EFFECTIVE INTERNAL COMMUNICATION STARTS

AT THE TOP
Help executives understand the need for clear,
concise communication by Rodney Gray and Larry Robertson
In this article, Rodney Gray, employee communication research specialist,
argues the case for improving senior executive communication in organizations. Larry Robertson, communication advisor to senior executives, outlines what communicators can do to support CEO and senior executive
communication.

Executive communication:
why bother?

Research reveals
that improving the
communication of
senior executives,
especially the CEO,
may be the most
cost-effective way to
improve employees
satisfaction with
communication in
their organizations.

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Communication World I July-August 2005

Senior executives, especially the

CEO, provide leadership to
align the organization with its
vision. They set the direction,
and their behavior determines
the tone and culturehow the
vision will be achieved.
But employees are often not
impressed. In countless organizations, employees say that
their senior executives are not
visible (which employees interpret to mean that they dont
care), they give few clues as
to the future direction of the
company, they are not open
and honest, they dont involve
and consult those affected by
change, they fail to recognize
achievement, and sometimes
they even punish those who
raise issues. Certainly this is not
the case in all organizations,
but sadly it is true of many.
Research reveals that improving the communication of senior
executives, especially the CEO,
may be the most cost-effective
way to improve employees
satisfaction with communica-

tion in their organizations.

Finding the Right Direction,
in the NovemberDecember
2004 issue of CW, described
how research conducted in
Australia found that effective
senior executive communication is generally one of the highest correlates of satisfaction with
internal communication (typically around 0.7 out of 1.0).
However, on average, only
38 percent of Australian employees are satisfied with communication with their senior
executives, and only 35 percent
with communication with their
CEOs. About two-thirds of
employees are not prepared to
say they are satisfied.
Not a pretty picture. Little
wonder that many executives
complain that their workforce is
not engaged. The high correlation between ineffective communication by senior executives
and low levels of employee satisfaction is likely to be the case in
other countries as well.
Whats more, a study conducted for the Allen Consulting
Group in 2003 to identify the

key drivers of effective change

management found a strong statistical relationship between
CEO and divisional executive
communication and organizational satisfaction and culture.
This correlates strongly with
employees perceptions that
major changes appear well
planned and implementation
of changes is well handled, as
described in CW. CEO and divisional executive communication
was found to be far more likely
to influence employees perceptions that change was well
planned and well implemented
than, say, immediate manager or
team communication.
Communication audit results
from other organizations reveal
some very shabby scores:
10 percent of employees agreed
that executives were aware of
their concerns.
15 percent agreed that the
head office communicated
effectively.
19 percent agreed that senior
executives were visible.
19 percent agreed that executives sought their views and
listened.
21 percent agreed that they
were informed of plans and
directions.
23 percent agreed that executives communicated well.
www.iabc.com/cw

To put these audit findings

into perspective, our research
found that, on average, 61 percent of employees are satisfied
with communication with their
immediate manager, and 63 percent understand the expectations of them in their job roles.
Its not as if employees
demands on senior executives
are that taxing. Research of
what topics employees wish to
hear about from their CEO
reveals a limited range of such
big picture topics as:
The future of the organization.
Overall corporate strategy.
Top-line financial results.
Major changes (e.g., redundancies).
Feedback from the board of
directors (or, in the public
sector, government).
Major stakeholder issues.
Responses to media attention.
Employees also understand
that the CEO and other executives cant visit often. For example, pilots in a 17,000-employee
airline said they didnt need to
hear from the popular CEO personally about the future of the
business (which was precarious
at the time) because hes too
busy. But they did expect to be
kept fully informed by the chief
pilot (the senior executive
responsible for them).
Curiously, big road shows or
town hall meetings dont appear
to be the answer, although they
feature the CEO and/or other
executives live. Typically,
50 to 60 percent of employees
in Australia are satisfied with
them, but these events correlate only moderately with
their overall satisfaction with
communication.
Research suggests that the
tools we use (road shows,
intranet, e-mail, video streaming, newsletters and the like) can
be used to support face-to-face
www.iabc.com/cw

CEOs seem to be listening

recent survey of 500 PR practitioners conducted by IABC and PR News provides some
hope for the future of executive communication.
While research may well show that employees in
many organizations think communication with
their senior executives can improve, most heads
of corporate communication think their CEOs at
least have the right attitude. Fully 80 percent of
PR heads believe their CEO understands the
importance of communication, not just when there
is an issue or crisis. However, one in 10 do not.
Moreover, 70 percent say their CEOs see PR
as an investment in the future, not just a cost.
And two-thirds say the CEO usually accepts my
recommendations. But again, one in 10 say
their CEO does not.
Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed said
their CEOs willingly make an effort (that is, put
in time) to maintain good relations with employees. This is ahead of their efforts to maintain
good relations with stockholders (64 percent),
analysts (50 percent) and the media (64 percent),
but behind customers and clients (83 percent)
and business or alliance partners (84 percent).
Still, a significant 23 percent of CEOs have yet
to be convinced of the symbolic nature of their
role as far as employees are concerned.
On a personal level, three-quarters of PR practitioners think their CEO would say I understand
the business, although only half ask my opinion

communication with executives.

Our media efforts should develop relationships, not simply convey information. Remember,
communication is about the creation of meaning and understanding, not simply moving
information around.

Its about authenticity

Do you think the CEO is gesturing correctly? asked the vice
president of communications of
a multinational manufacturing
company, at a CEO rehearsal. I
looked at him incredulously
and replied, This isnt about
performance. Its about authenticity, credibility and clarity. Its
whether the organizations various constituents are able to

about the PR implications of future directions of

the business. This may be because only 40 percent of respondents reported that the PR function
reports directly to the CEO, and only 57 percent
said they attend meetings of the executive team
at least monthly.
The write-in comments to the survey revealed
that at least a few CEOs dont yet recognize the
importance of executive communication with
employees. The respondents noted that:
The CEO doesnt understand the strategic
importance of employee communications as it
relates to ROI for the business.
The CEO puts very little weight on PR.
Considers it a cost.
Demoted it [the function]. He does not understand its value to the big picture and is focused
on cost savings at present.
I do not meet with the CEO unless Im preparing him for a media interview.
A comparison of the value that CEOs place on
functions within a company showed that 65 percent of the respondents felt that their CEO valued
corporate affairs/PR at least as much as advertising; 41 percent felt the CEO valued PR at least as
much as sales; 57 percent, as much as marketing;
39 percent, as much as legal; and 50 percent, as
much as human resources.
R.G. & L.R.

understand, believe and relate

to what the CEO is telling them.
Gesturing should be natural. If
its prompted by a script or some
other instruction, its not. The
vice president shrugged; his boss
looked relieved.
Too many professional communicators seem to believe that
business communication is more
about presentationthe event,
stagecraft, choreography, props
and other paraphernaliathan
about straightforward, genuine
human interaction. Effective
communication is how we all
successfully connect with and
engage others every day, taking
them on our personal journey of
ideas. But they only come along
if they trust us, if they feel we

Rodney Gray is with

Employee Communication &
Surveys in Sydney, Australia,
and has worked with the IABC
Research Foundation. He can
be reached at rodneygray1@
compuserve.com.
Larry Robertson is
principal of Robertson Burns,
based in Sydney, Australia.
He can be reached at larry@
robertsonburns.com.au.

Communication World I July-August 2005

27

While our content,

systems and tactics
may be well regarded
by our executive
colleagues, we cant
neglect our personal
communication skills.

respect them and if our journey is

meaningful to them. So communication is about feelings, not
just facts. Its no different in
organizations.
Many of those same words
appear in organizational mission
statements. Most are communication wordsfor example, we,
trust, commitment, win/win, openness, sharing, recognition, respect,
people, stakeholders, engagement.
Executives certainly recognize
the importance of communicationin theory. In practice,
however, they fail too often.
Perhaps this is hardly surprising, given that most senior
executives achieve their positions as a result of their success
as managers and operators, not
as leaders and communicators.
Theyre evaluated more on
business performance than on
personal behavior. So the focus
is inevitably on tasks before
people. Yet theres a clear link
between outstanding organizational performance and outstanding culture.

We must seize every

opportunity to engage
spontaneously and
meaningfully in our
own affable style with
others around the
workplace.

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Communication World I July-August 2005

Seizing opportunities
First and foremost, communicators must be exemplars. We too
must walk the talk as communication managers and as leaders.
While our content, systems and
tactics may be well regarded by
our executive colleagues, we
cant neglect our personal communication skills. We must seize
every opportunity to engage
spontaneously and meaningfully
in our own affable style with
others around the workplace.
We must resolve to defeat the
disinterest, even cynicism, so
prevalent within many organizations. Well achieve this by not
just what we say but how we say
it; by listening actively and
showing we care; by picking up
on feedback and ensuring its
acknowledged in future communication by the appropriate
executives; and, most important,
by revealing our own hopes,
feelings and imperfections,

demonstrating that we too are

human, sincere and vulnerable.
Second, communicators must
be advocates. To be successful,
we must earn the confidence
and respect of our executives by
proving our worth. Given that
they are primarily focused on
process and outcome, this
requires synchronizing our communication strategy with the
organizations business strategy
and our activities with the organizations operations. We need
to remind executives of the
correlation between winning
cultures and winning performances. Every executive meeting should end with clarity
about whats to be communicated, to whom, by whom,
when and how. Communication
should be kept short and simple,
whatever the medium.
Assure executives that repetition is a good thing, however
familiar or even bored they
themselves may be with the subject matter. Executives need to
talk regularly to employees about
the organizations purpose, activities, goals, points of difference,
customers, competitors, and how
their departments and their own
personal efforts contribute. If
employees arent clear about
these things, we and our executive colleagues have work to do.
Third, communicators must
be coaches, working closely with
executives, not in isolation.
Remind them that theyre leaders and role modelsthat effective communication is a core
leadership quality and a two-way
process that is about informing
as well as influencing others. We
should demonstrate that we
want to help by giving executives the confidence, motivation
and tools to be able to communicate well. Have the courage to
keep them up to the mark. If
were reluctant or unable to do
so, we should bring in outside
experts. Search for opportunities, formal and informal. Faceto-face communication works

best, as do smaller events.

We need to explain to our
colleagues that in communication, like most things in life,
what goes around comes around.
So executives have to recognize
that if they want to be listened
to, trusted and respected, they
have to reciprocate.

Measuring results
Clearly, no single activity or
event will achieve this. As with
any worthwhile journey, it takes
time, persistence and resolve. A
dose of humility helps too.
Results are the measure of
organizational success, and each
organization, whatever its nature
or purpose, is a people organization. However brilliant the idea,
product or strategy, executives
cant achieve their organizations goals on their own. To
succeed, they must strike a balance between tasks and people,
and so bring their employees on
the journey. But employees will
only come along if theyre clear
about where theyre headed and
why, and if they trust and feel
appreciated by those taking
them there.
As I put it to a CEO recently,
This companys success depends
on the quality of its daily conversations. And communicators must take the lead in
enabling these conversations.
Perhaps its time to review
those media training budgets
(how many in your organization
really have to, or indeed should,
speak with the media, anyway?)
and to allocate more time and
resources to developing communication skills such as engagement, conversation, listening,
negotiation, collaboration, conflict management, facilitation,
emotional intelligence and, yes,
presentation at all levels.
In short, there is much evidence that we can get a greater
bang for our buck by putting
an effort into improving executive communication. And there
is much that we can do. CW
www.iabc.com/cw