Communications: Catalyst for Change Across the Corporation

by Kathy Keenan

In business, communications is usually perceived as a marketing tool used to sell products. In companies of greater sophistication, communications also is viewed as a way of increasing perceived value, making a case for the company’s interests with government, becoming known as a good corporate citizen, and other non-marketing objectives.

In a broader sense, communications is a tool that can be used by any astute manager to solve a wide range of problems. The same principles that are used to sell products or influence investors can be applied to the challenges faced by people working in disciplines as varied as tech support, purchasing or accounting.

The basic principles of communication don’t vary much, whether you’re talking about traditional marketing communications such as public relations or advertising, or whether you’re applying communications to practical management. The same questions need to be answered in all cases:

A large internetworking company recently executed a campaign that provides an excellent example of how these fundamental communications principles can be applied to solve non-marketing-related challenges. This firm (for the sake of convenience, “CompanyX”) recently brought in a new senior management team. One of the new VPs was hired to re-structure the purchasing function.

The purchasing VP’s agenda was to create partnerships with Company X suppliers, creating an environment where suppliers felt they were part of the firm’s process, and full recipients of the benefits of helping the company to be more successful. He had a serious job ahead of him, as suppliers felt that the company was hard to do business with and tended to isolate its suppliers from the product development process. (Who are we trying to reach/influence?)

The VP’s first step was to conduct a survey of the supplier base, determining exactly the issues the suppliers had with Company X and what changes they wanted to see. (Sphere of interest)

Armed with this information, the purchasing VP hired us and asked us to develop a program to communicate key messages:

The primary objective was to change suppliers’ perceptions of Company X. While realizing that the suppliers would be more convinced by long-term changes on the company’s part than by merely hearing promises being made, it was still necessary to create a high enough noise level to convince them that Company X’s intention to create supplier partnerships was genuine and that real and substantive change was afoot. Suppliers’ conviction that Company X was serious about the new program would in turn change the way that suppliers operated with the firm. (Change in behavior/ perceptions)

Two vehicles were selected to communicate this information to suppliers. The first was an event where suppliers could see and hear for themselves about the new program directly from Company X’s management. Second, a newsletter was developed to channel information about new developments throughout the year. (Effective communications channels)

To make an impression on Company X’s supplier executives, the event had to be unique and memorable. The theme of “Tearing Down the Wall,” was based on the phrase used by many suppliers to describe the barriers between them and their customer. The event opened with a lively lobby scene that looked as though event-goers were in the midst of a construction zone: hardhat workers sawed and drilled, a cement mixer churned, yellow and black construction zone tape festooned the area, and plywood and a chain link fence kept attendees from entering the meeting room until registration was complete.

Once in the room, people saw a large “stone” wall, covered with graffiti describing the barriers that Company X needed to overcome with its suppliers—phrases like “poor communications.” The tables were decorated with centerpieces made of bricks, construction tape, crowbars and flowers.

Early in the meeting, right after describing the walls or barriers that suppliers were unhappy about, the purchasing VP got on stage and destroyed the wall with an oversized sledgehammer. Once the wall was demolished, presentations from the key purchasing groups began, with each manager describing the changes he or she was making in the supplier relationship and in the organization of the department.

After the presentations, each attendee was provided with a new “Purchasing Operating Manual,” with all the information needed to know how to work with the new Company X – and a small box of chocolate tools to remind them that the firm was “Building Partnerships with Suppliers.”

Evaluation forms filled out by the event–goers indicated a very high level of positive response:

Now that the firm’s new supplier partnership program is underway, a quarterly newsletter will help to carry critical information to all suppliers, and continue to build a positive image of the company. The newsletter will provide continuity, and provide the company’s management with a vehicle for direct communication with all suppliers.

The Company X program shows how communications can be applied outside the marketing arena to solve other types of challenges, in any area of an organization. The challenge is to create congruence between the corporation’s key messages and the audience’s sphere of interest: it is in this overlapping area that change in perception or behavior takes place. An effective channel for communications is the attractor that causes this overlap of interest.

Of course, the proof is in the pudding: communications is a catalyst that can begin the process of change; excellent execution is required to complete it.