In the last 6 months, 82% of employees experienced significant change at their organization. What’s more is that 66% of employees anticipate additional change in the next six months, including layoffs of team members, significant organizational restructuring, and changes in one or more senior leaders (CLC Building Engagement Capital, 2010).

From the CEO’s perch these disruptive changes are viewed as necessary for the long-term growth and sustainability of the company. From an employee’s perspective, however, these changes are exhausting, nerve-wracking, and productivity-sapping.  In fact in Q4 2010 discretionary effort was 11.6% lower compared to the same period in 2009 (CLC)! This environment of change and uncertainty is hindering your employees’ ability to focus, make good decisions, and solve problems, as depicted in the graphic below, Implications of Change and Uncertainty on Employee Behavior.

How can Communications spot the symptoms of change fatigue?

Don’t wait for your annual employee engagement survey to spot the signs of change fatigue. Walk around your building, ask employees how they’re feeling, think about the requests that you are triaging from leaders and internal clients. Not sure what you’re looking for? I’ve brainstormed a quick list of things to keep an eye out for. What would you add? Which symptoms are most prevalent at your company? Read More »

Those of you who are following CEC research this year will know that we’re focusing our efforts on change, especially given that in the last 6 months alone, 82% of employees experienced some sort of major change at their organization.

Where better to look for examples of change and adaptation than in the pharmaceutical industry? In particular, significant changes in government regulations, market conditions, a sharp rise in technology, and ever higher scrutiny are all impacting the future success of these players. Moreover, it seems success will depend on how companies handle the following three trends:

• Increasing Role of Generic Drugs
• Increased Personalized Medicine
• Innovation from Emerging Markets

Furthermore, as we highlighted in our “Influencing Stakeholders in a Networked Environment” research last year, there’s another important change we, as communicators, need to be adapting to – our audiences.  They now have a lot more control of the corporate messages they want to listen to, and therefore the messages that they pass along on your behalf.

So how do you ensure that patients will want to continue using your drugs when the cheaper generic versions are released? How can you better accommodate for the potential increase in more personalized medicine, and how can you better understand your target audiences in these newer, often unknown emerging markets? Now, I am certainly not claiming to be an expert of YOUR industry, but I did want to bring your attention to a few of the CEC’s best practices, which might be helpful, or at the very least, thought-provoking. Read More »

Fear kills.

Think of all the phobias that are directly responsible for sub-optimal results at big companies.

The fear of making a decision (often described in government agencies as “paralysis by analysis”). Liticaphobia, the fear of getting sued (also known as “G.C. ya later”). And the one that afflicts far too many organizations — kakorrhaphiophobia.  Fear of the “F” word.  Failure.

At CEC, we’re currently studying why some companies are more successful during times of change than others. Why are some companies are more adaptable, better able to adjust to their ever-changing environment?  What are the traits and qualities that make some companies more agile than others?

Here’s one hypothesis we’re testing right now – I’m really curious to get your reaction:

Is it possible that one essential element of being great at change, is being unafraid of failure? Read More »

The relationship between Communications and HR is complicated. Sometimes it’s blissful, at other times, combative. Perhaps most common is the passive-aggressive “frenemy” relationship where each function feeds off of the other’s struggles and misfortunes. “Well, if you had just asked us, you wouldn’t be in that position now would you?” the one head chides the other. Even though Comms and HR often sit near one another and care about a lot of the same outcomes, they certainly don’t always get along. That’s a problem—especially in today’s agile enterprises. In CEC’s latest meeting with Gurus of Communications, we learned that—when it comes to leading the agile enterprise—our gurus fell into two camps. The first camp, we’ll call them, “Camp Comms,” believes that Communications has the potential to lead the organizations’ efforts to be more agile. Camp Comms pointed to three reasons for Communications’ leadership.

1. Communications is already seen by executives as the owner of change. For example, the mission of one function starts with, “As agents of change, we shape the beliefs…”
2. HR is ill-equipped to own this emerging responsibility. While HR has proven itself adept at handling succession and benefits challenges, the function hasn’t dealt with large-scale change from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Managing stakeholders is Communications’ bread and butter.
3. “Building an agile organization” is no small task, and it lays out a huge chunk of real estate that no one currently owns, so why shouldn’t Communications be the one to take up this mantle? Communication is the lifeblood of agile enterprises. The function has an unprecendented opportunity to redefine itself and leave a lasting impact on the organization.

These are fighting words, Heads of HR. What’s your rebuttal? Read More »

Organizations operate in an increasingly uncertain environment.  With this often chaotic backdrop, Communications can play a powerful role in helping employees to positively react to changes and to ensure they contribute to company growth amid volatility.

Choosing the right communication style can have significant impact on employees’ ability to understand changes and adapt to them promptly.  The results of our recent survey of 2,000 employees  at large companies show that employees found an interactive (two-way sharing) communication style significantly more valuable in helping them adapt, compared to a directive, top-down (command and control) approach.

So, what’s your typical approach to communciating change?  An announcement from leadership, detailing the context and providing as much directive guidance as possible?

Looking at how employees perceive the value of such major announcements about change (usually coming from Communications), only 12.5% answered that they found a very directive, top-down communication style valuable in helping them adapt to change.  Compare that to the 87.5% of employees who prefer a highly or at least somewhat interactive communication style.  Which percentage would you rather be reaching with your corporate messaging?  (If you picked the second group, GOOD!) Read More »

Our members have been talking a lot about the challenge of helping their enterprises adapt to change, even building a culture that supports adaptation.  And it’s no wonder: 67% of chief strategy officers report that “becoming more adaptive” is a top priority in their organization.  “Change fatigue” is a common complaint.

This has prompted us at the CEC to study what drives performance in a changing environment and what Communications can do to help.  As part of our principal research initiative for 2011, we surveyed nearly 2000 employees (American and European) of large enterprises regarding their performance, engagement, and a variety of attitudes and behaviors, alongside control variables like experience.  Not surprisingly, 79% indicated that they had recently experienced one or more changes in their job.

Next, we looked at what influenced the performance of these employees.  Consistent with previous research on the subject, we found, for example, that “Effort” – working hard, putting in extra energy when needed – is a significant driver of performance.  More interesting, we found that “Adaptivity” – trying new approaches to one’s work, seeking and sharing best practices – is an even more significant driver of performance.  Nearly FOUR TIMES more significant!  And the importance of Adaptivity relative to Effort increases with the amount of change experienced in the organization. Read More »

February is awards season–Grammys, Oscars, BAFTAs, oh my! Awards season means one thing—inside access. Will Lady Gaga be wearing another meat dress? Where is Usher hosting the after party? Why are Tom and Katie still together? Don’t worry–TMZ, E!, and Perez Hilton have their legions of citizen-paparazzi on it!

While I can’t offer you an exclusive look at Oscar-host Jake Gyllenhaal’s dressing room, I can provide you with a sneak peek into one of the most exciting events in CEC’s history—CEC’s US-Based Guru Meeting hosted by Ray Jordan, Corporate Vice President, Public Affairs and Corporate Communications at Johnson & Johnson. We decided to host an event in the US after a highly successful European edition graciously hosted by Andre Manning, Head of Corporate Communications, at Royal Philips Electronics in my new favorite city, Amsterdam.

The Guest List at Our Upcoming Meeting- Senior communications executives from:

• Johnson & Johnson, Wal-Mart, Southwest Airlines,
• ConAgra, MasterCard, TD Bank, Intuit,
• Chevron, Bombardier, Cargill, Bayer, and Colgate-Palmolive

Who will wear the best pin?  Who will bring the best swag to share with the group? Who will devise the “best practice” of 2011? Read More »

We may report to live by the adages of Heraclitus–“Change is the only constant”–or Darwin– “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change,” but, really, who isn’t afraid of change, especially when change disrupts our workplace?

We’ve been thinking a lot about how organizations manage change and what role the Communications function plays in change management efforts. At a high level, one hypothesis we are testing is to what degree do massive change campaigns—complete with CEO town halls, posters, and online resource centers–actually add to employee “change fatigue” and hamper their ability to act differently. Instead of trying to make sure employees are bought-into company changes, could Communications spend its time building employees’ comfort with change more generally or bridging the gap between customer needs and employee’s daily work?

As part of the research process, I’ve been taking a look at existing wisdom out there on humans’ response to change. One mentally-fried Friday afternoon, I found myself reverting to the research tactic known as “Googling”. I typed in “change psychology” and clicked on the first result, a handy site called www.ChangingMinds.Org, “the largest site in the world on all aspects of how we change what others think, believe, feel and do.” Read More »

As we are all recovering from a period of over-indulgence and TV re-runs, it is that time of year for a spot of reflection and a look forward at the year ahead.  My long list of resolutions for 2011 range from the practical (avoiding drowning in the mounds of paper on my desk) to the aspirational (learning to cross-country ski so I can take part in an Arctic biathlon for charity).  Beyond personal goals, I think there are also a few things that should be on a list of professional resolutions for 2011.  Here are some ideas for communicators, along with how we plan to help you along in 2011:

1. Make competency development a priority.

Why it’s important: As the demands on the communication function evolve to be less about simply creating and delivering communications to the desired audience and more about “managing the debate” and providing consultative support to business partners – a new competency set is required.  Whether it’s for your own professional development or standardizing and building the skills across your team, few Communications team have a formalized plan for skill development and it’s now more important than ever. Read More »

Business is in a state of permanent crisis. In its most frightening definition, a crisis is “a stage in a sequence of events at which the trend of all future events, especially for better or for worse, is determined; a turning point.” How many of these turning points have you and your company experienced in the last two years? How many more do you foresee in the coming years?

The pace of change and level of uncertainty in the external environment is putting pressure on companies to build a new competency within their organization—adaptive leadership. In a 2009 HBR article, Leadership in a (Permanent) Crisis, the authors argue that leaders need to solve for the underlying causes of major crises while simultaneously making the changes that will enable their organizations to thrive in unpredictable environments.

Adaptive leaders, according to article, do three things well. Read More »