Moody's Corp., a company that knows a thing or two about communicating business information, recently found itself having to communicate its own story to its own workforce.
Then-parent company Dun & Bradstreet announced in December 1999 that it would spin off Moody's Investor Service as Moody's Corp., an independent public company. The
divestiture, known internally as "The Spin," was set for Oct. 1, 2000. But by June, there had been virtually no communication with Moody's employees, who were growing
understandably concerned about critical employee issues involved in the change. Additionally, since most employees were analysts, they were interested in even the smallest
financial details of the Spin, questioning changes and demanding in-depth detail from the company.
In response, the company created an internal communications department which was given a prominent position on the Spin task force. The goals: maintain employees' comfort
level; create awareness of Spin activities through detailed information distributed through multiple channels; sustain commitment of employees following the Spin.
e-Spinning
The communications team established a Spin site on Moody's Intranet, which included detailed news about Spin activities and offered a venue for employees to ask questions.
The team also developed Spin News Update, an email update mailed to employees every Friday early in the summer and as often as four times a week as the Spin date drew near.
Employees in 14 different countries received the Update, which had a special graphic look that distinguished it from all the other email communications employees received. When
questions came in in response to an Update, the communications department would answer the question in the next Update so all employees received the answer.
Answering to Analysts
The Moody's communicators also fed employees detailed information on all financial aspects of the Spin, discussing the new benefits plan, the company's private placement of
debt, stock options, investment options, profit participation plans, the choice of a new stock options administrator, creation of a treasury department, and the range of new
banking relationships for an independent company.
They also offered an eight-page special edition of the Moody's employee magazine, Aaa, with messages from the president and chief administrative officer, a feature on the Spin
task force, Spin news, and articles on topics like how the company was preparing Wall Street for the Spin. After the initial special edition, "Spin-Off Updates" were published
regularly in Aaa. Finally, the team completely revamped the look of the magazine for publication after the Spin, in order to give it a new look to symbolize the new company.
In order to ensure that the analysts had access to every bit of information possible - even confidential material the communications team could not communicate directly - the
team members circulated third party news coverage of issues like private placements to employees throughout the company.
And while their e-Updates were delivering news with the most cutting-edge methodologies, the team also made use of the most traditional of employee relations techniques: the
Town Hall meeting. Moody's hosted two global meetings, first when the Spin was announced and then in September, when the president previewed the road show presentation prepared
for potential investors. Copies of the presentation were distributed to employees in advance of the meeting, and Moody's offices worldwide were teleconferenced for the actual
meetings.
Celebrating Spin
On the day of the Spin, Moody's employees celebrated with parties hosted by the company in New York and 19 other locations around the world. They also celebrated the fact that
for the first time, the entire workforce received a grant of stock options. The internal communications team had prepared an in-depth book explaining the options and how to manage
the grant.
Once the Spin was complete, the team also celebrated, after receiving the results of a measurement tool in existence before the Spin campaign. Moody's conducts an annual
Business Effectiveness Survey (BES) among employees. When it went out a month after the Spin, 91% of the 70% of employees who responded said they felt "favorable/neutral" about
their employment at Moody's. Ninety-two percent said they were favorable/neutral on the question "How would you rate Moody's as a place to work compared with other companies you
know about?"
(Contact: Fran Laserson, 212/553-7758)
Campaign Stats
Timeframe: June-October, 2000
Budget: The budget was covered by the usual internal communications budget, using the same resources and employees. An additional $266,000 was available for the global Spin
celebrations, gifts, stock certificates, and other Spin materials.
Spinning into the Future
Once the Spin was over, it was important for the internal communications team to communicate business and growth strategies for the new company, educate employees about rules
of conduct for a public company and maintain the flow of information employees received leading up to the Spin. To achieve these goals, the team continues with its electronic
Updates, though they're now called Moody's Corporation Updates, and relies on its freshly designed magazine.