many senior managers can articulate the message but without the pressure of a camera ‘staring’ at them and it takes them less time to than to write a blog. All they need as an outline topic script to make sure they hit their main points in a structured way. In fact some CEO’s record their blog and have it typed up with a light touch.

I have met Shel personally and had the pleasure of doning a couple of podcast recordings with him. I can vouch that he is a professional communicator – in the flesh, over the internet and in writing (check out his blog and book) but not everyone is so accomplished. CEO’s often need other skills to take them to the top.

CEO text blog, audio blog or video blog. It doesn’t matter. It’s the conversation and feedback that is important. Not having to time for the conversation is what worries me most about some CEO’s excuse for not doing anything.

Looking at all the research showing 50% of UK companies have disengaged employees you wonder if that starts at the top with CEO’s who are just too busy to blog or even communicate regularly with employees.

In view of all the recent surveys on engaged and disengaged employees and customers I am watching with interest what Steve Clayton is up to at Microsoft and how he is using Hugh MacLeod.

Steve in his most recent post pointed to a great mission statement and site. Check out the video mention at Inside Cranium as well as read the document.

Somehow I cannot see many corporations going as far as they do (a CEO with a funny hat on? I did work with a CEO who opened an industry conference by walking on stage with a lion!) but notice a few key things mentioned in the video that goes to the heart of the matter:

• Engaging employees so they look forward to work
• Creating a stimulating environment to work in
• Having a culture aligned to business goals
• Acknowledging peoples contributions and celebrating them publicly

It is worth checking out Richard Taits blog and the web site generally to see how they communicate with employees and customers alike. From the blog, the sharing of what he looks at for inspiration you can get an understanding of him as a person and what drives him in business.

The Chartered Management Institute has launched a new booked called 'Six of the Best' in answer to their recent research which showed UK managers need to improve their skills and capabilities to regain competitiveness compared to other European rivals.

The feedback from employees is that managers do not demonstrate leadership qualities. Employees also feel constrained from developing their own abilities due to a lack of training and support. 

Government research has highlighted that employees in over one-third of the UK’s organisations rate their own managers as 'not proficient'.  The latest DTI’s Productivity and Competitiveness Indicators show that UK managers are seen to be lagging behind colleagues in France, Germany and the US in terms of management quality. 

Research by the CMI shows that only 39% of employees claim to see 'inspiring leaders' in their own workplaces. 

What are the three sought after characteristics that employees want to see?

·         79% - a genuine shared vision

·         77% - real confidence and trust in teams

·         73% - honest respect for employees, colleagues and customers

What are the other issues?

·         Only 36% have access to advice from their seniors through ‘informal mentoring’ opportunities

·         Only 15% of line managers are responsible for implementing team and individual training and development (this is half the number 7 years ago)

The CMI has brought six leading business experts together to share their own career experiences and highlight the core skills managers need to improve. The six will focus on the following key areas in a chapter in the book:    

• leading people
• managing change
• meeting customer needs
• managing information
• resource management
• self management:

CHA has just published a report called, ‘Talking in the dark’, looking at what factors limit management communications.

An earlier study by them showed engaged employees were more productive, self motivated and motivated others. To become engaged employees have to understand an organisations mission and strategic goals, the plan, their role in this, what they have to do to achieve that and their reward for success.

Is that so hard? No but with the statistics below is it any wonder so many companies are less productive that then should be?

Middle managers:

• 36% don’t understand the purpose and plan of the organisation
• 60% don’t understand their own and their teams role in achieving the plan
• 70% say the company does not celebrate success

Some other notable statistics:

• 21% look forward to going to work (does this really mean 79% are de-motivated!)
• 25% say they have time to do a proper job (does this really mean 75% are falling below TQM standards?)
• 33% say their efforts are acknowledged (67% do not?)
• 48% of managers do NOT think it is their job to communicate
• 35% of managers do NOT share explanations of the plan to their teams
• 52% of managers do NOT understand the role of communication to help solve issues

Note: The above scores are for private and public sector combined. When

         analysed separately the public sector satisfaction scores are less than then

         private sector.

What seems to be the issue?

Middle managers consistently rate their relationships and communication with their own teams as being higher (but this is self rating – wonder what their teams would say?) than that from their own senior management. The feeling by middle management is that they are isolated. Why hold staff meetings if all you get are awkward questions you cannot answer?

How do managers say they want help from senior managers?

·         51% - tell me clearly the organisations plan so I can understand and pass on

·         50% - give me the time to do it

·         41% - give me a feedback mechanism to senior managers for employee

               comments

·         25% - coach me to be a more confident communicator

·         24% - give me a messaging/Q&A communications toolkit so I can handle

               employee feedback.

My personal observation.

This latest research leaves me with a terrible feeling of déjà vu.

Survey after survey over the last 20+ years shows the same key issue. Was it ever thus? Senior management and employees disengaged from each other and middle management seemingly caught in the middle.

What a fantastic opportunity!

If UK PLC is performing as well as it is with what the surveys suggest is in effect half of its work force de-motivated and disengaged just what would be the upside performance if another 10% or 20% of the team were brought on board?

What we need is a clear message, delivered highly effectively with a clear feedback process loop. Let’s call it 360 Engagement Communication!

In our work with senior managers on communication strategies and programmes we always complete a formal brief. What is the message and who are the target audience are two of the questions we ask? It is usually quite hard to get senior management to articulate this in a single agreed document. If we asked each board member to write down the company mission and what each departments key goal is in helping to achieve that I bet we would get multiple variations.

Maybe we should not be surprised. The board members have been appointed because they are smart, decisive and have their own minds. The only problem is that the rest of the workforce is not mind readers. They need it spelt out so they can see the big picture, the overall objectives and then understand how they can personally become engaged.

The new mantra for Corporate UK should be engagement – employees and customers. The tool - cascade communication

The latest Hitwise Report on US news and media consumption shows trends over the last year.

One of the biggest increases is the use of video websites and through them the growth of citizen generated video content. What is happening is that people are using news sources to pick up a breaking story and then access video footage.

With the increased use of video enabled mobile phones citizen journalists are literally ‘on site’ as the incident occurs. Professional news crews take time to assemble, arrive and deploy and in many cases cannot get as close to the story source as those involved.

Most news organisations have now started to encourage citizen journalists to contribute stories, video and audio content in a more structured fashion. This does not just apply to the broadcast media but the press too.

What should businesses be considering?

• Want to communicate or get feedback from employees on an ongoing basis? Set up a video enabled intranet and encourage two way communication.
• Want to know what customers or business partners think and feel? Encourage employees to blog and accept comments. Enable audio and video blogging. Have it as a 365/24 market research tool. Use blog tracking to see what is being said positively and negatively about your competitors.
• Want to create a buzz about your product or service? Create a social media site where people can 'meet' and share ideas. Start a competition and engage with your customers. Ask them to suggest what they want best from you.  

I noticed a recent article in ZDNet about Google and their appointment of a Chief Culture Office. Attracting and retaining high performing employees is critical for every organisations success. Google is no exception.

What interested me most was the comment made on employee happiness. Google have been surveying staff for over 5 years now.

To quote Stacy Sullivan, Chief Culture Officer and HR Director at Google:

“We're trying to figure out how committed people are to the company, what's causing that commitment level to be high or low, what makes a difference to them and their management and direct managers. The results ended up being centred a lot on career development and growth. So career development is more of a focus than giving more stock options or increasing salaries.

This reflects the findings in other published research. See this post.

So besides career development and personal growth (and a good salary and perks) what really helps employees to remain fully engaged and motivated?

·         Open upward and downward communication within the organisation

·         Understanding clearly how their role helps the company achieve its vision

·         Trust in management – what they say and do

A recent report from McKinsey, the management consultants, looked at customer service and how frontline engagements can make or break customer relations.

The report highlights the findings from Forrester Research in 2005 that only 10% of companies surveyed agreed strongly that the CRM project had met business expectations.

Yet academic research and business analysis has shown consistently that enhancing the breadth and depth of customer relationships converts into an improved P&L. It is much more cost effective to up-sell and cross-sell than it is to acquire new customers. The cost of acquisition in many industries means it takes time, sometimes years, to achieve pay-back, With churn in early years many companies are spending money on winning customers who they lose before they regain any of the costs.

What McKinsey discusses is the importance of creating a ‘spark’ to turn a sceptical or negative customer into a committed loyal one. When a customer is unhappy with the service or product there is a ‘moment of truth’. If handled well the negativity can be reversed and an evangelist created. It is critical employees feel able put the customer ahead of the businesses or their own agenda. Other research has shown that most people do not complain but those that do often have extensive contacts. They will use this social network of contacts to relate their experience – good or bad.  

Research on the European banking industry showed the following depending on if the customer considered they had either a positive or negative experience of the bank addressing their issues:

Whilst over a quarter of people ‘do nothing’ when upset they will probably tell people in their social network about their issues. But others will reduce spend and tell people!

McKinsey have estimated the ‘wallet gap’ in spending is 20% from positive to negative.

Whilst CRM deployments improve business efficiency especially routine processing tasks they often have little positive effect on the emotional engagement with customers.

Customer emotional engagement is a human-to-human action. The engagement happens at multiple levels: thoughts and feelings, values and beliefs and personal and emotional needs.

At one level this is company cultural issue. The core philosophy of the company has to be aligned to re-enforce the attitudes and behaviour of staff when interfacing to customers.

How can this by achieved?

McKinsey’s identify 4 areas to ensure employees are able to ensuring positive ‘moments of truth’ for a customer:

·         Employee self empowerment to put customers needs above all else

·         Positive outlook

·         Empathetic awareness of themselves and customers

·         Selfless approach

They also identify what they call ‘environmental levers’. These are the support and personal development infrastructure that management provides to employees

• Create clear meaning and clarity of purpose for employee role
• Opportunities to improve capabilities
• Reward infrastructure
• Visible and active leadership (‘walk the talk’)

Comment:

Looking at previous research on employee engagement we see there is a big delta between the ideal as expressed above and the reality with many companies. A large percentage of employees do not feel engaged or communicated with, do not trust their managers and so will not recommend their company to others.

If employees are not positive about things how can they even start to help a negative customer become positive at a ‘moment of truth’? It just will not happen. A CRM investment must be matched by a customer centric culture, attitude and behaviours or the ROI will just not happen.