Several recent CEC blog posts have featured general reflections on the May 26^th kick-off meeting for our executive retreat series, held at our corporate headquarters outside of Washington DC. One of the sub-findings from our study, Building a Change-Ready Organization focuses on the idea of arming employees with information that helps them solve problems on their own, rather than tells them what to do. I would like to share my thoughts on this specific research finding as well as the group discussion related to the topic.

In an environment of continuous change, organizations need employees to proactively adapt to the shifting dynamics affecting the company. With the average employee experiencing 3.5 major changes every two years, there simply is not enough time for companies to cascade instructions down the traditional corporate hierarchy. Employees need to be able to respond quickly to change by developing solutions on their own.

Just as a carpenter needs raw materials to build a piece of furniture, employees require their own building blocks to develop solutions. Possibly the most basic of raw materials in a corporate environment is information. But rather than providing information that is prescriptive or directive, change-ready organizations view information as creative fuel. These companies focus on providing constructive information that helps workers build solutions on their own.

Depending on the organization, this information can take many forms.It can take the form of information related to external market factors like consumer trend data or competitive market pressures. It could also be information which broadens an employee’s perspective of internal corporate issues. For example, sharing information about cross-functional initiatives may help employees think beyond their immediate role or functional silo.

During the kick-off meeting CEC profiled several companies who effectively shared this type of information with employees and saw significantly positive results. For example, ConAgra Foods, when faced with corporate financial pressure, looked to employees for help. But rather than telling employees what to do, Communications took an alternative approach and considered the type information employees would need to develop solutions on their own.  The result was that Communications and business partners shared information that they would have otherwise never thought to share (e.g., detailed financial data, best-in-class competitor comparisons, examples of efforts in other parts of the business). Employees created their own solutions and the company benefited in a big way.

After we presented this case at the kick-off meeting, there was a lot of interesting group discussion on its implications for the companies in the room. Much of the conversation was focused on HOW information was shared rather than WHAT information was shared.

As communicators, we excel at understanding our audience and tailoring messages to the many stakeholder groups in our organizations. We have a solid understanding of the various communication channel options and the benefits of each.  And as pace of change ramps up and the need to be change-ready increases, this understanding continues to be important. But while all of the profiled best practice companies were successful in how they shared the information, the thing that differentiates these examples is the “WHAT,” not the “HOW.”

To help you focus on the “WHAT” aspect of information sharing, the next time you are communicating to employees about a change, ask yourself or your business partner “what type of business decisions will employees need to make?” Once you understand what decisions will need to be made by employees think about “what information will workers need to develop solutions on their own?” Chances are the information that you end up sharing will be quite different than had you never asked yourself these simple questions.

Look for more information related to this topic to be posted to the Communications Executive Council website in the upcoming weeks.

Related CEC Research:

• Building a Change-Ready Organization
• Agility: What It Is & Implications for Your Company