Diary of An Intern: Learning How to Communicate Change
Over the last few weeks at my internship, I’ve gotten an insider’s view of a corporate philanthropy program in action. I’ve learned about how ABC gives (through donations of money, product and time) and what kinds of programs it will support (generally, family health and wellness, although the guidelines get more narrow for more restricted things like cash grants). And so far it’s been a great learning experience, one that has reinforced my view that, when done right, for-profit companies really can use corporate giving programs to not only better their communities but connect more effectively and genuinely with their customers and employees.
In all of this learning, though, there’s been one unexpected challenge: what happens when a company has put a corporate giving strategy in place…but no one pays attention?
Perhaps the biggest bump in the road that I’ve encountered so far is a true lack of knowledge, awareness, and unfortunately in a large handful of cases, what appears to be a disinterest in ABC’s corporate philanthropy program. The lack of knowledge and awareness shouldn’t surprise me – afterall, this is why I was hired in the first place (that whole “Socialization plan” I talked about a few weeks ago). But I’ve been a bit taken aback by some of the employees at ABC who don’t seem all that interested in our program and what we’re trying to accomplish.
Case in point: I’ve talked about those intern training meetings the company holds, where senior leaders from different functional areas come to talk to us about the work they do. At the start of every meeting, we go around the table and introduce ourselves and what department we’re in. ABC has interns in finance, marketing, new business development, even packaging – and when those interns say what they’re doing for the summer, no one raises an eyebrow. But when I explain I’m working in corporate giving – well, all I can say is it’s like on TV when all of a sudden the record screeches to a halt and the room goes silent. People just don’t seem to get it.
This got me thinking: what can I do to not only educate employees about corporate giving at ABC, but actually incentivize them to get involved?
I’ve often spoken with employees about the program, and while a little education helps them understand the point of it, it still doesn’t seem to register with them that they can actually participate in it. They seem to “get” why it’s important in the grand scheme of things (at least as it relates to making our consumers happy), but often it appears there still is a disconnect when it comes to why this should matter to them specifically. On the other hand, I know through both actual and anecdotal evidence that corporate giving is important and that it should matter to our employees – which I guess just demonstrates how assumptions (and perhaps my own idealism) can get in the way of actual progress.
Anyway, what’s interesting is that this whole epiphany around how to effectively promote this kind of program and activate employees to get involved coincided with a recent conversation I had with a new friend of mine, Monica Nakielski. Monica is Principal at Harmeda, a CSR strategy consulting firm in Boston. Over the last few months she’s been kind enough to serve as a source of information, background, and insights for me during my own career exploration (you can follow her on twitter and read her insights for yourself at @mnakielsi). Anyway, Monica and her colleague Heather Stagl (@enclaria) have just written a workbook entitled “Plan to Avoid Scattershot Change: A Step-by-Step Guide to Communicating for Change” and they were kind enough to give me a sneak peak. What’s great about it is that it literally walks you through the steps involved in communicating change at your organization, including targeting your message to the specific audience you’re trying to reach as well as carefully choosing the medium through which you’ll transmit your story. It turns out that it’s not as simple as just telling people about your program and expecting them to get on board - which, in hindsight, is what I have been doing without even realizing it.
One of my favorite sections of the workbook talks about how to “Entice, Educate, and Engage” the stakeholders involved in the change initiative, and I’ve been thinking a lot about how to do that at ABC. Interestingly, the Educate and Engage parts don’t seem as tough as the Entice idea. In the end, I think it comes down to creating a message and action plan that is so compelling, transparent and genuine that the reasons to get involved seem obvious (which I know is easier said than done, but in theory shouldn’t be too tough considering we’re talking about philanthropy). I can educate employees about corporate giving, and I can recruit employees who have participated to engage their colleagues in the program.
But when messages constantly compete for employee attention and you can’t offer incentives beyond “feeling good,” how do you entice people to sit up and pay attention?
This is a question I’ll be working through over the next few weeks and I’d love your feedback. How have you caught people’s attention and inspired change from within? What’s worked? And what hasn’t? And of course I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
In the meantime, if you want to learn more about Monica and Heather’s workbook, they’re going to be hosting a webinar on July 17th for Net Impact members to introduce their ideas and walk people through the plan. You can check out more details on the The Changebase events tab under July or click here.
Hi Ashley,
I just read your latest post about communicating change. It’s really fascinating and so on-point; how do we get people to go beyond feeling “good” to feeling real commitment? I believe it must start within the company, at the highest level with an authentic, long-term commitment and plan to walking the walk….
When I worked for the “ACC” company back in 1980, they were big supporters of the arts. As an employee, I knew about it and was proud, but it was in the second-person; I didn’t participate directly. Modern art was exhibited at headquarters in Greenwich, CN., and I knew ACC was involved with the Guggenheim Museum, but there was no real “connection” to what we manufactured and who we were as a company in the world community. Thirty years ago I’m guessing there were probably 50,000 ACC employees worldwide. Art and the ballet seemed pretty remote to canning beverages and manufacturing paper plates and cups.
As members of the marketing department, we were given tickets to exhibits and we had a sense of “inner sanctum energy” but I didn’t feel a company connection to what we were philanthropically supporting. I definitely don’t think the thousands of employees felt an affinity or even knew it existed. And just as concerning, how did the arts really connect with the products (and people) of the company?
What were the reasons ACC chose the arts? Back then I wasn’t alone in feeling it was meant to keep “the executives and their wives” busy. And, of course, it was tax deductible. Way back then, I don’t think Corporate was thinking about how the employees could engage and participate. If you were a plant employee, you were completely removed from headquarters and were never invited to the party.
Since I was responsible for the packaging and product design for their major consumer products, including “N” Bathroom Tissue, “B” paper towels and others, I felt guilty we weren’t doing anything about littering, clean water and chemical pollution. But, this was almost thirty years ago and corporations would never admit to wrong doing. (If I was thinking about pollution 30 years ago, why weren’t they thinking about clean air?) In large part, I left my product design career because I was sick of seeing my designs strewn along the highways and beaches. (This brings up a side-bar question; Would companies retain better, more qualified employees if those employees felt the company was doing more to give back? Doesn’t feeling “good about the company” go beyond salary and benefits? Isn’t social responsiblility at the very core of retaining the best employees? Hasn’t it always?)
Today we live in a new time. I would like to ask the companies that were here 30+ years ago, “Have you changed enough to make a true connection between what you do for money and what you do in the world? And, what are you doing to empower your employees to feel that when they come to work every day, that what they are doing for you, the company, is also good for themselves and the world?
And, for young leaders like yourself, how can you change corporate behavior in companies that were the Fortune 500 just about the time you were all born? How do you change a culture that was built on what seems so foreign to many of you? It’s not as easy as joining a carrotmob or a google, especially in the area of maufacturing. These are big, old, established shoes that need to be convinced it’s ESSENTIAL for their bottom line; social responsibility can no longer be treated as a hobby or sidebar. There’s been Marketing, Sales, Manufacturing and R&D. Now we must add Community to the core components of a corporation. The good news is you and your colleagues are inside doing the changing. It’s really time!
Thanks so much
PS I don’t think there’s a really good argument for the notion that corporations should not be in the philanthropy business. I believe from my experience, they can’t afford not to be. It’s an essential cost of staying in business.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful response! It’s very true that philanthropy, community programs, and in some cases environmental sustainability are really “tickets to entry” for companies these days (like you said, “they can’t afford not to be”). It’s also very interesting to hear that even 30 years ago companies were engaging in these kinds of programs but often for the wrong reasons (an assertion that many claim is still true with companies today). But I believe that consumers can smell authenticity and the companies that can genuinely communicate with both internal and external audiences will win in the end.
Great post and good dialogue. In thinking about the dilemma for peaking interest / enticing your organization to embrace and mobilize around the corporate philanthropy program one item always stands out for me, the fact that people act out of self interest; the law of “what’s in it for me?”. Having led multiple change management initiatives for the evolution or transformation of an organization I have learned that over time your ability to influence and successfully execute your program comes from your ability to meet their needs. Equally effective is having senior leadership support or the organization itself incenting their employees by linking the outcomes to salary and bonuses. What exactly is the culture like at ABC? There are many different ways to gain attention and garner support, please see below:
• Use of facts / statistics
• Participatory process, allow them to build program with you
• Focus on one strong issues vs. many subordinate issues
• Emphasize commonalities between supported (funded) organizations and ABC
• Run a competition between BU’s and Departments; percentage participating in philanthropic program, total funds raised…
Hopefully, these bullets help spur ideas. As always, I would be happy to answer any questions and share additional tips off-line. Best of luck!
Hi Monica,
I think you are so right, especially about the question “What’s in it for me”. At the end of the day, people are motivated to participate or be active in something when they can identify the basic benefits that come to them through that involvement. I think it’s really just human nature to look at things that way. In corporate giving, the answer to this question gets a bit muddled – I know that when I volunteer or donate, I feel good. And that in itself is my “selfish” reason for being involved. But not everyone is open to that or willing to only receive that kind of emotional satisfaction in return, which is why buy-in and promotion of these programs on the part of senior leadership and management is so crucial to spurring employee engagement and interest.
I also really like what you wrote about involving employees and other constituents in the process so they feel ownership of the program. That’s one thing that we haven’t quite gotten down at ABC, although some of my projects this summer do focus on ways to integrate employees and their ideas into the fabric of the current program. I’ll keep you posted on how things go.
Thanks for your insightful comments, and for reading The Changebase!
It appears you are well underway to developing a highly successful program! I’m excited to read more regarding the employee participation and future outcomes. As for reading the Changebase, that is easy, it’s very interesting. Thank YOU for sharing.