Case Studies
Engaging geographically diverse employees in company strategy through digital communication
Challenge
- Foster comprehension of business strategy among 15,000 field sales employees at one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
Strategic Approach
- Connected remote and mobile employees with leadership and strategic communications through a revamped intranet tool and executive blog.
Program Imperatives
- Determined the field’s communication needs via a survey of 450 sales employees, followed by nearly 40 in-depth interviews.
- Revamped intranet content accordingly and launched a new blog hosted by the company’s global operations president.
- Created the blog’s editorial calendar and helped develop twice-monthly posts on the company’s strategy, industry developments and business and leadership trends.
Results
- Each blog post generates as many as 3,500 unique views and 15-50 employee comments.
- Monitoring tone and content of conversations in blog comments and coaching the leadership team to respond accordingly.
Preparing communicators at a global pharmaceuticals firm to serve as consultants to business leaders
Challenge
- Enable a newly created Corporate Affairs (CA) function at one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms to deliver world-class strategic counsel and service to internal clients and stakeholders.
Strategic Approach
- Build the specific skills required of well-rounded communicators via a year-long “mini-university” program, with courses tailored to CA’s development needs.
- Classes co-taught by an Edelman subject matter expert and a client-side leader ensured a balance of best practices, outside perspectives and company relevance. This approach is a certified Edelman Best Practice.
Key Insights
- Participants learn most effectively in discussion-based classes (versus lectures); practice is essential, via case study analysis, scenario exercises, brainstorming, peer review and role play.
- Outside experts from media, advocacy groups, consumer branding and other communication-related fields help participants experience a “day in the life of” key influencers and stakeholders, thus encouraging empathy.
Program Imperatives
- Edelman conducted self-assessments of all CA staff to rate skills and guide curriculum development.
- Edelman designed and delivered 20 courses ranging in length from 2 ½ hours to two days, including PR and media, internal communications, ally development, government affairs, communication measurement, creativity, business writing, corporate reputation and strategic planning.
Results
- CA experts are now sought out by internal clients, and client service ratings have increased.
- CA members are recognized as strategists, not just tacticians.
- CA is better integrated, with increased cross-functional collaboration.
Introducing a new business strategy internally at a global consumer healthcare company
Challenge
- Introduce a new, global go-to-market strategy to leaders and employees and lay the foundation for unifying and focusing the company’s energy and resources on the new goals
Key Insights
- New growth strategy was a departure from previous ways of operating for some employees
- Strategic direction would require behavior shifts to internal challenges and external market realities
Strategic Approach
- Build a program to foster ongoing dialogue and engagement in the change
- Design a full-day leadership conference, manager communications toolkit and follow-on communications plan to launch the new strategy and business case for change
Program Imperatives
- Create an open forum for dialogue, discussion and debate
- Engage and equip managers to provide context for the strategy and reset priorities for their teams
- Help employees understand the meaning of changes in their everyday work and their personal role and accountability for organizational success
Results
- Research indicated that the strategic framework had a direct impact on increasing employee understanding and support of the new strategy as a critical engine for growth:
- On a scale of 1 (least positive) to 6 (most positive) the average survey responses fell between 4 and 5 indicating a positive reaction
- Desire for continued dialogue and training at all levels of the organization
- “I feel better knowing where the future direction is going” – Consumer Healthcare Employee
Growing a mid-size pharmaceutical company through employer branding
Challenge
- Forecasting explosive growth, this pharmaceutical firm sought to triple its workforce of 1,700 employees in less than four years.
- To compete for talent against Genentech and Novo-Nordisk, this company needed to raise its visibility as an employer but also retain its unique challenge-loving, collaborative culture by hiring for both fit and technical ability and retaining existing employees.
Key Insight
- The most well-known employers of choice don’t leave their reputations to chance: They craft an employer brand strategy that is based on research and shapes all elements of the employee life cycle.
Strategic Approach
- Grounded employer brand strategy in solid primary/secondary research, including:
- Phone interviews with potential recruits to discover employer attributes important to target candidates
- Executive interviews and employee focus groups to pinpointed the company’s unique experience
- Media analysis to clarify the company’s external perception as an employer
- Competitive analysis to reveal employer positioning of peer companies
Program Imperatives
- Created unique and differentiated positioning statement, articulating the value proposition the company offers current and prospective employees.
- Crafted employer brand framework, targeted messaging and governance process to ensure brand alignment.
Results
- Recommended tactics to convey consistent employer branding across all touch points, including enhancing career website, job postings, orientation and media outreach.
- Project resulted in an E2 client satisfaction score of 9.55 with respondents awarding several perfect 10’s.
Communicating when a company is purchased by a competitor’s owner
Challenge
- A mid-size specialty retail company received an extraordinary buyout offer for more than double the stock’s current market price. However, the buyer, a private equity firm, also owned the company’s biggest competitor. The CEO worried that employees would envision consolidation and layoffs, causing severe disruption in customer service.
Strategic Approach
- Protect leadership’s credibility with internal and external stakeholders
- Quell rumors, retain employees and keep the company focused on its customers
- Generate support among investors and media for the deal
Program Imperatives
- Created integrated internal and external communications plan emphasizing that the company would continue to run as a separate business with its own brand, identity and product mix
- Articulated in plain, tailored language the benefits of going private to shareholders, customers, media and employees
- Coached officers, field executives and store managers to encourage dialogue about the deal
- Created system for managers to get communication support and answers to employees’ confidential questions
- Started a dedicated communication vehicle, Straight from the Source, to update employees on the transaction and give answers to employees’ confidential questions
Results
- Officers, field executives and store managers said they were well-prepared to provide context for the deal; Edelman had anticipated questions and provided meaningful answers; and employees felt that communication was honest and complete.
- Employees expressed relief at the announcement, which concluded the 9-month process of seeking a buyer. Faith in the company’s CEO and management team actually improved as a result of the announcement. As one employee put it, “the CEO said we’d go private without sacrificing our brand or our people. He delivered.”
- Client awarded Edelman a perfect satisfaction score of 10.
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