Aurora Comms Blog

Not just another internal newsletter!

Posted on 16. Apr, 2009 by NW1er in Communications, Industry, News

2009 is stacking up to be an intriguing year for industry – times are changing and there are certainly challenges ahead. Yet there is much to be positive about, and we have been working with our clients to help communicate this to internal audiences. Two examples are of note: assisting one client with getting company-wide buy-in to an organisational restructure and new business approach; the other with defining the recruitment offering of a client’s new business practice.

To ‘zing up’ internal support for a redefined operational structure and approach within our client’s head office and across all European markets, we applied leadership theory to help steer the path. Some of the principles are below:
-  Clearly communicate a credible sense of urgency
-  Rapidly secure internal advocates
-  Use your ‘coalition’ to talk to their peers and explain why change is needed and what it means for all
-  Identify a short-term win based on the new approach that can be communicated to all

We worked with the management team to define the communication messages relating to the restructure; these were infused with urgency, yet conveyed calmness and control. We then reached out to known ‘thought leaders’ at every level of the organisation and discussed the new corporate position and what it meant for them and their colleagues. This internal ‘chatter’ was combined with communication from the senior management team in the form of e-newsletters and open dialogue, as well as a company wide meeting to clearly explain the position and inspire support.

Importantly, all of this activity was tied together with a consistent creative theme that brought a playful, friendly yet focused tone to the communication activity. For example, fun props were used in the meeting that created a ‘wow’ factor and got people talking to each other and engaged with the purpose of the meeting. This approach yielded great results, with an energised company ready to take on the new year and new challenges. Aurora will be working with this client to keep the change rolling throughout the year and to lock the approach into the company culture.

On the recruitment side, Aurora held an interactive workshop with another client to drill down to the company’s differentiators and then establish what this means for a potential new-hire, with specific focus on sales force and brand managers. The values that a company is so often proud of may not always be directly relevant to the recruitment process – a potential hire will want to know what these actually mean for them on both a day-to-day basis, and in terms of career growth. Aurora developed ‘careers values’ and then concept tested them with employees in the client’s organisation. Refining and tweaking as necessary, we developed a recruitment collateral pack for distribution to all markets, where all resources were tied together by a creative theme that reflected the unique recruitment proposition of our client’s offering.

Internal audiences are an important stakeholder for any organisation and are vital for a business to soar above the competition, especially during challenging times. Make sure you are inspiring your teams to take flight!  As C.S. Lewis once said, “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.”

Tags: internal communications