PR Technique - Nov07

Successful business starts with you

Connecting Employees to the C-Suite - linking everyday activity to corporate success

A state of change is the new norm for Asian companies. The world of business is increasingly defined by uncertainty; swept up in the new digital 2.0 era, which is remaking the world of commerce. For the senior executive in Singapore, China, India, or Sydney this means finding new ways to engage employees so that business can continue to function efficiently, because the environment shifts so rapidly.

Having all employees pulling in one direction is the essence of good business. Communicating the company's strategy and explaining what it means to them is most significant but making this happen involves a concerted effort to take a business strategy outside of strategic documents and making them part of everyday interactions and conversations, by email or in person.

This process must begin with the senior leadership, ensuring that managers all the way down the chain of command are equipped with the right information, the proper tools and the responsibility and accountability for helping employees make the necessary connections between their day-to-day activities and the advancement of the business.

The ability to do this is one of the most significant competitive advantages a firm can have today - yet few act on it. It is outdated to think a company's corporate strategy which is, perhaps, only shared with a few top people, is too complex or detailed to distill for consumption by the broader employee base.

Sure, corporate strategy is indeed complex and often quantitative (or at least articulated that way). And it is almost always considered highly proprietary. So how can any Asian firm communicate it to the broader audience of employees?

Bridging this gap is not about pulling out the standard bag of tricks for internal communications - your internal newsletter, company intranet, or even the CEO's new blog. It's a day-to-day process that is both simple and difficult to achieve. It begins with the basics - understanding who are we talking to, what do they believe or think about us, what do we need to say and how do we bridge the existing gap in understanding or knowledge?　

We advise our clients to ground the answers to these questions in research and determine how effective existing channels are for delivering information. And, importantly, this research goes beyond the typical HR surveys of employee attitudes and satisfaction. Instead, we probe the employees' ability to "connect the dots" between their day-to-day actions and how these advance the business toward its stated goals.

Once a company understands this, its messages can be crafted to capture in simple terms the strategic direction of the business. Research also tells us employees in Asia, as elsewhere, want their information directly from their managers, so managers need to be aware of this important insight and act on it by integrating reference to the business strategy in everyday conversation. And, of course, the managers need to be able to understand the messages, be able to deliver them and, in the long term, be held accountable for their delivery.

It's all about empowerment - empowering individuals to fully deliver on their roles in achieving business goals, by allowing them complete awareness of where the company wants to go, and the critical role every individual has in getting it there.

Tips

• Ensure all managers are equipped with the right information and the proper tools to help employees understand the connection between day-to-day activities and the advancement of the business
• It is outdated to think a company's corporate strategy is too complex or detailed to distill for consumption by the broader employee base
• Understand who are we talking to, what do they believe or think about us, what do we need to say and how do we bridge the existing gap in understanding or knowledge?

Allison Lim
Managing Director
Market Leader Singapore
Burson-Marsteller