Internal Communication Strategy 1. Introduction 1.1 The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales recognises in the Strategic Plan the importance of being a good employer and is committed to providing a positive environment in which to work and to continue to develop and support staff. Effective communication is key to the success of the organisation and the Ombudsman is committed to the internal communication strategy recognising that: staff have the right both to be informed about, and to participate in, decisions affecting their working life; effective communication is known to assist in making staff feel valued, which generates commitment, helps deliver a high quality service and achieves corporate goals. 1.2 Good internal communication is a continuous process and it is everyone s responsibility. 2. Principles of the Strategy 2.1 The following are the core principles of the internal communications strategy: teamwork and collaboration informing/engaging and openness listening and responsiveness. 2.2 The strategy emphasises the importance of two-way communication; i.e. that communication is an interactive process, and is a knowledge and information exchange, rather than merely their transmission. 2.3 The strategy takes account of staff views and opinions of how internal communication could be improved. - 1 -
3. Objectives of the Strategy 3.1 The objectives of the strategy are to: to ensure that staff are well informed and understand the planned strategic direction of the PSOW to allow staff to be more actively involved on a routine basis in planning and decision making to ensure that staff are encouraged to put forward their views and concerns, that they are listened to and understood by managers to develop a culture where managers and staff feel motivated and empowered to make a contribution, and where communication and the sharing of knowledge and information is seen as a joint responsibility to encourage an environment of openness, honesty, consistency and clarity of communication. 4. Methods of Communication 4.1 To enable effective internal communication consideration will need to be given as to the most appropriate method in each circumstance. The method chosen will have borne in mind, for example, whether this is to: give information which should be conveyed in an easily understood form that does not result in information overload. obtain views of staff involve staff. Clearly, some methods will achieve more than one of these objectives. 4.3 The two main types of communication are: face to face written and the means by which these are to be achieved within the PSOW office are set out below. 5. Face to Face Communication 5.1 The organisation has a number of groups and teams which should enable staff to discuss issues affecting the office. Each group has its role in relation to internal communication, but particular attention is given below to the role of team meetings, where the formal role of briefings reside. - 2 -
5.2 Team Meetings: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) It is important that all members of a team are informed about developments within the PSOW office and meeting regularly gives people the opportunity to ask questions or bring up any issues that may arise. It is the responsibility of managers who attend the Management Team to brief their staff about the issues raised at the meeting. The Core Brief that is issued immediately after Management Team meetings will form the basis of, and support, the briefings. Depending on the structure of the teams, briefings may take place on a cascade basis. The briefings should not be limited to issues discussed at Management Team meetings, but should include any other issues which need to be fed back to staff within a team and issues which staff want to refer up to the Management Team. Furthermore, each team has a representative on Management Team Sub- Groups (e.g. Complaints Management Review Group). Team meetings should be an opportunity to discuss issues arising from these meetings too and to feedback as appropriate. 5.3 All Staff Briefing Seminars/Workshops: (a) (b) These will be held, when appropriate, to feed back and discuss key issues affecting the office. At the very least there will be one such seminar a year to coincide with the production or publication of the Strategic Plan and/or Operational Plan. 5.4 The Staff Representative Council: The membership of the Staff Representative Council includes the Ombudsman and the Chief Operating Officer/Director of Investigations and trade union staff representatives. The main purpose is to: ensure a mutual exchange of information. involve staff (through their representatives) in decision making consult on policies which form the basis of the employment relationship for staff. [Note: consultation with staff on such policies also takes place via postings to the intranet.] 5.5 Task & Finish/Project Groups: From time to time groups will be formed to deal with specific issues and projects. It is important that these groups have a communication strategy in place to ensure that staff are aware of progress/developments, etc. - 3 -
5.6 One to One Meetings: (a) With the Ombudsman: The Ombudsman will make himself available on an annual basis for all staff who wish to meet and is always happy to make himself available should individual staff wish to raise a matter. (b) With Managers: Outside of the Appraisal Process, there are always regular discussions between managers and individual members of staff. However, staff may request additional sessions with their manager if they feel that they would like the opportunity to feedback views, or issues of concern. 6. The Written Word 6.1 There are several means by which knowledge, information and ideas can be shared within the PSOW office in written form. The main methods are addressed below. 6.2 Intranet: The intranet allows staff to access and share a wide variety of information as and when they need or want it. It is an effective way of distributing office-wide information to all staff and is also an interactive facility. This is where breaking news will be posted as well as the whole host of corporate policies and procedures, minutes from team meetings. 6.3 E-Mail: This should be seen as a supplementary method for internal communication and may be more appropriate when wishing to communicate with members of teams rather than the whole of the organisation. However, for oneto-one internal communication e-mail should be used sparingly it is preferable to pick up the phone; or better still walk over to speak to a colleague face to face. 6.4 Staff Suggestions: The intranet will have a facility to enable staff to put forward suggestions as when they arise and will be published on the intranet. 6.5 Staff Newsletter: A newsletter will be produced on a quarterly basis, and will carry a range of news and views from the Ombudsman, the Chief Operating Officer/Director of Investigations, Managers and staff and also softer (social) type issues. 6.6 Ombudsman s Casebooks: On a quarterly basis, the Ombudsman s Casebook and Code of Conduct Casebook will be produced which will take an overview of investigation reports issued and any areas of particular note of interest to those involved in complaints casework. 6.4 Noticeboards: There is a noticeboard available in the kitchen where members of staff can place posters, leaflets, etc. - 4 -
7. Roles and Responsibilities 7.1 Good internal communication is everyone s responsibility and two-way communication is crucial. For it to succeed it is essential that each individual within the PSOW office is committed to improving and maintaining it. Without this commitment it will not work. However, there are some specific roles and responsibilities that fall to different people in the office, and these are as follows: The Ombudsman To ensure that all important issues are communicated to staff in the organisation, in a timely and accurate manner To agree the messages and the methods of appropriate communication To ensure that all information, as far as possible, is communicated internally before externally To ensure that management behaviour and style is consistent with the principles in this document To work in partnership with staff and their representatives, to ensure the strategy works. The Chief Operating Officer/Director of Investigations, Assistant Director of Investigations/Legal Adviser and Managers To ensure that mechanisms exist within teams to allow free flow of information, upward and downwards To ensure that the opportunity exists for each member of staff to receive and give information To take responsibility for delivering information, and obtaining the views of staff, in a consistent manner. To ensure that staff s views are considered, and responses given where appropriate To identify potential blocks to communication and aim to remedy them To clarify conflicting information and to advise staff of the true position on issues - 5 -
Staff Representatives To ensure that the information sent to them is communicated to their members To feedback the views of staff through formal and informal mechanisms To clarify conflicting information and messages with the Ombudsman or the Chief Operating Officer/Director of Investigations, or the Assistant Director of Investigations/Legal Adviser and to relay the true position to their members To work with managers in ensuring that the strategy actually works, and to work together in dealing with problems All Staff To commit to being involved in the communication process To take the opportunity afforded by the various methods of communication to maintain an awareness of the key issues affecting the PSOW and their own individual team. To seek clarification with their manager on any areas of doubt in relation to the information being made available To raise any points of concern through the appropriate channels. 8. Commitment to Making the Strategy Work 8.1 Effective internal communication requires time, energy and commitment from all staff. In particular, this strategy has been approved by the Management Team and the Staff Representative Council, with explicit commitment from those members to make it work. 9. Reviewing the Effectiveness of the Strategy 9.1 Whilst in many ways the strategy will always be under continual review, with staff being able to offer views either via team meetings or intranet, etc, the strategy will be formally reviewed on a biennial basis to ensure that it is effective and is being implemented successfully. 9.2 Such reviews may take the form of staff questionnaires/opinion surveys or focus groups. - 6 -
10. Conclusion The achievement of the strategy is dependent upon a true partnership/teamwork approach within the organisation. It requires a commitment from all members of staff to share information, knowledge and ideas with each other by the most appropriate method. Good internal communication is as much about listening to people as passing on information. Furthermore, managers need to demonstrate that they listen to staff views and that they respond in an appropriate way. ************************************************************************************************* Policy Owner Susan Hudson Policy approved by Management Team Review and EIA approved: 12 May 2015 Due Date of Next Review Date of Equality Impact Assessment For publication to : May 2017 (2 year review period) 12 May 2015 Intranet (Yes / No) YES PSOW website (Yes / No) YES - 7 -