Knowledgeable and motivated employees are critical to the success of any enterprise. Knowledgeable not only in the sense that they know how to do their jobs, but also
that they understand the company's business objectives and how their efforts contribute to reaching those objectives. Motivated not just by good pay and working
conditions, but by a sense of commitment to and from their employer, and a feeling of belonging to and contributing to something worthwhile.
Motivating employees by helping them to see the connections between their personal values and those of the company is the critical leadership task. And nothing substitutes for
leadership by example. Among the supporting actions that a company can take to create this "motivating" environment, one that can have a tremendous impact on opinions toward the
company and its work environment, is a powerful and focused communication link between the company and the employee.
Research clearly shows that employees who are satisfied with their company's communications are dramatically more satisfied with nearly every aspect of their work,
significantly more positive in their attitudes, and much more committed to the company they work for. The impact that satisfaction with communications has on perceptions of
morale is striking.
Employee alignment refers to the process of aligning employees to the business plan. Wirthlin Worldwide has counseled a variety of clients in measuring alignment with their
business objectives.
Delphi Automotive Systems, a supplier of automotive systems and components, successfully employs an action-oriented process to communicate more effectively with their
employees. Measurement is built around awareness, understanding, commitment and action on their business objectives.
As part of the quality network process developed by General Motors and the United Auto Workers while Delphi was still part of GM, measurement was built around awareness,
understanding, commitment and action on their business objectives.
In a traditional communication model, information is conveyed to employees and action is expected to occur. This often fails to hit the mark. An action-oriented communication
model is essential to guide communication efforts and measurement of their effectiveness. There are four critical areas of focus in this approach:
1. Information - employees receive information from a variety of sources (up, down, and across). In this stage we assess overall awareness of the business objectives
or key messages and sources (current vs. ideal, believability, and frequency).
2. Understanding -Understanding of business objectives or key messages is measured on an unaided, open-end basis, to determine whether employees can articulate the
messages and what they mean (relevance).
3. Commitment - to gain commitment from employees, messages must resonate with both organizational values and employee's personal values. The fundamental premise of
strategic communications is that one persuades by reason (rational organizational objectives) and motivates through emotion (by tapping into the emotional component
of personal values).
Messages that are communicated in terms of positive employee values are more likely to enhance commitment. To assess critical gaps in commitment, quantitative measures are
used which measure the commitment of employees, supervisors and leadership. Content analysis is conducted on messages to ensure they link with both organizational values and
employee's personal values.
4. Action - only through employee empowerment can action take place. Here, employees are asked to articulate what actions demonstrate or detract from the meaning of
key messages. Clearly, leadership by example, or "walking the talk" is essential.
Aligning employees to the business plan depends on internal and external communications that educate, engage, and motivate employees to pursue the company's objectives. An
action-oriented approach, with sound measures at each interval, provides a blueprint to assess gaps and develop improvement plans for employee communications.
Carol Gstalder is VP & Employee Alignment Practice Leader at Wirthlin
Worldwide. She can be reached at 734/542 1480; [email protected]. Her colleague,
Anne Aldrich of Wirthlin Worldwide will be a moderator of the "Measuring Employee
Communications" panel at the November 14 PR NEWS Best Practices in PR Measurement
Seminar.
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