Putting the jigsaw together
We’re a few months into the process of changing the way we communicate with our 4,000 colleagues around the world.
While everyone says the only constant is change, the reality is that change is very hard to bring about – unless the value of the change is understood.
This project has brought our corporate communication professionals together in weekly meetings for discussions on how we can get better.
We have achieved a great deal in the months we’ve been working on changing the way we communicate, probably the biggest change since I set foot in the company.
When I joined a decade ago, corporate comms was virtually non-existent as a Group function. I found very little to work with, so we built the entire corporate communications organization from the ground up. Today, it’s a well-oiled machine that is working, but I’m not overly happy with the results despite our best efforts.
One reason for this is despite collaborating, we are working relatively individually.
This is changing, and we are now meeting on a regular basis with one goal in mind – supercharge our combined communications.
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Our first milestone is creating one strategy for the entire organization – we are taking all that is good from the different entities that form the Group and sharing
Our end goal is to share 80% of our work with the remainder dedicated to local-specific work.
As opposed to have five individuals sitting (more or less) alone and trying to figure things out, we are five consummate communication professionals all with knowledge on the various parts of the company.
I feel it’s a bit like putting a jigsaw together. The difference from before is that now we have all the pieces, and our blindfolds have been taken off.
Our group of like-minded people does not mean we agree with each other all the time, but it does mean that we know and understand corporate communications and can contribute to constructive discussions.
My colleagues’ passion tells me that we are on the right track. We now need to build a case to show the value we bring to the table, and why corporate comms should stop being an after-thought.