The Hindu Business Line : Communication is in. Or is it?

Is internal communications a strategic initiative? Or is it a mechanical chore? Can it reduce employee attrition? Can it increase employee engagement? Does internal communication need a brand champion? Can its impact be measured? Whose baby is it? HR or Marketing Communications? Is internal communication only for technology companies? Is the ad agency really interested in this activity? What about an external specialist to handle internal communication?

Obviously, it is easier to ask questions than to find answers. I continue to specialise in this and did precisely that in a webinar on internal communication recently. A webinar is a wonderful tool as it enables you to communicate with a wide cross section of diverse people who are interested in the topic but who are in different places. (It is remarkably simple even for technologically challenged individuals like me). Yes, participants in the webinar have something in common; they are online. They can listen, participate and actually ask questions from their very desktops and that is precisely what happened.

In this webinar, powered by WebEx Communications, they got the wisdom of S. Padmanabhan, Executive Vice-President - Global Human Resources, Tata Consultancy Services, and Atul Takle, Head - Corporate Communications, Future Group. The Future Group is behind some of the largest retail brands in India such as Pantaloons and Big Bazaar, to name just two. The result of this webinar? A learning that I can share with you through this column.

The diversity of technology

The challenge of internal communication is perhaps at its most acute in a large, global and culturally diverse company like TCS which has a small matter of 90,000 employees. How do you communicate with them? Well let’s just throw in a little complexity.

TCS, till recently, India’s best kept success secret, operates in 42 global locations. That’s not all, as nearly 10 per cent of its employees are from other countries.

Its attrition rate is perhaps among the lowest in the industry. So clearly, the company is doing a few things right including communication. So what are the learnings from this software major?

Communication is critical. What an understatement! And yet no company, however well it manages its communication, can afford to sit back on its achievements. Communication is a process, not an event. Not a destination that you have reached and can exult about. In India, we have the challenge of multiple languages and yet software professionals are reasonably proficient in the English language. (Well, here I speak comparatively.) Most of them are engineers, even if they come out of vastly different institutions.

The rest of the world, however, is different. A software professional in Beijing is different from the same company’s employee in Switzerland. Does ‘India centric’ communication work through the length and breadth of the TCS world? No, it does not! And I guess Indian companies can take heart from the fact that their internal communication can never be as complex or as challenging.

Yes, it needs senior management involvement. Most certainly it needs reviews, course corrections and creative solutions to communication problems. TCS is committed to communication and sees that as a strategic value addition.

Retail is in the detail

What about retail? An emerging sector which challenges technology for a position of pre-eminence. No B.Techs from IIT or PGDMs from IIM serve you at Big Bazaar. The challenges of dealing with people from a variety of backgrounds most of whom are 10th / 12th standard pass are vastly different from dealing with techno wizards.

They work on the shop floor and are not online through their working day. They are probably more family centred than self-centred. The store is part of their family. They have hopes and aspirations. They are diverse and yet have something in common. They want to achieve. They are a mirror of India today and tomorrow. They look up to the store manager for guidance, inspiration and motivation.

So clearly, the same strategy that works for a software engineer will not work for them. Action is more important than posters, schemes that benefit the individual’s self development are more critical than quicker access to the net. Word-of-mouth is the most important ingredient in being the ‘employer of choice’. An Indian ethos is more important than a global one. The process is important but it’s all about people. Communication of a different sort clearly. The Future Group today has 18,000 employees. In four years, the numbers could well be 1,00,000. Clearly, communication will be and continue to be an integral part of the group’s growth strategy.

So what about the rest of us?

Every industry vertical, every company, every individual working in these companies and other companies is unique. Smart strategies don’t highlight differences but look at commonalities that will increase employee engagement.

What actually brings people together? What are the communication strategies that can make these happen? What must companies do? First and foremost is the realisation that communication is important irrespective of the industry you belong to.

Also, size should not be a deterrent. CEOs spend a lot of time talking to media. They probably spend more time with journalists than they spend with a whole host of internal audiences. They probably spend more time talking at external forums like the CII than at town hall meetings. They spend more time crafting their external positioning than working on their internal messaging. Isn’t there a problem here? So as a CEO, are you ready for a change in attitude? If you are a wannabe CEO, you can score a brownie point by nudging your CEO in that direction. Look inwards and show the way to your colleagues who are looking up to you for guidance.

Attitude is all fine but…

Both the large entities – one technology and one retail – conceded the need for external help in conceptualisation of the communication strategy and its execution. Some companies do it in-house. Good luck to them! Software engineers, however talented, cannot compete with copywriters. David Ogilvy said: “Don’t have a dog and bark yourself”. And yet, it is important to remember one thing.

The ad agency is not really interested in internal communication. Posters, however creatively done, will never win at Cannes nor will they be seen by millions of viewers as a commercial shown in a world cup match, and the lack of interest shows in the work. So clearly, there is a need for a specialist. Someone who understands people, processes and creativity. Someone who can respond and turn around quickly to a communication challenge. Source this specialist for your own good.

The way forward

So what do you do as a company? The first thing one needs to do is introspect and objectively assess the company’s current situation. What is the current level of communication? What are the key issues that need to be addressed? Is the intranet the only way? Where do people congregate? Is it the canteen, the water cooler or a private den that the employees have? What is the level of sophistication in communication that employees can understand and accept? At a strategic level, there is a need to align the brand’s external offering with what you wish to communicate internally.

Yes, internal communications is not rocket science. It needs an equal amount of head and heart. Whatever the size of your company or the nature of your business, if you are currently not having an internal communication programme, begin today. If you are doing it, figure out how to do it better. If you think you are doing it well, make yours an industry benchmark and share it, so that lesser mortals can learn from it. But the good news is that whatever efforts you put in, if properly planned and carefully executed they can yield disproportionate results. Get ready to communicate!

(Ramanujam Sridhar is CEO, Brand-Comm.)

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