It's not exactly a wake-up call since senior PR execs are well
aware of the problem. A cup of ice water splashed on an unwitting
face may be more like it.
Affirming a trend that's been creeping through corporate America
in the last few years -- fueled, in part, by the flurry of
executive scandals -- a new survey says that American workers are
increasingly cynical and suspicious of information they receive
from their companies.
Among the 1,000 workers polled for the survey, a little more
than half (51%) believe their company generally tells the truth
while almost a fifth (21%) disagree. At the same time 51% believe
their companies try too hard to "spin" information. (See charts on
p. 6.) The survey, the first of its kind, was conducted by
management consulting firm Towers Perrin and titled "Enhancing
Corporate Credibility: Is It Time to Take The Spin Out of Employee
Communication?"
Mark Schumann, Towers Perrin principal and head of the firm's HR
business communication consulting practice, said the results of the
study reveal worrisome trends for employer- employee relations.
"What's surprising is the degree of skepticism," he says. Senior
communication execs "have to step back right now and ask some
fundamental questions" about how their communicating to the
rank-and-file.
Although internal communications is generally the job of HR
departments, PR execs can play a vital role in finding the best
ways to disseminate information in-house. There's a major
disconnect between information that originates at the top of the
company and how it is filtered down. PR pros can help clear up any
confusion. While employers want to put information that is in the
best possible light, "workers want to see through the light and get
the facts," Schumann says. "Employees are hungry for the
truth."
One of the more troubling aspects of the study is a feeling
among workers that employers give short shrift to the fundamental
"deal" between the company and employees, meaning what the company
needs from its employees and what employees can expect to receive
in return. Almost half of the respondents (48%) said they agree
that they get more credible information from their direct
supervisors than from their company's leadership.
Employees "can look a supervisor in the eye but they can't do
that with a Web site," Shumann says, adding that employers need to
get a better handle on all of the various media channels they use
to communicate.
Another Achilles' heel for internal communications: significant
gaps in explaining to workers the company's strategy and financial
results. It's easy to distribute paychecks every week, but it's
hard to keep workers apprised about where the company is headed
strategically.
Half-baked employee communications is not exactly new. But, in
the current climate, senior leaders have a fresh window to
communicate more credibly with their employees, who, after all,
deliver sales results.
"There's more of a realization that [internal communications] is
truly important," says Deborah Bowker, a managing director at
Burson-Marsteller, who is responsible for employee communications
at the PR giant, which has approximately 1,800 employees working in
more than 70 countries. She says the heightened sensitivity toward
employee communications has been borne of the September 11
terrorist attacks and subsequent scramble among employers to
determine the best way to communicate with employees when the
company faces an external crisis.
Bowker says enhancing employee communications requires three
essential components:
- Leadership alignment: Be sure the message being communicated is
consistent from the inner sanctum sanctorum. - Translation: Senior execs must make sure they are communicating
in English-not corporatese. - Understanding employees' perspective: The message must be
communicated in terms anyone can understand rather than resorting
to highfalutin terms indigenous to the boardroom.
One surefire way of making sure employees feel as though they're
in the loop is to get the CEO to rub elbows with workers. At
semiconductor firm Xilinx, which was ranked number 10 this year in
Fortune's 100 best companies to work for, president-CEO Wim
Roelandts does several things to stay connected to employees,
according to Xilinx senior PR manager Tamara Snowden. These include
frequent lunches in the company cafeteria to huddle with the
rank-and file; monthly lunches with specific sets of employees and
a quarterly address to the entire company. He also moves his office
annually to different parts of the company's San Jose headquarters,
and offers all workers an opportunity to "Ask Wim" any questions
via e-mail. All of his answers are published in a quarterly
newsletter.
At J.M. Smucker, No. 1 in this year's Fortune ranking, the
company practices an "open forum" type of communication. If a
worker has a question for Co-CEO brothers Tim and Richard Smucker,
the proper channels are aligned so the person gets a direct reply
from either Smucker, says Kim Baker, PR coordinator for Smuckers.
"We try to make the day-to-day communications informal," she
says.
Burson-Marsteller's Bowker says employees are "open to
leadership. All it takes is effort and focus to connect with your
workers."
Contacts: Kim Baker, 330.684.3864, [email protected];
Deborah Bowker, 202.530.4588, [email protected];
Mark Schumann, 203.326.4462, [email protected];
Tamara Snowden, 408.879.6146, [email protected]