Internal Communications Strategy 2011 2013 Alison Cummins Communications Manager January 2011
INTRODUCTION 3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 5 EVALUATION OF THE INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY 2007-2009 6 TARGETS FOR THE INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY 2011-2013 7 Members 7 COMMUNICATION CHANNELS 8 Induction 8 Team meetings 8 PDRs 8 Changing Times 8 Core Brief 9 StaffNet 9 Email 9 Contact OneVale 9 Posters 10 Social Media 10 Communicating with hard to reach employees 10 School Staff 10 ENGAGING STAFF 10 Action Plan 12 2
Introduction 1. This is the Council s third Internal Communications Strategy. The Council s previous Internal Communications Strategy was adopted in April 2007 and covered the period 2007 to 2010.This revised Strategy will cover the period 2011 to 2013. 2. The Vale of Glamorgan Council is committed to communicating with its employees in a professional, transparent and honest way. The Council values its staff, recognising that they are its most valuable asset and that good communications are essential to professional and effective service delivery and working relationships. 3. The coming years will be difficult times for the public sector, particularly local government. Budget reductions mean that councils will have less to spend while factors such as the growing and aging population will create an increased demand for services. 4. The Vale will be asking staff to do more with less, while it undergoes a period of major change. This will call for a high level of effective internal communications to ensure that staff are kept well informed. 5. In today s economic and social climate the Council must ensure that its employees understand what the council is seeking to achieve, what changes are being made and why, and the impact on their own work and the Council as a whole. 6. Council employees are already dealing with a period of major change. Factors include: Budget reductions Reduction in staff and posts A move towards working in partnership with other public, private and voluntary sector bodies. Job evaluation and the implementation of new pay scales and associated terms and conditions Housing stock transfer 7. The majority of Vale employees are residents of the county. In the 2009 staff satisfaction survey 69.7% of respondents said they live in the Vale. This fact makes internal communication even more important. If employees understand what is happening at the council they will often naturally share this information with family, friends and neighbours. 8. Ipsos MORI national research shows that: Council staff are less likely to speak well of their organisation than private sector employees with only one in three likely to speak up for their council and sell its work externally The councils that perform most effectively are most likely to have staff who would speak up for their council externally 3
Councils that keep their staff well informed are rewarded with more motivated staff. 9. While there will be an increase in the volume of internal communications work, the council s communications team has not been immune from budget reductions. The team of three that dealt with internal and external communications, including media relations, has been reduced to two. This will have an effect on what can be delivered by the team. It also means that services have to take a more proactive stance where both internal and external communications are concerned, while dealing with reduced staff levels themselves. 10. In its Corporate Plan the Council describes its culture, including the staff and management behaviour that will help it achieve its overall vision for the Vale of Glamorgan: Innovation and creativity Being confident and outward looking A can do attitude Individuals being accountable and taking full responsibility for their actions, and learning from their experiences Trusting, motivating and empowering staff Recognising and celebrating excellent performance 11. The Council s guiding principles for internal communications are: Recognising that good communication is essential in a modern and efficient organisation and is the basis for good staff morale and motivation. Believing in communication as a shared responsibility. The Council has a responsibility to establish systems; managers and supervisors have an obligation to communicate with staff; and individual members of staff have a responsibility to ensure that questions, concerns and suggestions for improvement are raised and considered, and that they take time to read communications from the Council. Listening and responding to the suggestions, views and comments of employees and putting in place systems to achieve this. Informing employees on a regular basis of developments which affect service delivery and of other changes / improvements / developments of note. Providing information to all employees in the manner most appropriate to their needs and facilitating bottom up communication to support the exchange of information. Making a commitment to using clear, straightforward and positive language. Regular face-to-face communication between managers and staff through team meetings and reviews. Informing employees first wherever possible. 4
Commitment to honesty and integrity in communication with colleagues. Commitment to celebrating success and sharing best practice. Aims and Objectives 12. The Council s Corporate Plan 2010-14 sets out a number of aims to help create a positive culture for the council and the Internal Communications Strategy seeks to support the following aims in particular: Developing internal and external communications systems where information and views from staff and customers are freely exchanged and valued; Providing a supportive environment where colleagues can work together within and across services to deliver the improvement objectives of the council; Ensuring that the roles and responsibilities of elected members, managers and staff are clearly understood; Developing strong team working; Actively involving staff through seeking their views and opinions and providing feedback. 13. The Internal Communications Strategy aims to: ensure that staff are informed in a timely and apt manner about the Council s plans and goals. help to motivate staff, so increasing customer satisfaction, reducing absenteeism and aiding retention. develop staff as ambassadors for the Council. help the Council meet the requirements of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004. 14. We will achieve this by: improving employees understanding of the work of the Council; and increasing staff satisfaction with internal communications. 15. The council s key messages for staff are: The council is responsible for providing important services to the County s residents and these services can only be successfully provided with the full commitment of Council staff. The Council provides many successful services and its staff have much to be proud of. The Council values its staff and aims to work in partnership with them. The Council listens to and values the opinions of its staff. 5
16.In such a large organisation there will always be a great deal of information to be communicated to staff. To help prioritise these messages we must identify what staff want to know as these will be the messages to which they will be most receptive. Private sector research has found the following subjects (in order of importance) as being of the most interest to employees: the organisation s plans for the future career advancement opportunities job related how-to information productivity and performance improvements personnel policies and practices how the organisation is performing compared to similar organisations how the individual employee s job fits into the organisation how external events will effect their work how profits are used * financial results * *Generally these priorities pertain to the private sector, but public sector staff are interested in financial matters, such as budget setting. Evaluation of the Internal Communications Strategy 2007-2009 17.Ambitious targets were set for the previous Internal Communications Strategy and important progress has been made in how the Council relates to its staff. 18.A target was set to increase the percentage of staff that feel they are kept informed about the council s policies and plans from 51% (2005 result) to 60% by 2009. In the 2009 staff survey, 63.3% of respondents said that are kept informed about the council s policies and plans. 19.A target was set to increase the percentage of staff that see Core Brief from 65% (2005) to 85% by 2009. In the 2009 staff survey, 81.5% of respondents to the 2009 survey said that they see Core Brief. There is still more work to do in order to ensure that all staff are aware of the content of the Core Brief. 20.An action point was established to redesign and re-launch the Intranet as StaffNet by June 2007 and to undertake research to discover staff s views and set a satisfaction target to be measured in 2009. The Council s previous intranet site was replaced with StaffNet in November 2007. The 2009 staff survey found that 63.1% of respondents used StaffNet every day, with only 3.15% claiming they never use it. Actual satisfaction with the content of the Staffnet was not measured and this will be assessed in the next staff survey. 6
21.A target was set to increase the number of staff who are involved in team meetings from 65% (2005) to 90% by 2009. Although the figure increased from 2005, only 72.2% of respondents said that their managers arranged team meetings. 22.A target was set to increase the number of staff who say they have received corporate induction from 35% (2005) to 50% by 2009. This question was not asked in the staff survey in 2009, and will be addressed in the next survey. 23.Overall the Staff Satisfaction Survey 2009 found that 81.8% of staff responding were satisfied with the council s internal communications. Targets for the Internal Communications Strategy 2010-13 24.The Strategy will be reviewed regularly by the Communications Manager. The overall success of the strategy will be assessed using the results of the Staff Survey 2013. A staff survey will also be undertaken in 2011. 25.Targets for the Strategy are outlined below. Modest improvements have been set because of the previously mentioned reductions in communications staff resources. Increase the percentage of staff who are satisfied with internal communications from 81.8% to 85%. Increase the percentage of staff that feel they are kept informed about the Council s policies and plans from 63.3% to 65%. Increase the percentage of staff who see Core Brief from 81.5% to 85%. Work towards a satisfaction level of 75% for StaffNet. Increase the number of staff who are involved in team meetings from 72.2% to 80%. Members 26.Even though the Internal Communications Strategy is aimed at employees communication with Council members is an integral part of the internal communications strategy and the plan to improve internal communications. 27.Members have access to StaffNet with their own area, MemberNet. They are included on the Core Brief distribution list so the monthly Core Brief and any stand alone Core Brief messages are sent direct to their inboxes. 28.Some communications with Members are part of Council procedure, for example the provision of copies of committee reports and specifically designed communications are provided for them, for example briefings on important issues such as job evaluation and Prosiect Gwyrdd. 7
Communication Channels 29.The Strategy will be delivered by ensuring that all communication channels are designed to be their most effective. Key messages will underpin communications and they will be delivered via integrated communication campaigns. Delivery of the messages will be as efficient as possible, with particular effort made to communicate with hard to reach staff. 30.The Council has a number of internal communications channels at its disposal and all must be used as efficiently and effectively as possible. Induction 31.When new staff join the Council they complete a day s corporate induction. The day includes a welcome from the Chief Executive and presentations on a number of areas of importance to the council, such as communications and environmental issues. The afternoon is given over to customer service training. The Corporate Training and Development Team undertakes ongoing research to ensure the induction is useful to staff. Team meetings 32.Through team meetings, the system of PDRs (professional development reviews) and staff consultation the Council endeavours to make internal communication a two way process, encouraging staff to share their views and encouraging managers to listen to their staff. 33.The Staff Satisfaction Survey 2009 found that 72.2% of staff have regular team meetings. The challenge is to encourage more managers to hold team meetings more regularly. 34.Research will be undertaken into the dissemination of Core Brief and the question of team meetings will also be addressed. 35.The importance of face-to-face communication between colleagues is essential. It is the most effective way of delivering important and sensitive information and the method of communication most valued by employees. PDRs 36.The majority of staff receive either a Personal Development Review or Team Development Reviews (82.6% of respondents) and most find the system good or excellent. Changing Times and departmental publications 37.Changing Times was regarded as excellent/good by 90% of those surveyed in the Staff Satisfaction Survey 2009. At that time the magazine was produced quarterly, but the loss of communications unit staff has meant that it has not been possible to continue to produce the magazine regularly and it is proposed to produce the magazine twice a year from 2011. 38.The magazine is the only communications tool that reaches all Council employees, as many colleagues are not office based and do not have any, or regular access to a council computer, meaning that they can not access StaffNet and they do not automatically receive Core Brief. 8
39. A number of teams, including education and social services, also produce departmental newsletters. Core Brief 40.Core Brief is the council s monthly e-newsletter issued on behalf of the Corporate Management Team. Its content concentrates on synopses of Cabinet decisions of particular interest to staff and news from the Corporate Management Team (CMT). 41.Core Brief can be useful to remind staff with regular email access about events and training (especially as all staff do not/can not regularly visit the Intranet site and as Changing Times will now only be available twice a year). However, announcements should be kept to a minimum and the content should focus on informing staff about Council decisions. 42.Core Brief should be on the agenda of all team meetings and managers with staff who do not have regular access to computers should ensure it is displayed on staff notice boards. StaffNet 43.The Council s intranet site, StaffNet, was launched in 2007. It offers a vibrant home page, where the latest news and announcements can easily be found. Important documents, forms and information about all the directorates and their work are available on the site. Specialised areas include StaffCentral (for social events and the like) SchoolsNet and MemberNet. 44.StaffNet is an important and useful communication tool. Many agree that web based communication is the communication of the future. The problem for the Council is the number of staff who do not have access to a Council computer. At the moment external access to the Intranet is only available to those using a council laptop and security token. Ideally staff and Members should be able to access StaffNet from home. This would allow staff who do not have regular access to a Council computer the option of visiting StaffNet. How this might be achieved is to be investigated as part of this strategy s action plan. 45.To help ensure equality of access to information all staff should be allowed to access StaffNet on their Council computer and no manager should prohibit or block access. Email 46.Email is an excellent way to reach office-based staff. The fact that it is only available to those with easy access to computers, which excludes a significant proportion of Council staff, must always be borne in mind and other communication tools used to inform those without access to council email. Email should be kept for essential communication with StaffNet used for non emergency announcements. This helps to keep the email load on staff to a minimum. Contact OneVale 47.Contact One Vale (C1V) the Council s contact centre, is a valuable external communications channel, but it can also be usefully used to 9
communicate with staff in an emergency, for example advice has been made available to staff about working arrangements during severe weather. Posters 48.Posters are used throughout the Council to advertise various events and initiatives. They can be a useful way to inform hard-to-reach staff. Social Media 49.The Council has recently launched its first community Facebook page for residents of the Vale and we are developing a Facebook page for Vale employees. Facebook is the most commonly used social media and it offers the Council further opportunities to engage with staff, in particular those who are hard-to-reach groups. Communicating with hard to reach employees 50. Many Vale staff are not office based and have little or no access to a council computer. Therefore they cannot access StaffNet or Core Brief, meaning all Council employees do not have equal access to staff information. Some staff would like to access Council staff communications on their home computers. We will investigate whether an area of the Council s website could be set aside for staff communication. As is the case with StaffNet, no confidential information would be stored here but a login would be required to differentiate information designed for the public and that targeted at staff. This is particularly important now that the frequency of Changing Times, the only communication channel that reaches all staff, has had to be reduced. Engaging staff 51.The Council s internal communications win a high rate of satisfaction amongst staff (81.8%). However much of our communication with staff is top down. We give information to staff and, beyond PDRs and team meetings, there are few recognised ways that staff can communicate with the council as employees. 52.Many staff are on line at home and using social media on their mobile phones, laptops and PCs and are used to engaging in this way and live in a world where instant responses and answers to questions are expected. 53. The Council needs to communicate with its staff in a similar way and harness employees readiness to engage using on line communication. 54.The success of the recent Savings Challenge, where staff could submit ideas for budget savings on StaffNet, demonstrated staff s willingness to engage with the Council. We will investigate ways to engage staff, including using Facebook and StaffNet message boards. School Staff 55.A large proportion of the council s employees are based in its schools. They are important stakeholders, not only as staff, but also because of their position in the community and the fact that many will be Vale residents. 10
56.Changing Times is sent to the schools and a section of StaffNet, called SchoolNet is dedicated to information and news for Vale schools. Core Brief is also emailed to schools. Action plan 57. The attached action plan is for the forthcoming year. The communications manager will review the Internal Communications Strategy a year after its implementation and design a new action plan for the forthcoming year. 11
ACTION COMMUNICATION CHANNEL 1 Changing Times Produce Changing Times biannually. Plan; write, design, organise print and publication on StaffNet, distribute hard copies 2 StaffNet Review StaffNet to ACTIONS LEAD OFFICER/TEAM determine areas for improvement 3 StaffNet / Core Brief Investigate making StaffNet and Core Brief available to staff at home. Liaise with ICT to investigate possible solutions, then if viable ensure information is made available to staff externally 4 Facebook Develop a staff Facebook page. Design the pages and ensure that the pages are kept upto-date AC / JB / HT For each of the two editions 10 FTE days and 1K print cost. RESOURCES TARGET DATE May and November 2011 OUTCOMES RISKS Staff across the council receive corporate communication AM / AC 5 FTE days Ongoing Opportunities for communication offered by StaffNet are maximized AC / AM 5 FTE days February 2011 / On going JB / AC 52 FTE days January 2011 / Ongoing All staff have access to StaffNet whether they have a council computer or not All staff with access to a home computer can access staff information Staff are not kept informed of changes to procedures etc leading to service failure and/or staff dissatisfaction Staff are not kept informed of changes to procedures etc leading to service failure and/or staff dissatisfaction Majority of Council staff (those who are not office based) do not have fair access to information leading to service failure and/or staff dissatisfaction Majority of Council staff (those who are not office based) do not have fair access to information leading to service failure and/or staff dissatisfaction
5 Facebook Design & implement a publicity campaign to publicise the Facebook page to all staff especially hard to reach and managers so that they can publicise to their staff 6 Message boards / Forums Investigate the use of message boards and forums to help engage staff. Discuss and formulate initial ideas, implement trial project 7 Social Media Develop a protocol for the use of social media by staff as part of the Corporate Social Media Strategy that is under development for external and internal communications. Publicise the finished document to staff. 8 Core Brief / Team meetings Research the dissemination of Core Brief and the JB / AC 2 FTE days January 2011 TC/AC 3 FTE days March 2011 JB / AC 5 FTE days March 2011 RJ / BN 4 FTE days August 2011 13 All staff, including hard-to-reach staff are aware of the staff Facebook page Staff become more engaged with the council Staff are aware of their responsibilities when using social media. The percentage of staff who are aware of Core Majority of council staff (those who are not office based) do not have fair access to information leading to service failure and/or staff dissatisfaction Opportunities to engage with staff are lost. Reputational damage as a result of uninformed use of social media. Opportunities to communicate and engage with staff are
9 Internal communications survey AC - Alison Cummins JB - Jo Brewer HT - Hywel Thomas AM - Angela Magee HI - Huw Isaac BN - Bev Noon TC -Tony Curliss RJ - Consultation Intern provision of team meetings. Design and undertake research, write report and implement actions. Undertake a survey of staff regarding internal communications. Design survey, distribute, publicise, analyse and produce report and implement actions. RJ/BN/AC/JB 5 FTE days October 2011 14 Brief content and who take part in team meetings is increased. Current success of internal communications can be analysed and areas for improvement can be quickly identified and addressed. lost. Dissatisfaction with communications is not addressed leading to poor communication, leading to service failure and/or staff dissatisfaction.