Benchmarking study illustrates how best-in-class achieve alignment, communicate change.

Study Methodology

To begin this comprehensive benchmarking effort, 16 organizations from the U.S. and Canada partnered with APQC to sponsor this study and delve into the process of internal communication. Together they identified 50 companies that they believe were "best practice" in this area. All 50 companies received a screening questionnaire. From these responses, the study sponsors identified 10 companies that fit the term best practice. The group planned half-day site visits to closely examine these companies.

Question topics were generated by the sponsors and formatted into three parts:

* A structured rating questionnaire on the use and effectiveness of communication vehicles and measurement techniques.

* An information request asking for copies of communication plans, questionnaires and measurement result, and

* A questionnaire for guiding the four-hour, in-depth interview for the site visit.

Best practice: This management term refers to the "edge" that your organization has over other companies similar to it - or even in other industries. A best practice is a process that your company has perfected and serves as a model to others who want to improve. Through benchmarking, organizations search for best practice companies and find information that can be adapted to fit their own company's culture.

Take, for example, internal communication. The Houston, Texas-based American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC), in conjunction with Gelb Consulting, conducted a consortium study on benchmarking this area. How do best practice companies communicate restructuring and change? What enables best practice companies to achieve effective internal communication? How do the best communication departments achieve alignment with the corporate vision? The answers to these questions would thrill any professional communicator.

It's Right Under Your Nose

APQC identified and visited 10 organizations that already were doing fascinating things with internal communication - and achieving remarkable results (see study methodology at left for details). These best practice companies included Florida Power & Light, Hallmark Cards, Levi Strauss & Co., Motorola, Owens-Corning, Texas Instruments, 3M Corporation, Weyerhaeuser Corporation, Xerox Corporation and one company that requested confidentiality.

APQC analyzed the data to identify several key findings. These are divided into three categories:

* Enablers of effective internal communication

* Processes for achieving alignment

* Communicating restructuring and change

Enablers of Effective Internal Communication

One finding from the benchmarking study identified four enablers for effective internal communication. They are:

* The roles and responsibilities for CEO/top management

* Internal communication

* Middle management

* Employees

This article will discuss only top management's role in creating a "culture of communication."

Top Management Support

Most of the benchmarking partners believe their CEOs fully support the internal communication department by being accessible, serving as a model for communication, trusting employees with the strategic mission, and expecting other managers in the organization to be strong communicators.

CEOs at best-practice organizations have many common qualities. Five specific terms popped up during interviews with the different companies.

First, the CEO is the visionary for the organization. This position is responsible for creating and defining a clear strategic direction and vision for the company.

Second, the CEO is a champion for communication. As a champion, the CEO must be a strong supporter of, and believer in, employee communication. Nearly all of the benchmarking partners rated their CEOs as strong champions of communication.

Third, the CEO, along with top managers, serves as a role model for the organization. Communication gains credibility within an organization when top management exhibits a strong commitment to it and models the communication behaviors expected of all managers. Seventy percent of the benchmarking partners rated their CEOs as strong role models.

Fourth, without trust in top management, employees are less likely to internalize and act in accordance with the corporate vision, mission and values. Many benchmarking partners believe the CEO can only gain credibility and trust by being a visible and open communicator.

And finally, CEOs at successful organizations empower employees to make decisions to achieve strategic objectives. They also share the ideas behind the objectives, which contribute to employees' sense of involvement in reaching the company goals.

Processes for Achieving Alignment

A second finding involved processes for achieving employee alignment. In the context of this study, "achieving alignment" is the method of creating employee agreement and trust with the corporate vision, mission and values. The benchmarking activities in this study focused specifically on internal communication planning, innovative methods and measurement/feedback systems.

APQC identified three core communication processes that help achieve alignment: planning, deployment and feedback.

Shaping the Vision through Planning

The planning process begins by shaping the vision. In most of the benchmarked companies, the process of defining and crafting the corporate strategic message is an interactive effort between key decision makers and the internal communication department. The nature of the partnership and the level of influence internal communication possesses over the vision varied among the benchmarking partners.

"Internal communication used to be told, 'We have got this direction now. Here, it's tied up with a bow; go communicate it.' It went from this, to coming in on the ground floor and understanding and helping to shape the direction," said the communication representative from Xerox Corporation.

Once the vision is established, internal communication defines the key messages and develops a plan for disseminating them throughout the organization. This is referred to as the internal communication plan development and also involves creating the corporate internal communication plan, integrating it with the business unit internal communication plan and teaming with senior management.

Deploying Messages to Employees

The next stage for achieving employee alignment is deployment. This is the implementation process in which the corporate vision and strategic directives are communicated throughout the organization. The objective is for every employee to develop an understanding of, and a commitment to, the key corporate messages.

One example of deployment is called "linking." This refers to linking corporate goals with an individual's job responsibilities. Linking is the heart of the deployment process because the intended outcome is individual alignment of employees' attitudes and behaviors with the corporate vision.

Managers are the crucial players at this point. Most bench-marking partners recognize the managers' need for support and provide the information resources and skills that managers need to help employees personalize their roles in the greater corporate context.

Measuring Alignment with the Vision

The final stage of achieving employee alignment is feedback. This involves measuring the organization on its alignment with the corporate vision.

Most benchmarking partners acknowledge the difficulty of actually measuring behavior changes as a result of alignment. Those who do measure, frequently use performance appraisals or 360-degree reviews. Other measures for determining whether employees have internalized messages are attitude surveys, focus groups and "pulse-taking."

Communicating Restructuring and Change

One last finding from this benchmarking study focused on the critical aspects of communicating during restructuring and change. The benchmarking partners revealed three areas that are essential to successfully communicating change to an organization. While this process may not be particularly innovative, the three stages are necessary to ensure success: planning, implementation and aftercare.

Planning the Change Process

Two key priorities to the planning process are involvement by internal communication and key organizational leaders.

The internal communication department should either be a part of the restructuring team itself or partner with HR to ensure that a comprehensive plan is created and implemented. At Hallmark, for example, the particulars of the HR plan were formulated simultaneously with the communication plan.

"And we worked together throughout the process," said the communication representative from Hallmark. "It was very effective. Employees didn't echo the fear they have in other places because of the way it was managed and the timeliness of the communication."

Using Leaders to Influence and Change

Another benchmarking partner, Weyerhaeuser, stressed the importance of soliciting influential leaders from various parts of the organization as team players in the restructuring committee. The company believes these leaders help in the communication process and influence others to see the need for change.

Implementing the Communication Plan

The next stage for communicating change is the actual implementation. This involves four components:

* Sending timely messages

* Coordinating internal and external releases

* Creating content that provides rationale 

* Using face-to-face communication to affected employees

For example, Florida Power & Light implemented an innovative fax communication network during its restructuring to deliver information as soon as plans were made. Even when complete details were not available, the organization often decided to release partial information.

Aftercare to the Survivors

The final stage for communicating during restructuring and change is the aftercare - treatment of those employees left in the organization, who are often overlooked. Organizations need to create an implementation plan that incorporates face-to-face meetings and ongoing communication to reinforce to survivors that meeting organizational objectives will result from the change.

Let's Hear It for Common Sense

Many times a benchmarking study reveals a "common sense" approach to a specific process. Such is the case with internal communication. It's nice to have formal documentation now that supports the importance of top management, feedback and alignment with the corporate vision.

Company Profiles

Each company profile in the final report briefly summarizes the site visit findings from the 10 benchmarking partners. This includes internal communication structure, communication philosophy, departmental objectives, innovative practices and communication processes. The following information highlights innovative practices discovered at five of the best practice companies.

Florida Power & Light (FPL) - The most important strength at FPL is the organization's ability to provide timely information to its employees. The internal fax system can reach all 390 company locations in one hour. Its television production facilities enable it to produce and broadcast important messages. Extensive and effective use of these vehicles creates an environment where the employees rely on them to stay informed.

Hallmark - Each year, Hallmark's CEO plans 10 employee forums at various divisions or business units. These forums are arranged by internal communication and the division head. Typically, the business unit will select 50 employees at random. To encourage more open and candid discussions, attendance at the forum is restricted to participants below senior management levels. Employees are usually eager to ask questions, and the discussion is an active interchange.

Levi Strauss & Company - Corporate communication's most significant accomplishment at this manufacturer has been its ability to influence and breed a culture of communication at the senior management level. It believes that creating a culture of employees who recognize the value of communication and who hold themselves accountable for initiating and receiving communication must begin at the top. The primary means for creating this awareness has been the department's influence as "strategic business consultants." In this role, corporate communication has influenced the behaviors of senior management, promoted its own credibility and steered the company's strategic direction.

Texas Instruments (TI) - A great strength at Texas Instruments is the company's ability to incorporate positive attitudes about communication activities into the corporate culture. This originated from written communication policies and eventually became a natural part of TI's culture. Another strength is TI's electronic system, which allows rapid transmission of messages throughout the company. This system has grown from being a delivery vehicle to an interactive electronic infrastructure used by all levels of employees to immediately transmit information up, down and laterally.

Company A - The primary objective of employee communication at Company A is to integrate the communication media with face-to-face communication. To promote face-to-face communication, the department works to develop the manager as a primary communicator and builds the relationship side of the manager's communication abilities. The department follows a five-step model for developing the manager:

1. General awareness 2. Diagnosis and assessment 3. Training and development 4. Support 5. Measurement and reward

Vicki J. Powers is a communication specialist/editor at the American Productivity & Quality Center in Houston, Texas.