Driving Corporate Culture: The State of the Art

Building Powerful Communications through Interpersonal Connections
Roger Rittner

If employee communications has taken a backseat to the drivers of corporate communications in the 90s when reputation management, investor relations and external affairs were the hot buttons, that situation is rapidly changing. Today, marketplace success is more and more dependent on an engaged and committed workforce. And that means that employee communications has become, out of necessity, a full-fledged partner in corporate communications.

Roger Rittner, a senior vice president of Ketchum Sheppard, has been a close observer of workplace communications for many years, but he has seen a dramatic shift in recent years. It used to be, he said, that internal communications was "doing a newsletter, fielding a video, maybe equipping managers to tell the corporate story in staff meetings. All good tactics for the time, but then about two years ago, CEOs suddenly had a new mantra: How do we win the talent war?" And that changed the rules of the game.

The number one issue, Rittner said, became keeping good people and attracting better ones. In his view, this will continue to be a major challenge for communicators even with the current slowdown in the economy and the layoffs that are occurring in nearly every industry.
You can make a strong case, he said, that the downturn in staffing needs is not structural, or even cyclical, but transitory. "Getting a handle on retention now will go a long way toward solving the fight for talent that the future will bring."

When the economy comes back, companies will still have to contend with a workforce that exists in a different space. "With the death of lifetime employment and the advent of the new employee contract," Rittner said, "we no longer have the hearts and minds of our employees like we once did - or thought we did. And conversely, with the free agent mentality, we've lost something we once had or thought we had. Because of that, we face a fundamental shift in how we communicate with employees."

It's well documented, he said, that workers today are more loyal to family, friends and peers than they are to employers. There is less commitment because there is more choice. And because they have greater access to information and knowledge than ever before, they know they can use this to change their lives.

McKinsey's study of why people leave jobs is very instructive for communicators, Rittner said. The key reasons are not having an impact, not being recognized, not learning anymore, not liking their co-workers and not being happy with their compensation.

"The first two reasons are where we, as communicators, can have the most influence," he said. "We can make them aware of where and how they can have an impact on the organization and how they are affecting the organization's success. And as earlier speakers have said, we can make sure they're recognized for their efforts."

But beyond this, Rittner said, we need to do more to help employees make a personal connection to the organization and its goals, thereby encouraging them to continue working for the organization. "Communication that unites, communication that aligns, communication that motivates, communication that guides," he said, "is most effectively delivered when one person talks to another. Our job, therefore, is to help our leaders become successful at helping employees make that personal connection to the organization."

There are different leadership styles, Rittner said, and each has a role in the interpersonal communication chain. What he called "Charismatics" are the executives who can inspire, "painting a picture of a successful future for both the organization and the people in it." Although a Charismatic can be the Jekyll and Hyde of interpersonal communications, Rittner feels that, properly channeled, they can gain the respect of others in the organization.

"Leaders," his second category, are the ones who interpret the vision the Charismatic has created. "They put the context around the vision and help people understand their role in the dream," Rittner said. "They play a key role in linking the conceptual world of the Charismatic to the everyday reality of employees."

Rittner's third category, the "Groundskeepers" are, as the name implies, "the people on the ground, listening intently to hear how the message is playing and also filling the role of opinion maker. They are the foot soldiers for your communication and the feedback loop. They are who the employees will believe so it's imperative that they're on your side."

Rittner went on to explain how the interpersonal communication chain can play out. In employee communications, he said, there are moments of truth, interaction opportunities that can influence when the message gets through and makes an impact. Personal connections make those moments of truth for employees, providing the content of the message is meaningful. So when there is a story to tell, the story starts with the Charismatic.

The story must reflect a possible scenario that involves everyone in the organization and includes rewards for everyone. The Leader uses the content to make the story real and to create an emotional connection with employees. To make the connection happen, the Leader must make sure the environment is conducive to telling the story.

The Groundskeepers, Rittner continued, give credence to the message and help employees understand that the moment of truth was true. But Groundskeepers are also the most cynical so the story must be "bullet-proof" and not something they've heard before.

How does this help our retention challenge, Rittner asked? "Employees who feel emotionally attached to their co-workers, their manager and their CEO's vision are less likely to wander off. This new employee loyalty involves an emotional attachment to messages delivered by people they trust or who inspire them. Emotions are created with interaction and connection. Helping your leaders, all of them, make this connection creates an interpersonal communication environment."

Rittner said that what he described as his "somewhat radical view" of communications doesn't mean "we burn all our newsletters, erase all our videos and unplug all our Intranets. Every internal communication program needs every tool at its disposal because we know different people learn in different ways through different media. What you've heard this afternoon is another arrow in your quiver."