New Frontiers in Employee Communications: How Leading Organizations are Using Social Media to Engage Employees

Slide 1:New Frontiers in Employee Communications: How Leading Organizations are Using Social Media to Engage Employees

Slide 2:The State of Internal Social Media

There are no uniform best practices! Why? Too few organizations have leveraged social media in a way in which we can gauge its business impact Unlike with external communications/marketing where peer companies may be targeting the same audience, each organization has specific business needs and a unique cultural environment

Slide 3:Goals of the New Frontiers in Employee Communications study

Examine the use and effectiveness of the various communications channels organizations use to communicate with employees. Provide a benchmark for organizations to evaluate the methods they have implemented and identify best practices in the industry. Explore the adoption of emerging new media technologies inside of organizations and investigate the potential these tools hold for corporate communicators.

Slide 4:The growth of new media

The landscape has changed since the first “New Frontiers in Employee Communications” study two years ago: The number of blogs globally has grown from six million to more than 70 million. The number of podcasts hosted on the Internet has surpassed the number of radio stations worldwide. Wikipedia, a public Internet-based encyclopedia launched in 2001 that allows users to create and edit content, now has 1.4 million entries in English, more than ten times that of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Slide 5:Study methodology

We sent invitations to 787 senior communicators at Fortune 500 and industry-leading organizations: 138 responded, resulting in 111 completed surveys; a participation rate of 18 percent and a response rate of 14 percent. 75 Fortune 500 companies and several leading global organizations participated in the study.

Slide 6:Participants include…

Slide 7:Communications channel overview

What communications channel does your organization use most frequently?* E-mail Intranet In-person What communications channel do you find most effective?* In-person E-mail Intranet *Online tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts, message boards, Instant Messaging) scored last.

Slide 8:Increased awareness of new media

Slide 9:Increased awareness of new media

Slide 10:Increased awareness of new media

Slide 11:Who is using new media?

Roughly one-third of leading organizations use blogs. Of these, one-third are aimed exclusively at internal audiences. Slightly more than one-third of leading organizations use podcasts. Slightly more than ten percent of leading organizations use wiki technology.

Slide 12:Where is new media aimed?

Slide 13:Comfort with external blogs

Slide 14:Comfort with internal blogs

Slide 15:A Banner Year for CEO Bloggers: Jonathan Schwartz – Sun Microsystems

Slide 16:John Mackey – Whole Foods

Slide 17:Bill Marriott – Marriott International

Slide 18:Rick Wagoner – General Motors

Slide 19:Gary Kelly – Southwest Airlines

Slide 20:Maximizing the intranet

More than 70 percent of companies reported using the intranet to share information and promote best practices; however: Only 30 percent of companies have a message board or forum on their intranet. More than one-third of companies do not provide intranet access from home.

Slide 21:Different tools for different goals

According to communicators at industry-leading organizations: Blogs are useful for culture change and identifying employee issues. Podcasts are useful for training. Wikis are useful for knowledge management and collaboration. Effective internal communications provides a mix of communications channels

Slide 22:Are you hearing the conversations?

In the U.S. alone, 39 percent of individuals (57 million adults) have read a blog and eight percent maintain a blog (12 million adults). (Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project)

Slide 23:Creating a culture of communication

Companies that host blogs are: More likely to have policies regarding employee blogging. Less likely to have policies prohibiting employees from posting on external chat rooms and message boards. Less likely to prohibit the use of instant messaging from company computers. Less likely to block access to the Internet.

Slide 24:Battling apathy, skepticism and the cross-generational gap

Ninety-nine percent of communicators are aware of blogs; however: Less than 30 percent read a blog regularly. Less than 30 percent have ever posted to a blog. Three times as many adults 18 to 26 read blogs as do adults ages 41 to 50. (Source: Forrester Research) The value of social media is proportional to the rate of participation New media technologies can build communities and increase discussion

Slide 25:Top ten obstacles to new media

Inadequate resources (time and/or money) Disconnected employees Resistance to change Desire to control communication/fear of unknown Not convinced of benefits Perceived lack of IT capabilities Resistant culture Senior management won’t allow it Legal/governance/regulation issues Would require too much training

Slide 26:The barrier to entry is low

Blogs are hosted in a variety of places (intranet, corporate Web site, external sites). The entry level for social media is low, both in terms of cost and IT infrastructure. Technology and product offerings allow for personalized and customized tools that can: reflect brand identity address security concerns meet business needs The strategic use of new media technology gives you more control, not less

Slide 27:Making social media a part of business

Slide 28:Community, Convergence, Collaboration, Content

Slide 29:Communicating in the new frontier

Expectations from employees have changed, and this trend will continue as new media technologies become more a part of our personal and professional lives. Most corporate communicators need more education about new media. But it is not all about new media; it is about adopting communications channels that reflect and support business goals and organizational culture. How you shape your internal communications strategy can be a key differentiator for your company.

Slide 30:Contemporary Practices in Internal Social Media

Slide 31:Launching New Media Communications Internally

ASK WHY? Effective and sustainable new media initiatives are tied to business goals Increased collaboration, fueling innovation, more effective training, viewing competitive landscape, uniting culture, etc.

Slide 32:IBM – The Innovator

Slide 33:IBM – The Innovator

Blogs – Thousands on blogs and hundreds of thousands of posts Podcasts – Separated by topic, each only around five minutes long Wikis – used to collaborate on projects Social bookmarking – Integrated with blogs and driven by RSS Webjams – Free-flowing 72-hour chat rooms used to develop ideas from the community of 150,000+ employees

Slide 34:Podcasting

Capital One Has distributed more than 4,000 iPods to employees and made 10,000 “courses” available including material from business schools, quarterly reports and executive messages. 75 percent of participants indicated audio learning had raised their awareness 77 percent were able to apply what they had learned The initiative is part of a larger “Future at Work” program that has seen employee satisfaction rise 41 percent Employees are required to take a mandatory course before using the iPod Xerox and Johnson & Johnson have distributed iPods to sales force

Slide 35:Podcasting

Siemens AG (Siemens Medical Solutions) Gave 100 iPods to group for training and sales support. Average training session cost $125,000, while the price of the iPods was $30,000 National Semiconductor Distributed video iPods to 8,500 employees for training and company announcements National Semiconductor provides parts for the iPods and was coming off a record year

Slide 36:Internal Blogs

Companies that have internal blogs include: Intel, Pfizer, Dell, Disney, Zurich North America, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Bob Evans Farms Companies use blogs to: Allow employees who work at different times and locations to easily communicate Create a greater sense of community and build relationships To communicate organizational messages and share business progress To archive and organize organizational knowledge in a searchable format

Slide 37:Blog Platform – McDonald’s

The blogging community, hosted by iUpload, is integrated into the AccessMCD internal communications hub. The first coporate blogger was former company president Mike Roberts whose posts followed three themes: Trip reports communicating things he viewed visiting store Reinforcement of leadership messages about business goals “Live Blogs” where he would sit in front of a computer, begin a post, and respond to employee comments in real time. McDonald’s has expanded the offering to thousands of employees and sees it as a great way to build knowledge and share best practices among a diversified and dispersed workforce.

Slide 38:Collaborative Idea Generation

Dell is planning to launch an internal version of their IdeaStorm – a Digg-like site that will allow employees to contribute and vote on ways to improve the company. This will be integrated with companies current internal blog which is heavy on video content and lets employees submit questions to the CEO

Slide 39:For more information

Contact: Jeffrey Treem Senior Analyst, Edelman Change and Employee Engagement 312-233-1340 jeffrey.treem@edelman.com