Yarra City Council

Internal Communications at Yarra

2015 Government Communications AustraliaBest Internal Communications/Engagement Award Entry

2015 Government Communications Australia Awards | Internal Communications at Yarra City Council 2

Executive Summary

Yarra City Council has over 1220 staff spread across dozens of work sites including three municipal town halls, five libraries, three leisure centres and a golf course, three works depots, aged and disability centres and youth and family service hubs making internal communications a major (but not insurmountable) challenge – and very much a necessity!

Prior to 2014 Yarra’s communications focus was solely external (media, publications, issues management, advocacy and digital).

In 2013/14 Yarra City Council embarked on the development and implementation of the One Yarra Strategy for organisational cultural change. This set the clear objective to establish and improve excellence in Internal Communications.

Yarra set out to

• Develop and resource an Internal Communications Strategy and Action Plan for Yarra.

• Respond faster, more accurately and with confidence in interactions with our internal and external community.

• Develop internal communication service standards at Yarra.

• Create and improve staff connection, engagement and internal awareness of key issues or direction

As part of the One Yarra journey, Yarra’s Communications branch undertook extensive benchmarking and analysis, and consultation and engagement with staff across the organisation.

From here the branch developed Yarra’s first Internal Communications Strategy and Action Plan – the vision of which was to strengthen our internal communication so as to ensure our workforce is supported, connected, capable, and equipped to contribute to a positive and productive organisation.

During the process, the CEO and Executive identified the value of, and need for, dedicated resources to support the strategy. This was achieved with the appointment of Yarra’s first Internal Communications Adviser.

The achievements to date include:

• For the first time ever, outposts (works depots, leisure centres, libraries, child care and youth and aged service centres) have regular access to internal communications through the use of coordinated and managed internal poster cases and printed copies of the CEO’s weekly Monday Musings.

• Now with a targeted and dedicated approach to internal communications staff have access to corporate messaging quicker and more reliably than in the past.

• Internal communications now involves more staff than ever before with team members and officers able to feed directly into channels and assist in the production of messaging.

• Improvements to the style and content of internal communications to engage staff rather than inform them has seen improvements in staff wellbeing and morale.

Yarra City Council, Victoria.Contact Information:Name: Cameron GrayTitle: Internal Communications AdvisorYarra City CouncilP: (03) 9205 5177E: cameron.gray@yarracity.vic.gov.au

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Criterion

1.

Yarra City Council understands internal communication is integral to improving organisational culture and performance.

We have over 1220 staff spread across dozens of work sites, including three municipal town halls, five libraries, three leisure centres and a golf course, three works depots, aged and disability centres and youth and family service hubs, making internal communications a major (but not insurmountable) challenge – and a necessity!

Prior to 2014 Yarra’s communications focus was solely external (media, publications, issues management, advocacy and digital).

Yarra City Council had:

• A very poor intranet.

• A basic monthly staff e-newsletter produced by our HR team.

• No targeted plan for delivering internal communications aligned to our corporate and organisational vision.

• No dedicated resourcing of internal communications.

This was leading to a lack of coordinated and effective communication across the organisation, inconsistent messaging, staff avoiding responsibility for collaboration and a widespread culture of passive avoidance.

Feedback from successive staff surveys consistently rated internal communications as a “missing link” and a priority for improving organisational culture. The organisation identified that there needed to be a change.

In 2013/14 Yarra embarked on a fresh approach to organisational culture through the ONE Yarra Organisational Strategy.

The Communications team played a critical role in helping to develop and communicate the vision and objectives for the new One Yarra Strategy. A key enabler of One Yarra was the improvement of internal communications.

So the team set about developing Yarra’s first comprehensive Internal Communications Strategy and Action Plan. Our vision was to strengthen the organisation’s communication to ensure our workforce is supported, connected, capable and equipped to contribute to a positive and productive culture.

We wanted to ensure:

• A more cohesive culture where everyone is focused on the same goals and has the same objectives.

• More collaboration and sharing of information and resources across departments and across sites.

• A consistent spread and ownership of important corporate information.

• Improved staff confidence and decision making.

• Enhanced systems, processes and procedures that better equip staff to deliver quality outcomes.

• Higher retention and job satisfaction.

Vijaya VaidyanathCEO at the City of Yarra

“Internal Communications is a pillar of our ONE Yarra culture. It empowers staff to share stories,

experiences and information which ultimately builds a collaborative

and cohesive culture.”

The issue

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Criterion

2.

Joanne MulcahyExecutive Manager

Communications, Customer Service and Advocacy,

Yarra City Council

“Valuing and resourcing Internal Communications is a crucial first step to improving collaboration

and culture.”

The ONE Yarra Strategy set the clear objective to establish and improve excellence in Internal Communications at Yarra.

The objectives for our Internal Communications Strategy were to:

• Respond faster, more accurately and with confidence when interacting with our internal and external community.

• Improve the flow of information and engagement, vertically and horizontally, across the organisation.

• Develop and resource an Internal Communications Strategy for Yarra.

• Enhance consultation practices across the organisation.

• Develop internal communication service standards at Yarra.

• Revitalise Yarra’s internal communication channels.

• Create more collaborative physical spaces and breakaway areas to enhance informal internal communication and increase wellbeing.

Objectives

Yarra established six ONE Yarra cross organisational CORE groups – one of which was dedicated to Internal Communications. This group contributes actively to the implementation of the Internal Communications Strategy and provides a broad focus group for ongoing internal communications campaigns.

Pictured are staff at the launch of the ONE Yarra CORE groups.

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Criterion

3.

After 12 months of consultation and development, Yarra City Council launched its fresh, new and exciting Internal Communications Strategy (2015 – 2018) with the vision to strengthen our internal communication to ensure our workforce is supported, connected, capable and equipped to contribute to a positive and productive organisation.

Consultation and engagement included:

• CEO staff surveys and forums.

• Staff workshops analysing employee satisfaction results.

• The One Yarra Organisational Working Group meetings

• Executive, divisional and senior management meetings.

• Focus groups with the Communications and HR units.

• An Internal Communications Survey.

• Drop-in and listening post sessions.

Key findings showed:

• Staff meetings, corporate inductions, CEO briefings, the Intranet, Staff Matters newsletter and CEO’s weekly Monday Musings email were highly valued.

• Direct contact with the CEO through the CEO Briefings are important.

• Face to face contact with Executive Group is sought after and highly valued.

• Individual communication skills training and professional development are sought after.

• There is a need to introduce a more forward-focussed agenda, with greater scope for strategic discussion and informed decision making and formal tracking of actions for internal meetings.

• Informal networking, team building and socialisation are highly valued.

As part of the strategy, an action plan with 11 realistic and achievable objectives was developed and endorsed by the Executive team.

The objectives are to be achieved over a three year period with monitoring and evaluation to occur throughout.

To bring the vision from the strategy to life, and meet the objectives, the following improvements have already been made, many of which occurred during the development of the strategy to achieve runs on the board and build a groundswell of support and improvements for Internal Communications at Yarra.

1. Internal Communications Advisor Role

The CEO and Executive identified the value of, and the need for, dedicated resources to support the development of the strategy and to support the implementation of the actions. An Internal Communications role was created that reports directly to the Executive Manager, Communications, to provide advice and expertise in communications and internal engagement.

2. Internal Communications Framework

As part of the development of the strategy much work went into developing a framework that would guide how internal communications was actually done at Yarra. Considered through an outcomes and audience focus, the framework ensures that the communication channel is matched to the desired outcome, moving up an engagement spectrum from Awareness, Understanding, Acceptance and Ownership / Participation. The framework also importantly addresses the need for ongoing monitoring,

Solution

reporting and evaluation to measure continued success and ensure effective internal communications at Yarra. A monitoring matrix provides the grounding for continuous improvement and reporting.

3. Cross-organisational CORE Groups

A cross organisational group of Yarra staff was established to provide ongoing input into the implementation of the Internal Communications Strategy and campaigns. This group meets on a regular basis to review progress and provide advice on how internal communications contributes to Yarra’s ongoing success.

4. Improvement and additions to Internal Communications Channels

The follow improvements have been made:

• Improvement and modernisation of the CEO’s weekly email update including the introduction of video content.

• Coordinated support and promotion of internal events including supporting digital content creation with photographs and video.

• Implementation of an annual Internal Communications Plan to ensure content is changed and updated regularly and coordinated to ensure that peaks and troughs are effectively managed.

• Implementation of static poster display cases coordinated by Internal Communications to ensure information is current, up to date and well presented

• Provision of access to the intranet outside of the corporate network through secure login.

• Production of an pdated quarterly staff magazine.

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The development and implementation of Yarra’s first Internal Communications Strategy has been effective in improving information flow, collaboration and culture.

Some results include:

• Feedback received from staff has been very positive with many reporting that they feel more connected to the organisation and its direction.

• Communication to staff has improved with access to messages now available over more channels and consistently planned and delivered. Now with a targeted and dedicated approach to internal communications, staff have access to corporate messaging more quickly and reliably than in the past.

• Staff have greater exposure to the CEO and Executive through the use of video and more digital online communications. Improvements to the style and content of internal communications to engage staff rather than inform them has seen improvements in staff wellbeing and morale.

• Internal communications now involves more staff than ever before with team members and officers able to feed directly into communications channels and assist in the production of messaging. A dedicated resource that now provides advice to

managers and executive directors has improved their communications to their team, assisted in the delivery of the organisational development actions and outcomes from staff satisfaction surveys.

• With the introduction of a monitoring and reporting framework, Yarra City Council can now measure the efficacy of internal communications. Monthly reporting of the intranet traffic indicates that the use of the tool continues to grow as more people are provided with access and more information is made available.

Budget

The strategy was produced in-house with use of internal resources reducing the cost to the Council. This also provided an engagement opportunity where all staff had the chance to provide feedback and input on how they wanted to communicate.

Over six months, the strategy was developed, approved by the executive and launched to Yarra with a clear direction for internal communications for the next three years.

The ongoing financial commitment to Yarra City Council is as follows:

• Internal Communications Advisor Role – $85,000

• Internal Communications Resources – $10,000

Results

Criterion

4.

Examples

The improvements to internal communications at Yarra have had positive impact on Yarra City Council. This is demonstrated through the following specific examples:

• There have been more than 400 contributions to the updated CEO’s weekly Monday Musings providing key information to staff. Prior to the implementation there was no avenue for staff to communicate key issues other than the use of All Staff emails. This has reduced email traffic, ensured a consistent approach to key information and provided a strong avenue for staff to share and celebrate success with each other.

• Major internal change projects have been extremely successful, largely due to the dedicated focus on internal communications and the implementation of internal communications plans. This includes major changes to Council’s fleet management and booking system and the implementation of our Accommodation Plan which includes the relocation of large numbers of staff to new offices.

• For the first time ever, outposts (works depots, leisure centres, libraries, child care and youth centres and aged service centres) have regular access to internal communications through the use of coordinated and managed internal poster cases and printed CEO’s weekly Monday Musings.

Staff are encouraged to foster cross-organisational relationships and engage in informal internal communications

Pictured is staff meeting at Lennox Street Park

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Key outcomes and evaluation

Criterion

5.

Objective Key Outcome• Respond faster, more accurately and with confidence in

interactions with our internal and external community.• An Internal Communications Strategy and Plan now means that

internal communications messages are coordinated and planned.

• A dedicated internal communications resource means that as priorities change or issues emerge the organisation is prepared to respond promptly.

• Improve the flow of information and engagement vertically and horizontally, across the organisation.

• Improvements to current internal communications channels, the introduction of new channels and improvements in technology now mean that all staff have access to internal communications key messages on a regular basis.

• Develop and resource an Internal Communications Strategy for Yarra.

• Strategy developed with implementation plan.

• Enhance consultation practices across the organisation. • An Internal Communications Framework has been developed with consideration of engagement and change management best practise principles including IAP2. An outcomes and engagement focus approach means that internal audiences and desired outcomes are considered throughout the development of internal communications.

• Develop internal communication service standards at Yarra. • Internal Communications planning documents have been developed and implemented.

• Revitalise Yarra’s internal communication channels. • The weekly CEO’s message and internal staff newsletter have both been updated including the introduction of quality video content.

• Creating more collaborative physical spaces and breakaway areas to enhance informal internal communication and increase wellbeing for our staff.

• Through the implementation of Council’s Accommodation Plan, consideration has now been made to create physical spaces that positively impact on internal communications.

Challenges

• Seeking “buy-in” for a dedicated internal communications resource from the Executive and Senior Management teams. This was overcome through presentations to senior leaders and one on one meetings to build trust and confidence in the value of having a dedicated resource.

• Securing the funding for the resource in a competitive fiscal environment. This was overcome through careful planning with the Finance and People and Culture teams, and by seeking “buy-in” (as mentioned above) from the Executive team.

• Engaging staff across the organisation to participate in key events. Staff engagement continues to present challenges for internal communications but adopting an outcomes focused engagement framework has seen an improvement on this challenge.

• Encouraging staff to embrace change. This was overcome by providing staff opportunity to shape the direction through the consultation

phase and opportunities for involvement like with the CORE group.