City with a Voice
STRATEGIC
COMMUNICATION
PLAN
Our City’s Vision, Mission, Values
Vision Vision of Communications
A growing, world-class community bringing talent,
technology and a great northern lifestyle together.
The City of Greater Sudbury maintains open and honest
communication with its residents and its employees. We
Mission engage citizens with a voice of passion and conviction.
We provide excellent access to quality municipal We are committed to providing relevant and accurate
services and leadership in the social, environmental information in ways that are accessible, creative,
and economic development of the City of Greater coherent, and timely. We measure the effectiveness
Sudbury. of our communications against established goals and
standards to ensure that we meet the information needs
Values of a diverse population.
As stewards of the community, we:
• provide high quality service with a citizen focus
• manage the resources in our trust efficiently,
responsibly and effectively
• encourage innovation and accept risks
• maintain honest and open communication
• create a climate of trust and a collegial
working environment
• act today in the interests of tomorrow
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
Communicating in the City of Greater Sudbury…
Municipal communications are
separated into three distinct streams:
• Greater Sudbury — a community of communities
• Political communications: promote a campaign,
• Largest municipality in Ontario by land area a platform, or the viewpoint of an elected official.
• Diverse community: aging population but a Political communications do not reflect the
growing youth and student population; corporation, but rather an individual; they are
the responsibility of political offices.
• A centre for education, mining expertise, excellence
in health care, government services, and tourism • Community communications: promote
community events, or relate to events occurring
• 39% of the population self-identified as bilingual outside the scope of the municipality as an
• A skilled and diverse workforce dedicated to the organization. Communications related to
provision of excellent municipal services community events fall under the scope of affiliated
bodies such as Tourism and Community Action
Networks, and as such are not subject to the
standards set by Corporate Communications.
• Corporate communications: “incorporate a whole
range of specialized disciplines, including corporate
design, corporate advertising, internal communication
to employees, issues and crisis management, media
relations, investor relations, change communication
and public affairs. An important characteristic is that
it focuses on the organization as a whole and on the
important task of how an organization presents itself
to all its key stakeholders, both internal and external.”1
Corporate Communications and French Language
Services is responsible for providing corporate
communications services to the organization.
Corporate Communications is the official, unified
1
J. Cornelissen, BA (Coms), PhD., Professor Leeds University, Corporate Communication.
voice of the City and the corporation.
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
We Communicate Because…
A City without communications is a city without a voice.
The City of Greater Sudbury has 160,770 stakeholders. Corporate Communications performs
Every day, those stakeholders are provided with three essential functions:
information pertaining to municipal programs,
activities, services, policies and procedures, • We manage the reputation of the organization.
through both formal communications (such • We inform residents.
as paid advertisements, municipal notices and • We participate in a two-way engagement
newsletters, and media partnerships) and informal with citizens.
communications (such as word of mouth, observation
of municipal employees, participation in programs,
and consumption of local media).
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
Our Communications Are…
Strategic communications are accurate, consistent, authoritative, timely, creative, accessible, and measured.
With these parameters in mind, corporate communications are designed to the standards of the International
Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and Registered Graphic Designers Ontario.
Accurate Creative
As a leader in the community, the City is committed The City knows that information about municipal
to providing information that is substantiated by services and programs is only relevant if it is
municipal subject experts to promote a voice of truth memorable. As such, it must stand out from the
and authority. mass of consumable information that is available to
citizens every day.
Consistent
To promote a reputation-conscious brand, Accessible
information issued by the City is written, designed, The City communicates in ways that are clear,
and otherwise communicated in ways that are aligned meaningful and relevant to intended audiences.
with an intentional management of reputation, with It provides information in plain language, in both
brand values, as well as with organizational values official languages, and in a variety of formats to
and corporate priorities. meet the needs of the diverse population of Greater
Sudbury.
Authoritative
The City of Greater Sudbury respects its citizens, and Measured
builds its image in the community by providing truthful Communications issued by the City are evaluated and
information that comes from the appropriate person. measured against set goals and criteria, in accordance
with best practices.
Timely
The City recognizes that information is only relevant
when it is needed. To that end, the City endeavours
to ensure that information related to municipal
services, programs, policies and procedures is
provided when citizens require it, both on a proactive
and a reactive basis.
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
What Our Communications Tell You About Our City…
The City of Greater Sudbury has a complement of close to 3,000 full- and part-time employees, and the
services those employees provide are far-reaching and wide- ranging. The values of the corporation
help to identify corporate key messages that underlie all municipal communications, whether they are written
or verbal, formal or informal, official or unofficial, planned or unplanned. These corporate key messages form the
basis of all communications initiatives.
• The City of Greater Sudbury is a service-driven • The City of Greater Sudbury values its diversity as
organization committed to providing excellent part of a northern community of communities.
service to citizens in a cost-effective, efficient, and • The City of Greater Sudbury is a tourism hub for
friendly way. Northeastern Ontario and an internationally
• The City of Greater Sudbury values citizens and their renowned destination for public engagement and
input. education in science and geology.
• The City of Greater Sudbury is a strong economy, a • The City of Greater Sudbury is committed to
city of opportunity, and a city of innovation. ensuring the well-being of a dynamic, diverse, and
• The City of Greater Sudbury is a unique blend of multicultural society.
urban amenities and unspoiled wilderness, offering • The City of Greater Sudbury is committed to
a healthy balance between employment opportunities long-term fiscal responsibility and sustainability.
and a relaxed northern lifestyle. • The City of Greater Sudbury is creating a healthy and
sustainable community.
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
Where We’re Going…
A review of communications activities, methodologies, resources, and tools allowed Corporate Communications to
pinpoint areas of strength, as well as areas of opportunity. The following main outcomes were identified:
• There is an opportunity to tell the positive
developments within the City in our own voice;
• There is a need to rebalance our priorities to focus
more on corporate initiatives and less on routine
tactical support;
• The City would benefit from the development of
policies, protocols, and procedures relating to
communications activities to ensure we are engaged
in the right work at right time, to be strategic, and to
improve consistency;
• City staff are ambassadors for the organization
and the community and there is an opportunity to
empower them with better, more timely, and clearer
information about their workplace and their city;
• Communications must be at the table with
programs and projects at the right time and at
the right level to always be part of the process and
effectively provide counsel;
• Corporate communications must be positioned
properly in the organization and must focus on
the work of strategic value so that Communications
is recognized as a critical partner in achieving
business goals.
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
Five Focus Areas…
These findings are addressed through the Communication Strategic Plan 2012–2014. The following five focus
areas, based on the above findings, will guide communications. Action items that will move Communications
and the organization forward in the next two years are associated with each of the focus areas.
Consistent strategic corporate focus Authoritative, professional communications
The voice of the City is strong, consistent, and aligned Communications staff will continue to build skills in
with corporate priorities. Primary and secondary the interests of becoming partners in achieving the
communicators speak with one voice. Corporate business goals of the organization.
support for departmental projects is based on aligning
departmental priorities along corporate strategic Goal: To increase the professional capacity, skills and
priorities. Communicators across the organization are capabilities of the entire communications team in order
engaged in a reputation management council and in to provide excellent client communications support. To
strategic communication processes. be measured by client satisfaction interviews, external
reviews of communications outputs, and increased
Goal: To improve the overall consistency of City confidence of team members.
messages to our key audiences. To be measured by a
content analysis of key communications channels. The three main projects to support this focus area in
the next two years are:
The three main projects to support this focus area in
the next two years are: • Initiate a training program for staff who perform
communications work
• Make Communications accountable to the Chief • Develop policies and procedures for communications
Administrative Officer work and processes
• Ensure Council’s strategic priorities have • Develop templates for routine communications to
communications plans associated with them maximize efficiency and strengthen focus on strategic
• Realign communications resources to support the communication
strategic projects of Council and the organization
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
Five Focus Areas…
Strong and authentic internal communications Proactive and reputation-building communications
Employees are the City’s front-line contact with As a leader in Greater Sudbury, the municipal
residents on a daily basis. Providing employees with the government must build and maintain a reputation
information and resources they need to be ambassadors as a transparent and engaged partner in the
for the municipality and champions for the organization community’s development. Communications are
is a vital function of Corporate Communications. We truthful and timely. They speak directly to emerging
will support building employee engagement with issues and respond to the needs of the community.
the intention of improving employee commitment to Corporate Communications provides information and
common goals and talent retention. listens to residents, to engage citizens and employees
and manage the reputation of the organization.
Goal: To increase employee understanding of City
strategies, business goals and their roles in supporting Goal: To increase key stakeholder understanding and
those. To be measured by employee survey results on valuing of the services provided by the City, and increase
those criteria. trust in City administration as effectively managing
collective resources to provide effective and efficient
The three main projects to support this focus area in public services. To be measured by a stakeholder
the next two years are: interviews and a media audit.
• Re-design the internal website with tools to The three main projects to support this focus area in
empower employees to more effectively the next two years are:
communicate with each other
• Create and lead an internal communication task force • Develop a reputation management strategy
• Develop and execute a comprehensive and targeted • Develop and execute a proactive media
communication plan for employees relations strategy
• Issue an annual report
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
Five Focus Areas…
Citizen-focused communication:
Be relevant to our community
Citizens expect and deserve that communications from
their municipal government are relevant, timely and
accessible to them, and provided in ways that meet
their information needs. Corporate Communications
takes advantage of all avenues for communication with
residents, including both traditional and new media.
Goal: To provide communications tools, channels and
services that meet the information and feedback needs
of citizens, as well as a two-way mechanism for citizen
input. To be measured by citizen satisfaction survey with
a focus on communications.
The three main projects to support this focus area in
the next two years are:
• Redevelop the municipal website
• Measure the outcomes of major communication plans
to meet information needs of citizens
• Gather resident feedback on communication tactics
that support their needs, such as apps for leisure
activities and social media usage
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
How We’re Going to Get There…
When we measure the success of the strategic
communication plan in 2015, we will see
improvements in employee engagement (to be
measured by results of a 2014 Employee Feedback
Survey), in citizen satisfaction with municipal
programs and services (to be measured by a
citizen survey in 2014-2015), in the reputation of
the organization (to be measured by the results
of a media audit), in employee feedback around
organizational communication (to be measured by
the results of a 2014 Employee Feedback Survey).
Finally, in 2015, Communications will, as a result of the
actions in the implementation plan, and concerted
focus on training and education, be real partners in the
achievement of the organization's business objectives.
City with a Voice Strategic Communication Plan
