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October 31, 2008

Uncertain times: Helping leaders communicate (Q&A, part 2)

During Wednesday’s webcast on “Engaging Employees in Uncertain Times,” participants asked a large number of questions pertaining to leaders. Obviously, a key challenge for communicators is convincing leaders to do the right thing to communicate during these tough times.

(If this is a challenge for you, I invite you to my next web workshop on November 11.)

Here are the questions and my answers:

Q: I agree that it is important to have leaders share timely information. How do we motivate leaders to do so?

A: There are two ways to motivate leaders. First, if you’re lucky enough to have a CEO who understands the value of communication, you have an opportunity to have your CEO set the expectation that leaders communicate, and to hold them accountable to do so. But if you don’t (or if the CEO is part of the problem), you can still use the second way to motivate leaders. And that’s to measure the effectiveness of leader communication with employees. Leaders respond to data, especially when the feedback is negative.

Q: Relative to the economic crisis, what if your senior leaders say, “Touch base with us in a few weeks; we’ll know more?” Is it okay to communicate on their timeframe, versus losing timeliness and possibly proactiveness?

A: Leaders need to be visible now. But they don’t have to know all the answers now. So, as long as leaders get in front of people to say, “We’ll get back to you,” that’s fine. The problem is when leaders go underground, and don’t say anything.

Q: What do you recommend when senior leaders water down employee messages to the point where everything is all corporateze?

A: This makes me crazy. Do leaders think employees are idiots? (And, if so, why are those workers employed by your company?) If you want to get the best performance out of employees (and what leader doesn’t?), you have to treat them like adults and tell them the plain truth. That said, how do you make that point to leaders? I would conduct focus groups to ask employees what they think of the corporate speak drivel they’ve been receiving. And then take those verbatim comments back to senior leaders to make the case that corporate speak is not effective. (You can also use surveys to collect data to make your case.)

Q: Do you think leaders should be talking about what’s happening in the economy and framing that for employees even if they’re not ready to talk specifically about how that may impact the company? That is, this is an all or nothing topic?

A: No, leaders should not be talking about the economy (Who do they think they are, Alan Greenspan?) unless they’re talking about the economy’s impact on the company. Leaders’ communication role is to provide context about what’s happening and what it means to the company.

Q: How do I make my leader comfortable that he can say, “We don’t know yet”?

A: Therapy? Just kidding. Use research to demonstrate that employees need leader visibility. Use talking points to provide a framework for the “we don’t know yet” message. And let your leader practice the message in a small group session first, like coffee with 15 or so employees.

Q: How would you proceed if you sense your leadership is more spooked about the direction and future of the company than employees themselves are?

A: That would make me nervous; maybe your leaders know something you don’t know. But no matter how leaders feel, it’s their job to inspire confidence and keep employees focused. For a great perspective on this topic, read this Business Week column by Jack and Suzy Welch.

Q: If a senior leader does tell employees, “I don’t know anything yet,” what impact does that have on employees? Does that make things worse? What’s the next step after that? Repeat until we know something?

A: I have never had an experience where employees feel worse after having positive contact with a genuine, candid leader. Employees feel bad when leaders are missing. They feel bad when leaders spin messages and don’t treat employees like adults. But they feel better when leaders say, “Here’s what I know. Here’s what I don’t know. Here’s when I’ll get back to you.” (Of course, leaders then have to meet the expectation they’ve set.)

Q: Our leader believes that it is not her job to make employees happy. This might be a cultural issue—employee morale seems to be a North American obsession, and she’s not from here. Any suggestions?

A:You may be surprised to learn that I agree with your leader—I don’t believe it’s the role of the leader to make employees happy. I do believe, however, that it’s the role of the leader to help employees do their best work. That means inspiring confidence. Setting a clear direction. Creating focus. Recognizing good performance. And all those require calm, candid and consistent communication.

There are a couple of additional leader Q&As in my previous post.

Got a question? Send me an email or post as a comment.

Posted by Alison Davis at 01:12 PM

October 30, 2008

Communicating during uncertain times: Q&A, part 1

Yesterday I facilitated a webcast for Thomson Reuters on “Engaging Employees During Uncertain Times,” which was very well attended: More than 400 people participated.

Although we allocated 30 minutes for Q&A, participants had so many questions that I couldn’t address them all. So I committed to answering them in my web log over the next couple of days. Here are the first seven:

Q: Senior leaders tend to rely on scripts when talking about tough subjects. What are some ways to help leaders feel more comfortable talking more freely, so they are more authentic and genuine?

A: Achieving authenticity doesn’t mean throwing out scripts (or, more appropriately, talking points)—leaders understandably find it helpful to have guidelines. But what happens in uncertain times is that leaders can’t expect to have everything figured out. They simply won’t have all the answers. So leaders need to be persuaded to communicate even when they don’t know everything, and to say: “We don’t know yet.” “We’re working on that.” “We’ll get back to you by (date).” By doing so, leaders will seem genuine, because they’re speaking the unvarnished truth.

Q: Can you talk more about the idea of communicating when you have nothing to communicate? I’m intrigued!

A: Even if we weren’t in a financial crisis, the fact is that the nature of communication is changing: from the dissemination of finished, polished content to a free exchange of user-created, work-in-progress stuff. It’s like the difference between a prime-time television show and You Tube: one is created by pros in Hollywood for us to watch, the other is open to all to create, watch, rate, share, etc. So the current uncertainty just punctuates this phenomenon—employees need communication right now before senior leaders are “ready” to “send” a finished message. The opportunity is for the organization to engage employees in communication that is a lot closer to open dialogue than finished production.

Q: How do we find out what best practices are for employee communication and which companies are considered to be doing it well?

A: There are lots of places to go to learn about best practices. Here are just a few:

Q: In your presentation, you provided stats on how employees are feeling. Can you share those?

A: Weber Shandwick conducted a national survey on how leaders aren’t communicating with employees about the financial crisis. Key results:

Q: What is the best way to address pending layoffs as a way to make the company more nimble and agile?

A: I have to ask: Is “making the company more nimble and agile” really the reason for layoffs, or is doing layoffs simply a cost-cutting move? Because if “more nimble and agile” is spin, employees will see it from a mile away. If, however, senior leaders really believe that layoffs will help create a leaner, faster-moving organization, than play it straight. Explain how it’s going to work. Prepare to answer a lot of tough questions from smart employees, trying to poke holes in the assumption. The more leaders answer those questions, the more convinced employees will be that it’s true.

Q: How should a communications director communicate to a communications team that is about to be downsized through integration of branches? So far all questions are answered with “I don’t know” and “I don’t know when.”

A: This is a tough one, because I don’t have enough information to determine whether the communications director is telling the truth (because he/she really doesn’t know) or is obfuscating. If he/she is telling the truth, it would be great if he/she could give some indication about when he/she will be able to communicate. (If he/she is not telling the truth, shame on him/her!)

Q: Are there any tips for disassociating plans that have been in progress for a long time (e.g., a reorganization) from the current economic climate?

A:This is similar to the layoff question above. The simplest answer is: Tell the truth. Explain why. Be prepared to give details about how and when the reorganization plan was conceived, and also to answer lots of tough questions as employees try to poke holes in the story.

Posted by Alison Davis at 03:04 PM

October 24, 2008

Lessons of a $150,000 wardrobe

I don’t write about politics in this blog—communication, as you know, is my game—but the Sarah Palin wardrobe story is such a cautionary tale for any leader that I’ve got to say something.

(If you missed the story, here’s a quick synopsis: It was revealed this week that the Republican National Committee spent $75,062 at Neiman Marcus and $49,425 at Saks Fifth Avenue outfitting Governor Palin and her family with a wardrobe for the campaign trail. This would not be a problem, perhaps, except that Ms. Palin is a self-proclaimed “hockey mom” whose key message is that she relates to main street voters better than those aristocrats in Washington.)

Someone in the Republican campaign forgot one of the essential rules of leader communication: It doesn’t matter what you say if what you do contradicts your message.

This is relevant today for every company leader, who is spending all his or her time thinking about economic uncertainty and the likelihood that companies will need to cut expenses or even headcount.

When it’s time to deliver the bad news, leaders need to remember the importance of doing what they say (that cliché “walk the talk” rings true).

These are times that call for leaders to:

I’m kidding about the last one (kind of), but you get the picture. If leaders are serious about engaging employees in tough times, they need to let their actions speak.

That’s effective communication.

Posted by Alison Davis at 03:07 PM | Comments (1)

October 17, 2008

Take a break from gloom and doom

These are the times that try men’s (and women’s) souls, so the last thing we need is another person making pessimistic predictions about the economic situation.

That’s why Bob Dilenschneider’s keynote address at this week’s IABC Heritage conference was such a disappointment. Mr. Dilenschneider has been a leader in the communication profession for a lot of years, and he’s written eight books and delivered hundreds of speeches, so he’s old enough to know better: A keynote speech is supposed to set the tone for a conference, give participants a lift, create energy.

But Bob must have been wearing his dark-gray curmudgeon socks: His message was, essentially, that we’re all going down, but maybe communicators can do a few things to soften the fall.

Bummer.

Luckily, I had the good luck to also attend the HR Southwest Conference, where I heard a keynote speaker, Bertice Berry, who was the yang to Bob’s yin. While Bob was all darkness, Bertice tried to show participants the light. She sang. She laughed—and made us laugh. She told us that things might get difficult, but that we have the strength to persevere.

Two days after Bertice’s speech, I’m still feeling good about life. And in her honor, I bring you two things designed to make you smile.

The first is a television commercial from the British baking company Hovis . It’s original, it’s beautiful, and it’s uplifting. Worth watching.

And the second is the new advertising campaign from Dentyne gum, "Make face time.” The idea is that connecting face-to-face is better than electronic communication. (Example: Two people kiss and the caption is, “The original instant message.”)

Hope you enjoy.

Posted by Alison Davis at 04:50 PM | Comments (1)