Winner Internal Communications
If your firm had 34,000 potential spokespeople who might make public their views about how your company treats employees, your first impulse might be to retreat white-knuckled into the boardroom. Then, perhaps, to call the closest stress management consultant you know.
But leaving nothing to chance, regular yoga sessions or the grapevine, Denver-based U S West, Inc. decided to grab the bull by the horns, converting its 34,000 employees into informed and knowledgeable constituents when contract negotiations with the Communications Workers of America began June 22, 1998.
U S West took advantage of all its internal communication channels, from the Internet to one-on-one communication. (And once a strike did ensue, it boosted those in-house efforts with hard-hitting press releases that delineated negotiation pitfalls, including alleged retaliation by those on the picket line against working employees.)
Union deals are always potentially rocky and controversial. Yet the U S West/CWA talks rolled in on a tidal wave of publicity (U S West's competitors, Bell Atlantic and AT&T, had reached agreements) and during a time of change (telecoms are evolving under the influence of deregulation, the Internet, mergers and stepped-up digital competition).
An Image Cash-Cow
U S West's efforts were bold, but not bullish. Unlike most hush-hush companies, U S West acknowledged that a strike might indeed unfold, even telling employees how the company was prepared.
Without question, U S West's strategy was to go against the grain of what company executives assumed CWA expected to transpire: that U S West would adhere to company tradition and maintain a stoic silence. But U S West opted for communication and the PR payoff came Aug. 30 when the contract was signed and the company's negotiation goals were met.
To ramp up for the negotiations, U S West devised a progressive PR plan to reach employees with details about the new contract proposal. Aspects of that campaign included:
- In May 1998, U S West began sending the corporate newspaper, Life @ U S West, to employee's homes. Its goals were twofold: to explain the bargaining points and their rationale and to reach displaced and temporarily reassigned workers in the event of a strike;
- Voice mail and update hotlines were used to provide ongoing information about negotiations as well as update managers about strike assignments;
- U S West used its intranet and its internal video network, Employee Network News, to reach employees;
- In the 14 target states, consistent spokespeople were used to ensure continuity;
- U S West invited the media to tour its facilities so journalists could view managers juggling myriad responsibilities to keep the corporation up and running;
- U S WEST issued regular news releases and announcements, including details about the company's pay and benefits structure; and
- It netted 640 million media impressions between July and September, with half linked to stories about employee issues.
The heart of the company's internal communications was conveying its proposed "performance-based bonus program," which provided 20 percent over base pay bonuses for workers who improved customer service. Some workers feared the plan meant pay cuts for non-performers.
U S West debunked that myth and used market research to show that its pay philosophy would help build better customer service, the core of its business.
Its Life @ U S West publication was consistently peppered with contract-related news. It included details on what issues dominated the contract negotiations and identified the barriers to reaching an agreement. Stories broke down the buzz into particulars of what the contract promised, from healthcare benefits to discounts on phone service.
But perhaps the most strategic move the company made was to hype the company's communication. Making sure the information gap was filled with its side of the story, it employed targeted tactics to get that job done: daily status reports issued to managers via its bargaining hotline; press releases sent en masse to local, regional and national press to counter image blips; and employees were inundated with messages because executives were briefed regularly and supplied with written talking points.
After it was all over, the company took pause and issued this communique:
"During the past two weeks, I have come to appreciate just how important and challenging your job is. I wanted to let you know how valuable your work is - and you are - to our business.
We missed you. Welcome back."