Delivering the message one person at a time: EXCEL Award winner Rajesh Subramaniam talks about communication's impact on FedEx Canada employees and customers.

Imagine the challenges of communicating with a workforce where 85 percent of 5,000 employees are primarily on-road couriers, without regular intranet or e-mail access. You'll begin to appreciate the accomplishments of FedEx Canada President Rajesh Subramaniam. Subramaniam, who was awarded the 2006 Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award at IABC's International Conference in June, has clearly demonstrated commitment to effective business communication with rigorous attention to connecting with employees and integrating communication at the decision-making level. He recently talked with CW Executive Editor Natasha Spring about how he maintains communication with the front lines of a diverse and highly mobile workforce, and the importance of including communication in the company's strategic planning efforts.

Q: FedEx has an outstanding reputation. If you had to name just three factors that contribute to that reputation, what would they be?

A: I think that FedEx's performance in the business sense for the past few years has been stellar, and that has been reflected in our reputation. But it goes beyond that. The whole concept of PSP--[the FedEx corporate philosophy of] People-Service-Profit--essentially makes sure that our employees are branding ambassadors for the company. In short, it states that if you treat your people well, they'll deliver great customer service, which results in profits for the company, which are then reinvested into people.

The third factor is also related to the customer experience. We have an internal slogan called "Purple Promise" that says, "I will make every FedEx experience outstanding." Every employee in the company understands that, and it goes beyond a slogan--it is what we do day in and day out. So the company's business results, the "people first" culture of FedEx, and the customer experience that we deliver are the three big factors driving our reputation.

Q: Give me some examples of widespread communication challenges that you've faced, either with customers or employees, and what strategies you employed.

A: When I took this role, I had never really been to Canada before. It was a new job for me, a new location, and there were 5,000 employees in Canada who had no idea who I was. It became very important to me and for the business to establish a very good rapport from the front line to executive management. Obviously, that's the right thing to do.

But also, in terms of differentiating the company in the marketplace, the true differentiator is customer experience. When people think of customer experience, they think of businesses interacting with businesses, but really it's people interacting with people. That's where the leadership and communication have a direct role in influencing the customer experience.

Once I got this in my head and figured out that it was very important, it was a matter of carving out time for it and making sure to execute on the strategies for communication, and one of the strategies was the whole "Big Switcheroo" experience, where I swapped jobs with a frontline courier, Crayton MacDonald, for a week. (Editor's note: See opposite page for more about that experience.) That did two things. One, it made sure that I understood in a way that I never did before what actually happens when FedEx and the customer interact. The second thing it did was build instant rapport with the front line. I wanted everyone to understand that I am just a regular guy, and that it is easy to communicate, to talk to each other. So today, when I'm at stations [operational package sorting and customer service facilities] there is no tension, there is no awkwardness, and I can get to the heart of issues very quickly.

Q: Can you give me some examples of how FedEx is changing the way it uses technology?

A: You have got to go to the root of why FedEx is leading in the technology area. It really came down to a very simple but star tling observation made by [FedEx Chairman, President and CEO] Fred Smith early in the history of the company. He said that the information about a package is as important as the package itself. As simple as it sounds, it's actually very profound. Because of that statement we launched tracking and tracing, and when the Internet came along, ours was the first [web site] where you could do something like that, [tracking and tracing that] information. Now, many years later, we are looking at much more robust linkages with our customers in terms of supply chains and managing information across supply chains. It's about making sure that customers have information about their packages or shipments throughout the whole process.

Q: Information overload is a critical issue. How do you make sure that your customers and employees get the important messages?

A: This is where strategic prioritization is extremely important. People tend to focus on the channels of communication. I think more focus should be paid to the front end of the process, where you decide what you are communicating. That is going to get more payback than figuring out what channels or tactics to use or the cute things you can do. You want to communicate what makes sense, what makes a difference. Then you go bolt on the channels, the tactics.

Q: When do you think it's appropriate to use face-to-face vs. electronic communication?

A: If it's possible, face-to-face is always preferred--because the value of the interaction is much more personal than with electronic conversation--but it's not always practical. It makes sense to me to make sure that in any situation the leader has specific time allotted for face-to-face communication throughout the year. If it is an afterthought, it never will happen. What you use that time to communicate could be any number of things: what's happening to the business at eye level, what is directly relevant to the audience at that stage, whether it is good, bad or undefined. It is important for them to hear from the person who is communicating directly how it affects their lives and offer an opportunity for feedback. I think this all happens best in a face-to-face setting and, if at all possible, a one-on-one setting.

Q: FedEx has to deal with cultural diversity on a global scale. What kinds of issues come up around this?

A: Let me talk about that in terms of FedEx Canada. In terms of diversity, I found out that in Canada, in an average company, roughly 11 percent of employees are visible minorities. In FedEx, the number is something like 23 percent. This is not a number I ever focused on; there is no target for it. But it really comes back to the core FedEx philosophy of the workforce: making sure that every employee, or potential employee, has a level playing field to apply for any job that's open in the company, and let the best person win.

Why is diversity important? Because it provides diversity of thought. When you have people around the table from diverse backgrounds, you automatically achieve diversity of thought, and in a global business like ours, that is particularly important.

Q: On a personal level, what was your biggest communication mistake, and what did you learn from it?

A: When I first came to Canada, we were trying to arrange meetings with employees. Our aim was to start at one end of the country and go fight across to the other end--and do the whole thing in a week. The only way to accomplish this was to hit stations in the middle of the day when the operation is already on-road and there is nobody there except for a couple of people. It became clear that it was going to take months, not a week, to get it done. That was the immediate first mistake, which [we realized] before it actually happened.

The second was timing. To reach everyone at once I had to come in at 5 or 5:30 a.m., when the couriers are ready to go to work, and try to communicate something about the company strategy: Not the best way or the best time either. It took me a month or two before I realized that this was kind of nuts. I look back and cringe at the thought of standing in front of couriers at 5:30 in the morning, giving a speech on company strategy. We changed the tune to include much more informal one-on-one communication, and that really worked well.

"the big switcheroo"

When Rajesh Subramaniam (above) became president of FedEx Canada, he knew he needed not only to connect with employees, but also to build a better understanding of what they do every day. The solution was to switch jobs for a week with frontline courier Crayton MacDonald. The experience was filmed for a CBC Venture TV program, giving Subramaniam instant exposure among employees as "just a regular guy," he says.

RELATED ARTICLE: Putting words into action: valuing communication at FedEx Canada.

Some practices adopted by FedEx Canada to demonstrate that the company values good communication include:

* Management communication training: practical workshops, including role-playing, to assist managers in tackling challenging workplace communication situations.

* Media training for employees at all levels of the company, including couriers, subject matter experts and senior executives.

* Public speaking coaching for employees who are on the speaking circuit.

* Annual Mercury Award (named after the Roman messenger god) for excellent manager communicators. Frontline employees nominate their managers for this prestigious award.

* The head of communication has direct, regular access to the president.

* Communication as a component of annual managers' performance appraisal (50 percent performance against business objectives and 50 percent leadership skills, including communication).

* Annual communication survey for employees to rate communication tools and leaders' communication practices.

* "Survey-Feedback-Action," an annual employee survey done with FedEx worldwide, seeking opinions on everything from perceptions of immediate leaders (including their communication capabilities), to pay and benefits, to work environment, to senior leadership (including their communication capabilities). Managers get a report based on their work group feedback, and are required to have a discussion about areas of weakness and develop an action plan to resolve them, which has to be signed off on by their own manager.

about the author

Natasha Spring is executive editor of CW.