How to Recapture Employees’ Attention

For Webinar, November 2009 www.cutthroughcommunications.com

Paula CassinCEO/Founder

Companies have got treasure…

But did employees even notice the map?

?

Stages of Communication

3. Drive Action/Chang

e

2. Build Knowledge

1. Get

their

Attention

We’re stuck here

Agenda

1. Employees: Why won’t they listen?

2. Companies: What are they doing wrong?

3. Creative new approaches

4. Examples & Takeaways

Too much email and

communications clutter means

Important business info gets

missed

1. Information Overload

1. Information Overload

“The average e-mail user spends 25 per cent of their time checking and responding to e-mail – and up to half of that time is wasted.” (Jan 2008, Edinburg Evening News )

Information Overload costs the US Economy $650 billion a year in lost productivity and innovation due to unnecessary interruptions (Basex Research Dec 2007)

1. Not on their Top 10 List

Doesn’t Make the Top 10: Individual To-Do List for employees does NOT include corporate comms (unless you work for Comms).

2. What are companies doing wrong?

1. Depending on Email2. Sending Too Much3. Sending Irrelevant Content4. Sending Boring Content5. Not Prioritizing Content

2.Old: Push and Inform.

Executive

Human Resource

s

Finance

Corp Comms

R & D

Sales

Marketing

Customer Service

I.T.

Your Employees

New Communities of Interest - Innovation

Financial industry forecastAnnual Shareholder Meeting live webcast SAP Training for Accounting Dept – sign up

Cisco Certification coming upNew technology updatesOutage notifications

Monthly call center performance statsTop Telesales rep for the monthCustomer support stories

Upcoming Product Launch – X version 6.2January special offers and promos

Brown Bag lunch on retail industry trendsNew sales claims process

New Expense claim formNew employee disputes process from 1st Jan

Change to staff healthcare plan

Weekly positions vacantWelcome new hires

New intranet goes liveExecutive Briefing coming up

Annual Engagement Survey - complete this weekSales Conference - register

Company mission statement and annual objectives now on intranet

Get Beyond Content

• When should message be delivered?• What’s the best way to deliver?• Did it work? (Measure)• How can we go beyond “inform”?

2. The New Paradigm: Pull and Push, 2-Way Conversations

Use any key for next slide

Inviting Employee Interaction

“We need to ‘push’ out information that explains WHAT the business is doing,

and WHY it is doing it . . .and then use interactive social media tools

to get employees to start talking about HOW they’re going to help make it

happen.”Steve Crescenzo, Consultant

2. Implications of New Paradigm

Internal Communicators’ role changes: • Channel (but don’t Control) the Conversation• Coaching Execs rather than simply “Order-

Taking”• More Complicated, More potential noise

The Comms Change:• Better Target employee audiences• Provide more PULL options for employees• PUSH used to spark interaction, not just to

inform• Incorporate Social Media and ask for

contributions.• Change the business’ comms culture

Agenda

1. Information Overload - the Impact

2. The Old vs. New Comms Paradigm

3. 3 Suggested Solutions

4. Examples & Takeaways

Suggested Solutions

Manage Broadcast

Comms – Take Charge

Optimize your Broadcasts – Improve the

message

Provide Alternatives – Remove the

noise

Solution #1: Manage Broadcast Comms

•Limit access to Distribution Lists

•Sign-off process for “push”

Control

•Define which messages qualify for each channel

•Company-wide guidelines + training

Criteria

•Central Comms Calendar and Timeline

•Protect employees from too much info

Visibility

•To reduce ‘push’, provide good alternatives

•Full Range from Pull to Push

Options

Solution #1: Outcomes

Protect Employees from Spamand Info Overload

Make sure that the top 5% gets through

Suggested Solutions

Manage Broadcast

Comms – Take Charge

Optimize your Broadcasts – Improve the

message

Provide Alternatives – Remove the

noise

Solution #2: Optimize your Broadcasts

Measurable

Context

Message

Channels

Interaction

Measure, Benchmark

1. Are you getting through? Do you even know?

2. What’s a normal response rate in yr org?

• Readership

• Click-throughs

• Survey responses

• Ratings

1. Pick your ideal target outcomes

• X entries tagged in CRM by at least X sales reps

• X click throughs to new product page

• Training module viewed/completed by % reps

Measurable

Context:

1. COMPETITION. Who else sends them broadcasts?

2. FREQUENCY. How often do staff receive broadcasts?

3. VOLUME. How many other emails/voicemails do they get a day/week?

4. PAST RESPONSE. How have they responded in the past?

5. INTRANET. Quality of intranet/in-depth resources

Context

Read this.

Really, I mean it

Optimize your Message*

Six key recommendations.• Consistent structure• Make it fresh• Pare it down• Overview for context• Use more than one format

(text, image, table, video…)• Invite interaction

*based on IABC Research Report:Preparing Messages for Information Overload Environments,” Eppler/Mengis, 2009.Read it for more great details!

Message

Channel Mix Criteria

Channel Mix: Criteria.

• Cuts through?

• Appropriate?

• Media-rich?

• Targeted?

• Measurable?

Channels

Inviting Interaction

“We need to ‘push’ out information that explains WHAT the business is doing,

and WHY it is doing it . . .and then use interactive social media tools

to get employees to start talking about HOW they’re going to help make it

happen.”Steve Crescenzo, Consultant

Interaction

Solution #2: Outcomes

Make Comms easier to absorb

Make Comms more enjoyable and interestingfor employees

Suggested Solutions

Manage Broadcast

Comms – Take Charge

Optimize your Broadcasts – Improve the

message

Provide Alternatives – Remove the

noise

EmailVoicemail

broadcastsScreensaversInternal BlogQ&AsForums

I.M.Digital

SignageE-Bulletin

Boards RSS Posters Print pubs Videos Wikis

INTRANET newsLaunch PacksPeers/ChampionsTraining Sessions

Scrolling news tickers

Desktop Alerts

SMS/Text Apps

Micro Blogs

Team MeetingsLeader VisitsConferencesLetters to Staff

Solution # 3: Provide Alternatives

1. Convert info to PULL

2. Consolidate Interruptions

3. Have Channels for every requirement

Solution #3: Enterprise Example…

• Competition: every staff member with girl scout cookies to sell

• Audience: extreme email fatigue

• Volume: hundreds of email broadcasts per day, mostly spam.

• Context shows that even the best email in the world would get a low response

Contributions and social media

News aggregation

Targeted advertising

Solution #3: Enterprise Example

Feedback and education

Cut through for critical content

Solution #3: Outcomes

All Communications still given an outlet (nothing stifled)

Info available on demand

Delivery method matches content relevance

The Snap Comms Tools

Snap Alert

Snap Ticker

Snap Quiz

Snap Poll

Snap Mag

Snap Shots

Snap Interactive

TAKEAWAYS&

QUESTIONS?

Checklists,

MANAGEyour broadcast comms company-

wideOPTIMIZE

each message to be easy for staff to absorb and action

CHANNEL content into appropriate mediums

to reduce noise, maximize cut through

for Webinar: July 2009

CHECKLISTS HERE: http://bit.ly/lqkjcFeel free to contact me/us at Cut Through Comms

www.cutthroughcommunications.com

Paula Cassin1.805.715.0300. Twitter: paulacassin. LinkedIn: paulacassin

THANK YOU!

5 ways to reduce Email Overload:http://blog.cutthroughcommunications.com

IABC Preparing Messages Report: www.iabc.com (free for members or

$99)

Paula.cassin@cutthroughcommunications.com

http://www.twitter.com/paulacassin