Best Practices for Measuring Communication Effectiveness

March 19, 2010

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Panelists

Geoff Ivey Ira GottliebSheryl Lewis Genevieve Haldeman

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About ROI Communication, Inc.

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Communication Matters

And we are passionate about it

We are ROI Communication

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“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

John WanamakerUS department store merchant (1838 - 1922)

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An evolving view of communication

From To

Intuitive Scientific (based on social science knowledge drawn from psychology, social learning, etc.)

Author-centric (what the author or organization wants to say)

Audience-centric (what the target audience receives, understands and accepts)

Output-oriented (production and processes such as press releases, events, newsletters)

Outcome-oriented (effects)

Source: “The Fork in the Road of Media and Communication Theory and Practice,” Dr. Jim Macnamara, June 2007

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Communication options: what’s most valuable?

Blogs RSS FeedsJourney Maps

Newsletters SpeechesTwitter

Satellite Networks FacebookBulletin Boards

Voicemail Pulse SurveysIntranets

Employee Meeting WebcastsPrint Collateral

Town Hall Meetings Social NetworkingManager Toolkits

TelePresence VideoPodcasts

Desk Drops Text MessagesPosters

Chat Rooms KiosksDiscussion Boards

Email WikisInstant Message

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Why measure?

• Current economic situation demands it

• Drives discipline and clarity around goals

• Provides understanding of your audience

• Determines what’s working and what’s not

• Helps fine-tune your communication strategy & tactics

• Moves communication professional into the driver’s seat

Measurement Drives Change

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Levels of Measurement

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Access/Usage

Did the audience

receive the

message?

Knowledge Transfer What did they learn?

Application/ Behavior Change

Did they take action?

Business ImpactDid the actions have the desired impact?

Financial ImpactHow did it impact the

bottom line?

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ROI Communication Scorecard™

Elements ofCommunication Effectiveness

Understanding and alignment with business goals

Effective leaderand manager

communication

Open communication culture

Linked to employee performance

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Geoff Ivey

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Measurement

• Measurement is about understanding outcomes

– “What if I do ________?”

– “What effect would ________ have on my business?”

• Measurement is about taking action

– “How should I change as a result of knowing ________?”

– “What should I stop or start doing to have an impact on _______?”

• Measurement articulates the impact you have on the business

– “As a result of running this program, _________ happened.”

– “We delivered an ROI of ________.”

Measurement needs to do more than report the past. It must help with decision making and change… Or, why do it?

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Measuring Success

CommunicationAnd ProgramEffectiveness

CommunicationAnd ProgramEffectiveness

Channel Effectiveness

Channel Effectiveness

Employee Engagement

Employee Engagement

Reach

Targeting

Conversion

Satisfaction

Beliefs

• Readership of articles, push email and intranet content

• Reaching full-time and part-time employees with stock options

• Click through to decision tool and completion of decisions

• Feedback from roadshows, open forums, small-group sessions, social media channels (anecdotal, qualitative)

Stock Option

Exchange Program

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Setting organizational goals

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Logistics

• Plan for measurement / indicator reviews

• Avoid over-surveying employees

– Schedule

– Managing your employee samples

• Use tools that help you share surveys, data and employee samples

• Always follow up with survey respondents

– Thank you

– Summary survey results

– Plans

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Genevieve Haldeman

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Symantec’s Roadmap for Success

Continuous Measurement:• Victory Plan metrics

– Based on Symantec Fundamentals

– Tied to fiscal year objectives and individual performance goals

Periodic Surveys:• SymPulse Employee Surveys

• Internal Communication Effectiveness Surveys

• Senior Leaders Meeting and Company-Wide Rollout Team Meeting Surveys

Symantec Fundamentals

Vision, Mission, Values,

Strategy, Objectives

Symantec Fundamentals

Vision, Mission, Values,

Strategy, Objectives

PeriodicSurveys

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Victory Plan

• Key tool for all 17,500+ employees to execute against aligned targets across the company; metrics divided into four equally weighted areas:

– Business Results (25%)

– Customer & Partner Loyalty (25%)

– Employee Engagement (25%)

– Operational Excellence (25%)

• CEO Victory Plan = core operating plan for the company; sets the course and establishes fiscal year objectives to ensure the company is focused on the right activities to drive success

• Each business segment accountable for having its own more specific Victory Plan, identifying how each team will execute against overarching corporate strategy

• Latest results announced during Quarterly All-Hands Meetings– Executive team plans and quarterly results posted on intranet

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Survey Measurement Details

Survey • SymPulse Employee Survey

Purpose • Give all 17,500+ global employees a voice and gather data needed to enhance:

– Employee engagement

– Customer loyalty

– The work environment

– The company’s business performance

• Measure employee engagement through Employee Net Promoter Score (ENPS)

– Calculated by asking, “Overall, how likely are you to recommend a friend or colleague to work for Symantec?”

Performance Attributes

• Major survey categories and key drivers of employee satisfaction:

– Company: Recommend (ENPS), Climate of Trust, Ease of Doing Business

– Customer: Work Impacts on Customer

– Career: Overall Satisfaction

– Recognition and Rewards: Overall Satisfaction

– Manager: Overall Satisfaction

– Environment: Overall Satisfaction

Key Learnings • Semi-annual survey results are trending higher than initial SymPulse Survey benchmark in 2008

• Start first with the employee experience, which then drives customer and partner loyalty

• SymPulse results help drive focus areas from communication point of view

• Beneficial to use SymPulse Survey data in conjunction with other measurement and evaluation efforts to demonstrate progress with corporate initiatives (e.g., understanding of corporate strategy)

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Survey Measurement Details

Survey • Internal Communication Effectiveness Survey

Purpose • Assess Enterprise Product Group internal communication (IC) needs and preferences, and then develop an effective IC strategy based on survey findings

– A relatively new organization of 3,600 employees (primarily engineers) within Symantec

• Currently conducting similar surveys with Finance and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) region employees

– Considering company-wide adoption of an internal communication effectiveness survey

Key Learnings • Immediate manager viewed as most credible communication source (45.7%)

• Top three communication preferences:

– Email (67.4%)

– Department meetings or individual meetings with manager (45%)

– EPG Quarterly All-Hands Meetings (44.1%)

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Survey Measurement Details

Survey • Senior Leaders Meeting and Company-Wide Rollout Team Meeting Surveys

Purpose • Measure effectiveness of annual:

– Senior Leadership Meetings (SLMs) hosted by CEO to set direction for the year and lay foundation for company-wide communication cascade

– Company-wide rollouts designed to align all 17,500+ employees with Symantec’s vision, values, and strategy tied to fiscal year objectives

Key Learnings • 2007-2009 in-person SLMs had highest overall effectiveness scores and survey response rates compared to virtual leadership event held in 2009 using live streaming video technology

– Smaller, in-person meetings (200 senior leaders or less) are more engaging than virtual events with extended leadership team of 600

– Greater survey participation with hard-copy surveys handed out and collected at conclusion of in-person SLMs versus online survey for virtual leadership event

• Company-wide rollout continuity demonstrated past three years is proving effective

– Organization now expects this, and managers holding more engaging team meetings using customizable online toolkit materials with suggested discussion questions

• Survey scores on key areas of focus – management team direction and company strategy – are steadily improving

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Ira Gottlieb

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Employee commitment is “earned”…only after basic needs are met

Employee Comm: What Do Employees Want?

What ismy job?

Job responsibilities1

How amI doing?

Feedback, performance review, coaching

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Doesanyone care?

Listening, recognition3

How’s myunit doing?

Measurements,regular updates

from manager4

Where arewe headed?

Vision, mission,strategy 5

How canI help?

Commitment 6

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What Research Will Help Us Do

• Results of surveys and focus groups will enable us to:

– Fill information gaps

– Focus messaging and communication activities specifically on current employee issues

– Target communication to address the needs of a particular SBU

– Determine needs for communication training, coaching and tools for managers and leaders

– Identify the most and least effective communication tools and practices in reaching employees, fostering employee engagement and changing behavior

The goal of this research is to understand TSP’s current state and what needs to change to meet our objectives –

and we need data to reach that goal.

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Research Methodology

Online Survey Focus Groups

• 52% response rate (+8 point change from 2008)

• 2,794 of 5,401 employees completed survey. All employees with email invited to participate.

• All five SBUs. Electronic Security Solutions*, Life Safety, Fire Suppression, Fire Detection, Sensormatic Retail Solutions

• One pilot group of manufacturing employees surveyed in Monroe, NC (results reported separately)

• Three Demographic Breakouts. Geographic Location: APAC, Americas and EMEA; Job level: Director, Manager and Individual Contributor; Gender: Male, Female

• Translated in seven languages: German, Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, Korean and Dutch

• 58 questions: 46 multiple choice: 13 dual-response (TSP/SBU) and 31 single-response, one open-ended

• 5 point rating scale, from totally agree to neither agree/disagree to totally disagree. Results are aggregated in favorable, somewhat favorable and unfavorable scores.

• Administered August 3-12

• 15 focus groups: 13 in-person, 2 phone

• Manager and Individual Contributors

• All SBUs

• Multiple Geographic Locations: APAC (Shanghai, Singapore, and phone w/ Australia); Americas (Lexington MA, Westminster MA, Cranston RI, Monroe NC, Boca Raton FL, Marinette WI, Toronto Ontario); EMEA (Letchworth UK, Sunbury UK, phone w/ Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain)

• August 31-September 15

* Electronic Security Solutions results were also compiled for ACVS and Intrusion Security separately.

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What We MeasuredThese key indicators of communication effectiveness were measured at both the TSP and SBU level. In 2009, questions on Diversity & Inclusion, Ethics, TSP Portal, Core Values and leadership training were also added.

Understandingand alignment with

business goals

Effective leaderand manager

communication

Opencommunications

culture

Link to employee performance

How effectively do senior leaders and managers communicate with employees?

To what extent do communication programs and processes enable employees to perform well and have a positive impact on external customers?

To what extent do employees understand the

business, including the company’s strategy and

performance, and see the connection to what they do

in their jobs.

To what extent is communications across the organization timely,

two-way, accessible and collaborative?

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TSP Overall – Scorecard Category Scores

ROI Communication Scorecard™ Elements 2008 2009 Change

Understanding and Alignment and Business Goals 64% 66% +2

Effective Leader and Manager Communication 61% 64% +3

Open Communication Culture 52% 58% +6

Linked to Employee Performance 64% 66% +2

Overall Communication Effectiveness 60% 64% +4

All scores are reported as percent favorable (Strongly Agree + Agree)

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Scorecard Benchmark

• Tyco Safety Products scores below the benchmark average on three of five scorecard elements, with the biggest gap in understanding and alignment with business goals.

• In overall communication effectiveness, TSP scores slightly above the average.

Benchmark profile includes a compilation of Fortune 200 companies such as Boeing, Intel, Cisco and Chevron. Industries: High-tech, energy, manufacturing Revenue range: $3B - $200B Population range: 10,000 - 82,000

Scorecard Dimention TSP Low Avg High

Understanding and alignment with business goals 66% 62% 72% 85%

Effective leader and manager communication 64% 59% 65% 74%

Open communication culture 58% 49% 61% 71%

Linked to employee performance 66% 59% 66% 76%

Overall communication effectiveness 64% 49% 61% 72%

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Communicating Results & Action Plan to Employees

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Symantec CorporationQ&A

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Are you ready to measure?

YES

NO

% employees expressing commitment to the organization

Does your organization conduct a survey?

YES

NO

Is meaningful action taken in response to survey?

YES

NO

% employees expressing commitment to the organization within organizations that conduct a survey…

Are findings communicated to employees? 49%

70%

Source: © Mercer Human Resource Consulting

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Contact information:ROI Communication, Inc.™ office 831-430-0170email slewis@roico.comweb www.roico.com

Thank you to our panelists and our attendees