As an internal communicator is can be difficult dealing with clients who believe that cool design wins over compelling content.
Indu, the hard working internal communicator of TPR Bank discovered much to her chagrin. Pramod, the HR Head needed a campaign to get staff aligned on the recent office move and he believed that a great looking mailer may help. They discussed the need and here is how it all netted.
Pramod: “Our office and employees will move shortly to our new SEZ premise in downtown Bangalore and this is something to communicate well and with a lot of fanfare.”
Indu: “Pramod, this is exciting news! Can you tell me more on what it means for the organization and our staff?”
Pramod: “With this move we will be able to centralize our functions, get a better deal with real estate and save the organization a lot of funds.”
Indu: “So, what’s in it for staff?”
Pramod: “Well, they get a nice workplace, lovely looking interiors, a lot of space to walk about and a cool area to unwind. You know how cramped our current place is – we don’t even have good meeting room to hold 10 people.”
Indu: “But, doesn’t the location make it tough for most of our staff to get to work?”
Pramod: “We can’t please everyone. It is a given that if you need to move to a better place we need to go to the outskirts of the city. That in turn means our staff will have to travel a bit more than usual.”
Indu: “Then, what do you want to communicate with this change? That we have to move and we haven’t carefully considered our staff’s access to our office? It is bound to create noise and upset a lot of staff.”
Pramod: “That is where I need you! You are the expert. Please do some nice funky mailer with the new office photo that convinces the employee that the next place is great!”
Indu: “Pramod, you can’t be serious! Staff will see through this. You need a compelling story and design can’t help here. You need strong content and messages.”
Pramod: “Indu, you are being difficult. Can you create a funky design please?”
Indu decided to go back and think more about the ask. It didn’t make sense to her. On one hand it seems like Pramod had a good story to sell but he was focusing on the design and less on the message?
How can you help Indu relook at this communication and get Pramod to appreciate the outcome?
Share your thoughts here.
It sounds like a great opportunity to rethink the how the message and identity work together. Obviously within the perimeters of cost and available resourses.
Having experienced a move to an office the other side of town, I needed to understand the the benefits to the business and myself. A couple of years ago, my previoous company moved into a fantastic new office located the other side of town in a quiet area, adding 45 minutes to my journey each way, and a lot more for many of my colleagues.
However, it meant the business could make substantial savings that would have otherwise been offset by redundancies, thus potentially saving mine and many other peoples jobs. Also there’s much to be said of having everybody in one location. Our ways of working changed significantly; relationships were stronger, decisions were made quicker, projects delievered smoothly, and there lays the opportunity.
This is a new, exciting chapter in the hopefully, long story of TPR Bank and the identity of comms should reflect this, it talks loudly. Yes, content is equally as crucial, it commuicates key information, engages and motivates people, often selling difficult concepts and reasoning – people will always respond to change differently, and email, newsletters and intraney are key mediams.
Cultural change can be exciting, and the tone and identity of the messaging should arguably reflect that. A funky new office, funky area of town, funky new ways of working wouldn’t feel sincere to your audience if comms were delievered through drab, standardised, out of tone comms.
Sure guidance is required when steering the message, but we found that aligning the tone and image of our comms made the change feel fluid. It installed excitement and set a mood with the visual carried into the new office.
Consequenlty, people hit the ground running and it was a massive success.
I agree with Adam that content alone will not ensure people read the comms..it has to be crisp with great pics of the new facility.
i think probably there could be some focus on how to
– why this move is being considered and what is in it for the employees
– counter questions around commute (say the company will be providing subsidized transportation to employees) and put together FAQs on what the probable questions could be around the commute
– Besides communication through emails and newsletters, maybe get employees involved in selection of the kind of furniture that will be used in the new facility, layout of the model cubicles etc.
Content in the form of visuals will work and so will some clear and direct answers to the question ‘whats in it for me’ Most of the time when you have written too many lines of text people switch off and do not read further.
Cartoon strips, animations, pictures – they actually make it more credible
Poor old Indu! We’re currently addressing a building consolidation project for a large banking group where 9 existing locations will be moved to a new inner city campus currently in development. Exciting – yes!.. but combined with plenty of other behavioural elements. And, it’s a three year project. We’re fortunate to have a larger budget than Pramod allocated to Indu’s mailer but the principles are the same. We need to engage, entertain and inform the audience. Make it exciting & intelligent and make it honest!
When relocating 11,000 people the business benefits are obviously substantial and need to be conveyed artfully, together with the personal benefits to employees. Travel time & method, parking and coffee shop options can be just as important to employees as the benefits to the company. Gloss will help, but only if it’s transparent… it’s all part of the challenge.
Our solution will incorporate various traditional mediums but will be centred around a series of character-based animations to help make the move more personal, more enjoyable. A 2d character will be woven through all platforms and will need to be designed for impact & longevity.
FAQs and suggestions will be a major part of the campaign and will be well accommodated throughout the project.
Employees will be able to ‘tour’ the new site with the guidance of the character. They’ll be able to familiarise themselves with the immediate surroundings (we won’t be using expensive 3d walkthroughs as it will detract from the entertaining feel we want to maintain) and they’ll be able to work out the most convenient travel methods & routes. We want them to feel at home in the new location before they get there. Maybe we need Doc & The Delorean??
Work in progress so stay tuned!
To give you an idea of the style of character-based animation we’ll be using I’ve included a link to a behavioral campaign we’re doing for a multinational construction, mining & infrastructure client http://environment.thiess.com.au/
Shifting to new office with travel arragements even if it is going to cost may be welcome thought for employees.In addition the extended fecilities may be communicated to create excitement about new place.You can have great bash as Office warming with family members.