New Frontiers in Employee Communications 2006 Edelman Change and Employee Engagement conducted in pa

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New Frontiers in Employee Communications
2006Edelman Change and Employee Engagement
conducted in partnership with PeopleMetrics
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Goals of this 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.

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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 57 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.

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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.
  

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Participants include
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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.

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Increased awareness of new media
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Increased awareness of new media
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Increased awareness of new media
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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.
  

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Where is new media aimed?
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Comfort with external blogs
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Comfort with internal blogs
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A Banner Year for CEO Bloggers Jonathan
Schwartz Sun Microsystems
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John Mackey Whole Foods
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Rick Wagoner General Motors
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Gary Kelly Southwest Airlines
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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.

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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
  

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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)

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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.

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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

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Top ten obstacles to online tools

• 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 wont allow it
• Legal/governance/regulation issues
• Would require too much training

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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

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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.
  

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For more information

• Contact Jeffrey Treem
• Analyst, Edelman Change
• and Employee Engagement
• 312-233-1340
• jeffrey.treem_at_edelman.com