Module 3.

(Part 2)
Organizational Communication
The Evolution of Organizational Structures
Every business has a particular structure that defines the relationships between the various
people and departments within the organization. These relationships, in turn, affect the nature
and quality of communication throughout the organization.

Tall structures have many layers of management between the lowest and highest positions
and so at times they suffer communication breakdowns and delays as messages are passed up
and down through the multiple layers. To overcome such problems, many businesses are
adopting flat structures that reduce the number of layers. With fewer layers, communication
generally flows faster and with fewer disruptions and distortions. On the other hand, with fewer
formal lines of control and communication in these organizations, individual employees are
expected to assume more responsibility for communication, particularly in the horizontal
direction.
In tall structures, as there are a large number of levels in the management hierarchy, they tend
to result in managers having smaller spans of control (i.e., fewer people reporting directly to
them). This reduces the number of people they have to manage, but means it takes longer for
information to travel through the layers of the organization. In recent years, tall organizations
have tended to be associated with large bureaucracies where communication is very formal and
middle managers may be in a position to use information as a device to retain control. On the
other hand, smaller spans of control may mean that managers have more time to manage.
Furthermore, there are more explicit career paths, with opportunities for promotion.
In flat organizations, the opposite is true: communication can be quicker because of fewer
layers, but the spans of control are larger. Flat organizations have developed because there is a
belief that communication is impaired by additional levels of management. Flatter organizations
are thought to be able to react to change more quickly. Managers may be forced to delegate if
their span of control is enlarged. This can be motivating for those to whom work is delegated.
On the other hand, career paths are less explicit: employees may have to look sideways or even
outside the organization for career development opportunities.
In recent years, there has been a trend towards delayering, whereby tall organizations have
tended to become flat organizations by the removal of various levels in the hierarchy. This has
been facilitated by:

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 • Information technology, which has reduced the need for many middle management jobs,
which were largely concerned with processing information to facilitate control within the
organizational hierarchy.
• The management philosophy of empowerment, where people at lower levels have been
delegated authority to take actions and make decisions which would previously have
been the domain of middle managers
However, there are some drawbacks of delayering. In addition to a possible loss of control,
middle managers are often necessary to translate the inevitably broad and general plans of
senior management into operational plans and actions that can be implemented. Also, senior
managers may have only a hazy understanding of what is going on at the operational level and
much is thereby entrusted to relatively junior people.
In the pursuit of speed and agility, some businesses have adopted flexible organizations that
pool the talents of employees and external partners. Regardless of the particular structure, your
communication efforts will also be influenced by the organizations corporate culture, the mixture
of values, traditions and habits that give a company its atmosphere and personality. Corporate
cultures with an open climate benefit from free-flowing information and employee input.

Internal and External Communication

Internal Communication External Communication

Takes place within an organization Takes place between the organization and
the outside world

Aims at transmission of information between Focuses on maintaining relationship or

various business units and departments exchanging information with the parties
external to the business

The participants are employees and the The parties include customers, investors /
company’s management shareholders, suppliers, creditors / lenders,
government, media, communities, etc.

Can be formal or informal Is mostly formal and highly documented

Frequency is relatively higher than external Frequency is relatively lower than internal
communication communication

Used to guide, inform, train and motivate Helps to build and maintain good public
individuals to work efficiently for the success image, obtain dues from customers,
of the organization negotiate with suppliers etc

Letters, e-mails, notices, reports, memos, in- Letters, e-mails, advertisements, press
house journals, employee handbook, releases, website, pamphlets, brochures,
meetings, team briefings, presentations, telephone calls, meetings, etc.
telephone calls, etc.

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Characteristics and Benefits of Effective Internal Communication:
• Provide practical information: Stronger decision-making and faster problem solving
• Give facts rather than vague impressions: Increased productivity and steadier workflow /
Earlier warning of potential problems
• Present information in a concise, efficient manner: Enhanced professional images for
both employers and companies
• Clarify expectations and responsibilities: Lower employee turnover and higher employee
satisfaction
• Offer compelling, persuasive arguments and recommendations: Clearer and more
persuasive messages / better financial results and higher return for investors

Objectives of Internal Communication:

• To Inform
Keeping employees informed about various developments within the organization and
the business environment is a key objective of internal communication. Equipping
employees with the right kind of information helps to empower them. Employees need to
know many things about the organization. They need to know its culture, its rules and
regulations. They need to know about the decisions that require action, about the job,
about the prospects, about how the organization is faring in the market, about their own
performance. Management must provide information that helps employees understand
these issues. To achieve this, both verbal and non-verbal means of communication must
be used, and the information circulated should be adequate, correct and complete.
• To Motivate and Persuade
Inducing employees to give their best is one of the major objectives of downward
communication. Management has to motivate its employees to ensure highest levels of
quality. Motive is a powerful force, an inner drive that energizes an individual to make a
focused effort to achieve her/his goal. To motivate is to appeal to this force, so that
dedication towards a particular job is at the highest level. It is not possible to achieve this
by either coaxing or commanding. Motivation means ―that inner state that energizes,
activates, or moves and which directs or channels behavior towards certain goals. An
employee feels demotivated when his effort goes unnoticed and unrewarded, when s/he
is unable to fulfill personal goals, when there is no support from the management, when
there is a lack of communication between her/him and the management. Such a worker
discharges her/his duties in a listless manner, and is not particularly bothered about the
quality of her/his output. The corporate world cannot afford to work with a bunch of
demotivated employees. Motivating employees is a continuous process. One task of
management is to help employees set goals [personal as well as organizational] and
create conditions that will help them to reach these.
Persuasion is an effort to influence the mind, belief system or attitude of a person and to
bring about the desired change in his behavior. Forcing people to accept change does
not help. Change has to come from within. Managements have to persuade the public to
buy their products and services. They also have to persuade their workforce to adapt
itself to the changing demands of the work. This has to be done subtly by winning their
confidence and demonstrating how the change will ultimately serve their own interest.
Persuasion works only when it appeals to the receiver‘s sense of reason, and when he is
convinced of the sender‘s sincerity. A sincere appeal to self-interest impels people to
perceive things differently.

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 • To Train and Educate
Training the personnel and educating them to take up the responsibilities of a given job
becomes one of the major objectives of downward communication. Educating
employees is a continuous process in an organization and is meant for all the levels of
authority. Training the workforce to update their knowledge and skills is a challenge to
every management. Organizing workshops, demonstration lecturers, film-shows, and
seminars are done on regular basis to meet this objective. Apart from the work-front,
education on the personal front – on grooming, manners, and etiquettes – is imparted to
employees to enhance the image of the organization.
• To Order and Instruct
Another objective of internal communication is giving directions to the workforce. Any
authoritative communication issued by a superior in order to monitor/govern the behavior
of a junior is known as an ‘order’. When an order is split further to meet specific issues, it
becomes an instruction. Orders and instructions are directives that spell out the
expected behavior of an employee. These act as measures of discipline and control in
the organization. While orders are broad, instructions are detailed and specific. Efficacy
of this communication depends on how it is spelt out. It should be precise and easily
comprehensible, so that it answers all the questions that may arise in the mind of the
receiver.
• To Reprimand
Management, at times, has to issue a warning to an erring employee. To warn is to
inform a person of unpleasant consequences. When all other alternatives fail, warning
the erring employee becomes imperative. Management uses this form of communication
sparingly, and only when it desperately needs to control, or modify certain behavior that
interferes with the organizational norms and discipline. Management begins by bringing
a misdemeanor to the notice of the employee concerned. S/he is asked to change
her/his behavior; but if the employee fails to do so, the management issues a soft, oral
warning. From reprimands to warning is how managements proceed to discipline an
employee. This gives the erring employee an opportunity to correct himself. If the
employee ignores this opportunity and keeps repeating the improper behavior, he is
given a warning in writing. This written warning is called a memo in Indian parlance. The
employee can always answer a memo and explain. Normally, after two such memos are
issued, the service of the employee is terminated. A written memo makes the employee
aware of the seriousness of his offence, and he can choose to correct his ways. A
written communication gives the management an opportunity to build a case or charge-
sheet against such an employee. This facilitates taking any subsequent legal action
against him at a later stage.

Employees can strive for effective internal communication by:

• Organizing ideas and information logically and completely
• Expressing ideas and information coherently and persuasively
• Listening to others effectively
• Communicating effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences
• Using communication technologies effectively and efficiently
• Following accepted standards of grammar, spelling and other aspects of good quality
writing and speaking
• Communicating in a manner that reflects contemporary expectations of business
etiquette
• Communicating ethically even when choices are not crystal clear

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Twelve tips for strategic internal communication:

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Channels of Internal Communication

Vertical Communication:
Downward Communication:
Downward communication refers to vertical communication in an organization that takes place
downwards along the chain of command. It flows from executives to employees, conveying
executive decisions and providing information that helps employees do their jobs. It can be
used:
• for the transmission of plans and policies of the organization, mission and goals
• for the delegation of responsibilities
• to provide instructions and advice to carry out a certain project or assignment
• to review performance and provide feedback
• to motivate employees
• to provide clarifications and address grievances
• to maintain discipline
• to increase efficiency

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 • to develop good relations with employees
• to transmit work ethics and the organization's culture
It’s advantages include:
• To inform / explain policies
• Delegation of authority
• Maintaining discipline and increasing efficiency
• Building good relationship
• Providing guidance / feedback
It’s disadvantages include:
• Creation of resentment
• Distortion of information
• Under-communication and over-communication
• Delay in exchanging information
• Delay in feedback is possible

Upward Communication:
Upward communication flows from employees to executives - communication flows upward
along the chain of command such as subordinates sending reports to inform their superiors or to
present their findings and suggestions. The extent of upward communication, especially that
which is initiated from the lowest level will depend on the organizational culture. It provides
employee-feedback and insight into problems, trends, opportunities, grievances and
performance . It enables executives to solve problems, make intelligent decisions and improve
policies to address grievances. It aids the management in understanding whether the
employees have comprehended and followed the directives and instructions issued to them. It
helps in motivating employees by making them feel that they are part of the decision making
process at the organization. It creates a sense of belonging through participation. Suggestion
boxes, employee surveys, informal meetings, grievance procedures, exit interviews etc. help to
integrate upward communication into the work environment.
It’s advantages include:
• Decision making
• Providing counsel
• Motivation
• Feedback
• Development of plan / creativity
• Knowing the employee better
• Good relation
It’s disadvantages include:
• Fear
• Distortion
• Bypassing
• Flattery
• Errors and Omissions
• Information overload

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Horizontal Communication:
It is often referred to as 'lateral communication'. Horizontal communication flows between
departments and between hierarchically equivalent employees. Communication is usually
informal and done through oral media. It plays a greater role in organizations where work is
decentralized. Such communication is often necessary to facilitate coordination, save time, and
bridge the communication gap among various departments.
It’s advantages include:
• It decreases misunderstanding between departments working on the same project,
thereby increasing efficiency and productivity
• It may result in better implementation of top-level decisions because employees on lower
levels are permitted to coordinate directly with each other in the implementation of the
decision made at the top
• It is vital for the growth of an organization as it builds cooperation among the various
branches
• It may also increase job satisfaction and motivation by creating more employee
empowerment in communication
It’s disadvantages include:
• It can create conflicts when formal vertical channels are bypassed by employees or
when superiors find out that they had not been consulted before certain decisions were
taken
• It may create a lack of discipline if strict procedural rules of communications are not
imposed and followed
• Management derives much control and power if it controls the flow of information.
Hence, management may have a greater problem maintaining control as horizontal
communication increases

Diagonal Communication:
It is often referred to as 'crosswise communication’. Diagonal communication takes place when
people working at the same level interact with those working at a higher or lower-level of
organizational hierarchy and across the boundaries of their reporting relationships. It can flow in
all directions and cuts across the various functions and levels in an organization. It prevents
other employees from being used merely as messengers between the actual sender and the
receiver.
It’s advantages include:
• Though this form of communication deviates from the normal chain of command, it is
quick and efficient and helps to expedite action
• It controls distortion and dilution of message because of direct, inter-level
communication
• It can aid in coordination through informal meetings, lunch hour meetings, telephonic
conversations etc.
• It can boost the morale of employees at lower levels by providing them opportunities to
interact with higher levels of authority in other departments
• It creates healthy work relationships

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It’s disadvantages include:
• It can create conflicts when formal vertical channels are bypassed by employees or
when superiors find out that they had not been consulted before certain decisions were
taken
• It may create doubts about the superior‘s accountability and co-operation
• Decisions taken may be resisted by the by-passed authority, and could vitiate the
atmosphere of the organization
• It could lead to a break down of vertical lines of communication in the organization

Examples:

Communication Network Patterns:

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Informal Communication: Grapevine Communication:
Grapevine is an internal informal communication network found in every organization. It is not
actually sanctioned by the organization. Some of this informal communication takes place
naturally as a result of employee interaction both on the job and in social settings. Some of it
takes place when the formal network doesn’t provide information that employees want.
Grapevine communication is rapid, but often spreads distortions of the truth, rumor and gossip.
An active grapevine can cause damage to an organization by spreading incomplete, false or
exaggerated information. It can result in low morale, cynicism, fear and an unsettled workforce.
Although the grapevine may never be completely eradicated, management should take steps to
reduce its influence by considering carefully ways in which information is communicated,
particularly in times of uncertainty within the organization. The confidence of an organization’s
employees is vitally important, and adequate and accurate information should always be made
available to the people concerned at the earliest possible opportunity, through the correct
channels.
Advantages:
• If there are unanswered questions on the minds of employees due to lack of official
communication, gaps in official information, unclear official communication, etc.,
grapevines supply answers to those questions.
• Information moves along a grapevine rapidly. Word “gets around” extremely fast.
Seldom do employees receive an official communication that they have not heard
beforehand something about the matter.
• A grapevine provides an outlet for release of tensions among employees and can help
them develop strong personal relationships. This leads to higher morale, better job
satisfaction, and higher productivity.
• Astute managers can take advantage of the positive elements of a grapevine. For
instance, gain feedback on a new policy that management is contemplating, provide
clarification for some policy or order, etc.
Disadvantages:
• The messages carried by a grapevine may or may not be correct and complete. Usually,
they are partly correct and complete, but they contain some incorrect and incomplete
information.
• When a grapevine is called upon to answer unanswered questions or to fill in gaps in
official communication, the information provided by the grapevine is usually “bad news”.
• There is risk of distortion as well as an increase in misunderstanding as employees
cannot seek confirmation.
• If the grapevine has to be relied on consistently to stay updated on important official
matters, the divide between senior management and employees may increase.
• Incorrect or incomplete information and “bad news” sent over the grapevine can be
damaging to an organization’s productivity.

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Types of Grapevine Communication:

Single Strand Chain: Information passes through a number of persons like a chain i.e., ‘A’ tells
something to ‘B’ who tells it to ‘C’ and so on. The longer the chain the greater is the possibility of
distortion.
Gossip Chain: One person actively conveys information to other persons around him. A circle or
wheel-like figure is formed in this communication.
Probability Chain: It is a random process in which information may move from one person or
persons according to the law of probability.
Cluster Chain: This a dominant pattern of grapevine communication. One person tells
something to some selected trustworthy persons. They in turn relay it to their trusted people.
Cluster chain is the dominant grapevine pattern in an organization. Most informal
communication flows through this chain.

Roles of Participants in Grapevine Communication:

Bridgers or Key Communicators: Bridgers or key communicators receive and pass information
to others. These people are the ones primarily responsible for the success of the grapevine.
Baggers or Dead Enders: Baggers receive information but do not pass it on or only pass it on to
one or maybe two other dead-enders.
Beaners or Isolates: Beaners, or isolates, are not privy to any information, do not hear the
information and thus cannot pass it along. They tend to be outside the grapevine. They neither
hear nor pass along the information.
It should be noted that people are more active on the grapevine when their friends and
colleagues are actively involved.

What causes Grapevine to be Active?

Excitement and Insecurity: When people are anxious regarding their future feel insecure and
may become excited. Uncertainty pulls them to take part in grapevine.
Involvement of Friends and Associates: Grapevines are active when friends and associates are
involved in the system. For example: facts of promotion, retrenchment or firing of any
colleagues are interesting matters for discussion.
Recent Information: This is like to be transmitted rather than past information. For example,
impact of an economic crisis or political issues are discussed heavily during tea time or lunch in
an organization.

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Job: Sometimes, the job itself becomes a strong basis to take part in the grapevine network. For
example, the personal assistant of a manager is more interested in grapevine with other
employees.
Conversation Opportunity: If employees find more opportunity to gossip or pass time due to lack
of work, there is scope of more active grapevine.
Personality: A person who is naturally talkative could play a greater role in the grapevine,
similarly a person who is more curious and doubtful is possibly also likely to deal with grapevine.

How Organizations Can Monitor Grapevine Communication for its Effective Use:
In a situation of grapevine communication, the manager should organize fruitful group activities
so as to enhance the self-worth of the employees and update their knowledge. The manager
should keep an eye on rumor-mongers. He should tactfully identify the leaders and win their
confidence. As far as possible, the employees, through their leaders, should be made partners
in the decision making process. A tactful manager will keep the employees well informed so that
they may not spread rumors. Besides, the manager should try to get feedback on his style of
functioning and work for continuous improvement. Finally, a manager must be a good empathic
listener; this way the employees or the leaders will feel free to talk to him rather than indulge in
rumor mongering.

Management can use grapevine to supplement the formal channels of communication. Though
it carries some degree of error and distortion, efforts can be made to correct it. Ignoring the
grapevine is nothing but to ignore a valuable source of communication. The management can
eliminate its negative consequences and, at the same time, it can nourish its positive benefits.
The managers have to learn to manage and control it in the following ways:
• Management can open up all the channels of organizational communication to present
the facts positively before the employees and thereby can fight the negative messages
with the positive weapons of facts and figures.
• Better job design and better quality of work life can bring the grapevine under the control
of the management. It also prevents the boredom, idleness and suspicions among the
employees.
• The negative consequences of the grapevine can be eliminated if the management is
successful in creating trust-relationship with the employees.
• The rumors flourish beyond limits when the employees are not well informed by the
management regarding the policies, objectives and the work procedure of the
organization. The inadequate access to information and the feeling if insecurity is the
reasons behind the negative outcomes of the grapevines. The managers must give their
employees an adequate access to information and the feeling of security.
• Rumors spread when the situations are unpredictable, unstructured, unplanned and are
beyond the control of a person or the persons who are involved in them. Therefore, the
best way to manage and control it is to provide accurate and substantial information of
the situations to the employees. The managers should pick up the false rumors and
dispel them by providing correct information.
• Before taking any decision or action, the managers must consider its possible effects on
the informal groups and systems in the organization.
• Management can use the grapevine as a barometer of the public opinions in the
organization or to feel the pulse of the employees in a particular situation. This will surely
help them to take right policy decisions.

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 • In the formal activities of the organization, the management should avoid threatening the
informal groups, which are responsible in spreading the grapevine effectively.
• The management should find out the people in the informal groups who are more active
on grapevine. These people should be accurately and adequately informed so that the
false rumors causing excitement and insecurity do not spread among the employees.
• The management should remember that the workplace community is maintained not
only by the work itself but also by the informal human relationships. Therefore, the
manager should honestly try to integrate their interests with those of the informal groups.
• Silence not always golden- companies should not ignore the grapevine, be indifferent to
it or try to kill it. Leaders should proactively communicate and inject as much authentic
information into the system as they can. Regular interactions with employees are the
best way to understand gossip and politics, and one must be prepared for this.
• Keep an open culture- the grapevine is always about people, and travels faster than any
other mode of communication. People at the receiving end of gossip may even take the
drastic step of quitting. An open culture with the freedom to approach the management
is important to tackle the grapevine.
• Communicate ASAP- employees hate it if they get know developments about their
company from the market, instead of from within. Company heads should directly
communicate these to employees, as soon as possible.
• Keep them busy- the grapevine generally gets active starts early in the morning, in car
pools, over meetings by the coffee machine or during lunch and smoking breaks, when
people have a lot of time on hand. The best way to use the employees' time is to
delegate responsibility and power. This can be the most effective way to keep
employees getting involved in gossip.
• Eliminate uncertainty- nervousness and uncertainty is potent fuel for the grapevine. Even
if times are rough for the company, it should be made known to the employees and they
should be involved at every step. Companies should not hesitate to ask employees
ideas for cost-cutting or going after new businesses. They often have great ideas, which
are many a time not obvious to the company management.

Organizational Culture
Corporate culture refers to the shared values, attitudes, standards, and beliefs that characterize
members of an organization and define its nature. Corporate culture is rooted in an
organization’s goals, strategies, structure, and approaches to labor, customers, investors, and
the greater community.
Culture defines what is of primary importance to the organization, the standards against which
success and failure are measured, establishes what the organization and its members can
expect from each other, sets the tone for how members treat each other and how to deal with
the external environment / nonmembers.
Organizational culture affects all aspects of the business - productivity, staff retention, customer
satisfaction, corporate reputation -and ultimately the organization’s bottom line.

Cameron and Quinn’s Culture Model:

Every organization is different, and all of them have a unique culture to organize groups of
people. Yet few people know that every organization actually combines a mix of four different

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types of organizational culture under one leading cultural style, according to research by
business professors Robert E. Quinn and Kim S. Cameron at the University of Michigan.
Quinn and Cameron developed the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI), a
survey method to assess current and preferred organizational cultures. The OCAI is based on
Quinn and Cameron’s Competing Values Framework Model, which has been used by over
12,000 companies worldwide.
The person answering the OCAI questionnaire must split 100 points over a total of four
descriptions (that matches the four culture types) based on what the respondent currently sees
in the organization. This method determines the blend of the four culture types that currently
dominate the organizational or team culture. By answering the questionnaire a second time, this
time dividing 100 points according to what the respondent would like to see in the organization,
one can calculate the preferred organizational culture and the desire for change.
Test takers assess six key characteristics of their corporate culture:
• dominant characteristics
• organizational leadership
• management of employees
• organization glue
• strategic emphases
• criteria of success
By averaging all OCAI scores of the employees, one can work out a combined organization
profile. A culture profile illustrates aspects such as the dominant culture, the strength of the
dominant culture (the amount of points given), the discrepancy between present and preferred
culture, etc.

How is the framework structured:

• To the left in the graph, the organization is internally centered (what is important for us,
and how do we want to work?)
• To the right, the organization is externally focused (what is valuable for the outside
world, the clients, and the market?).
• At the top of the graph, the organization desires flexibility and discretion
• At the bottom, the organization values stability and control.
The framework explains how the four organizational cultures compete with one another. The
four parameters of the framework include internal focus and integration vs. external focus and
differentiation, and stability and control vs. flexibility and discretion.
Based on these parameters, the framework breaks organizational cultures into four distinct
quadrants or cultural types: The Clan Culture, the Adhocracy Culture, the Market Culture, and
the Hierarchy Culture. Quinn and Cameron discovered that flexible organizations are more
successful than rigid ones because the best organizations are able to manage the competition
between cultures while activating each of the four value sets when needed.
Every organization has its own mix of these four types of organizational culture. Below is a
summary of the four types and their specific qualities.

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The Clan Culture:
This culture is rooted in collaboration. Members share commonalities and see themselves are
part of one big family who are active and involved. Leadership takes the form of mentorship,
and the organization is bound by commitments and traditions. The main values are rooted in
teamwork, communication and consensus. This working environment is a sociable one. People
have a lot in common, and it’s like one big family. The executives are seen as mentors or
maybe even as father figures. There is great involvement. The organization emphasizes durable
Human Resource development and connects fellow workers by morals. Success is identified
within the framework of addressing the needs of the clients and caring for the people. A
prominent clan culture is Tom’s of Maine, the maker of all-natural hygiene products. To build the
brand, founder Tom Chappell focused on building respectful relationships with employees,
customers, suppliers and the environment itself.
• Leader Type: facilitator, mentor, team builder
• Value Drivers: Commitment, communication, development
• Theory of Effectiveness: Human Resource development and involvement are effective
• Quality Improvement Strategy: Empowerment, team building, employee participation,
Human Resource development, open communication

The Adhocracy Culture:

This culture is based on energy and creativity. Employees are encouraged to take risks, and
leaders are seen as innovators or entrepreneurs. The organization is held together by
experimentation, with an emphasis on individual ingenuity and freedom. Leaders are innovators
and risk takers. Experiments and innovation are the bonding materials within the organization.
Prominence is emphasized. The long-term goal is to grow and create new resources. The
availability of new products or services is seen as an achievement. The organization
encourages individual ingenuity and freedom. The core values are based on change and agility.
A quote that indicates this culture is from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg – “Move fast and
break things – unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.”

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 • Leader Type: Innovator, entrepreneur, visionary
• Value Drivers: Innovative outputs, change, agility
• Theory of Effectiveness: Innovativeness, vision, and new resources are effective
• Management Theory: Surprise and delight, creating new standards, anticipating needs,
continuous improvement, finding creative solutions

The Market Culture:

This culture is built upon the dynamics of competition and achieving concrete results. The focus
is goal-oriented, with leaders who are tough and demanding. The organization is united by a
common goal to succeed and beat all rivals. The main value drivers are market share and
profitability. This is a results-based organization that highlights completing work and getting
things done. People are competitive and concentrated on goals. Leaders are hard drivers,
producers, and competitors at the same time. They are tough and have high expectations. The
importance of winning keeps the organization together. Reputation and success are the most
important. Long-term focus is on rival activities and reaching goals. Market penetration and
stock performance are the definitions of success. Competitive prices and market leadership are
key. The organizational style is based on competition. A quote that indicates this culture is from
General Electric’s former CEO Jack Welch, who said that every G.E. business unit must rank
first or second in its respective market or face being sold off.
• Leader Type: Hard driver, rival, producer
• Value Drivers: Market share, goal achievement, profitability
• Theory of Effectiveness: Aggressively competing and customer focus are effective
• Quality Improvement Strategy: Measuring client preferences, improving productivity,
creating external partnerships, improving competitiveness, getting customers and
suppliers to participate

The Hierarchy Culture:

This is a formalized and structured work environment. This culture is founded on structure and
control. The work environment is formal, with strict institutional procedures in place for
guidance. Procedures decide what people do. Leadership is based on organized coordination
and monitoring, with a culture emphasizing efficiency and predictability. Leaders are proud of
their efficiency-based coordination. The values include consistency and uniformity. Keeping the
organization functioning effortlessly is most crucial. Formal rules and policy keep the
organization together. The lasting goals are stability and results, paired with the efficient and
smooth execution of tasks. Trustful delivery, smooth planning, and low costs are the
characterization of success. The personnel management has to guarantee work and values
predictability. As examples, one can think of stereotypical large, bureaucratic organizations such
as public sector enterprises or the military.
• Leader Type: Coordinator, monitor, organizer
• Value Drivers: Efficiency, timeliness, consistency, and uniformity
• Theory of Effectiveness: Control and efficiency with capable processes are effective
• Quality Improvement Strategy: Error detection, measurement, process control,
systematic problem solving, quality tools

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Quick Summary of the Quadrants:

Some Important Points:

• Both internal and external attention are needed to be successful in the long run - but
depending on their environment an organization will have a dominant preference.
• An agile, volatile market will evoke an external orientation whereas a stable environment
will allow for an internal focus.
• Organizations that prefer to organize for stability value clear structures, planning,
budgets, and reliability. They assume that reality can be known and controlled.
• Organizations that organize with flexibility assume the opposite: you can never predict
and control everything. They prefer a flexible attitude and organization to adapt quickly
to changing circumstances - focusing more on people and activities than on structure,
procedures, and plans.
• Quinn and Cameron discovered that flexible organizations are more successful than
rigid ones.
• The best organizations are able to manage the competition between cultures while
activating each of the four value sets when needed.
• It’s rare for companies to share equal traits from all four cultural types, with no single
dominant type. However, it is likely that departments within an organization may exhibit
subdominant traits. For e.g., the accounting department may have a mainly Hierarchy
culture, while the R&D team is shaped by more of an Adhocracy culture.

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 • Leaders use the framework to gain insights into the dominant culture of their
organization and to assess the gaps between their current culture and the preferred
culture. These tools also help leaders compare organizational culture before and after
any major reorganization or merger.
• There is no ultimate “best” organizational culture prescribed by the Competing Values
Framework. The model is descriptive. In a specific domain or market, one culture type
might fit better than another, and this is for the organization to decide. "When would be
at our best?"

The Need for Employee Communication

Communication is one of the most important tasks associated with management. Other
management tasks such as planning, organization, command, coordination and control can be
achieved only through effective communication. An organization comprises people with varying
social, cultural, educational and economic backgrounds who are expected to achieve common
organizational goals. Employee communication enables the management to connect with
employees, motivate them and help them turn organizational goals into their personal goals to
achieve the bottom line.
Employee communication helps in building a corporate culture on values that drive
organizational excellence by:
• disseminating information about corporate activities,
• building a shared understanding among employees about corporate goals,
• illuminating the connectedness of the company's people and activities, and
• improving job satisfaction.

Why Internal Stakeholders are Crucial:

More and more researchers point out that internal stakeholders have a great role to play in
contributing to the positive reputation of the organization. The CEO often is the torchbearer.
His/her personality, philosophy and vision reflect the character of that organization. A lot of effort
is put in by the corporate communication and PR departments of companies to position their
CEOs in a particular manner.
Lindo recommends four reasons why the internal stakeholders are crucial:
• Internal communication gives employees an interest in corporate objectives. The greater
the interest, the more likely employees would be enthusiastic about long-term objectives
of the organization.
• Internal communication enables an organization to gain acceptance for corporate
policies and culture.
• Internal communication provides a means by which the organization can win respect for
the communication department.
• Internal communication assists in establishing, maintaining and reinforcing positive
relationships with internal customers.

As companies focus on retaining a contented workforce given changing values and

demographics, they have to think strategically about how they communicate with employees
through internal communications. Strong internal communications generate a more engaged,
productive, and loyal workforce. In the US, the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the collapse of

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several of America’s most respected firms, and the proliferation of outsourcing jobs to foreign
countries in recent years further necessitated strong communication channels between
management and employees to win back employee trust and loyalty. Often, internal
communications is a collaborative effort between the corporate communication and human
resources departments, as it covers topics from employee benefit packages to the company’s
strategic objectives. More and more, companies are making sure their employees understand
the new marketing initiatives they are communicating externally and are uniting the workforce
behind common goals and corporate strategies. This type of communication requires the
expertise of strong corporate communicators who are also well-connected to senior
management and the corporate strategy process. Additionally, difficult economic times, layoffs,
and uncertainty require open, honest communication from senior management to all employees.
The sensitive nature of some of these messages further speaks for the involvement of
seasoned communications professionals alongside their counterparts in other departments and,
most important, of the CEO or of senior executives who are the individuals communicating
messages to internal and external audiences most frequently. Finally, as mentioned previously,
due to the blurring of constituency lines, companies must recognize that employees now also
may represent investors and members of community advocacy groups—making thoughtful
communications even more critical.

Why Corporate Communication Departments Should Handle Employee Communication:

As employees are very important stakeholders for an organization, sometimes there is a friction
in some companies among the marketing, HR and corporate communication departments about
who should handle employee communication. Many experts believe that the aims of employee
communication are served better if the corporate communication department handles it.
Corporate communication often uses persuasion to get the desired response, unlike the HR
that issues orders through circulars and memos to inform, educate and communicate. It does
not hesitate in quoting rules to make a point that reflect in no uncertain terms as to who really
calls the shots. While other departments interface with employees on ‘official’ matters or hard
news, communication from the corporate communication department is referred to as ‘soft’
news.
Issues are taken up by the corporate communication department in consultation with other
departments and communicated through appropriate channels of employee communication.
However, the tone and tenor of their messages are different when compared to how any of
those departments would have typically communicated the same message.
To illustrate, the HR communication may be about a changed service rules, from the finance
department about a wage increase or cut in pay, and the production and marketing departments
may be communicating targets, which the receivers are expected to follow. All these issues are
often taken up by the corporate communication manager through various channels of employee
communication but in a different tone and tenor. To illustrate, if the production department had
communicated certain targets, the corporate communication story could be about a person or a
group that fulfilled the target or went above the target in the stipulated time, the reward and the
felicitation, besides facts about the targets. This certainly would have a human face and be
motivational to one and all than just a circular on the achievement of targets.
Moreover, other departments do not possess the expertise of the corporate communication
department in leveraging a host of channels for employee communication (e.g., magazines,
blogs, video conferencing, brainstorming, events, idea boxes, etc).

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Corporate communication is a top management function and the CEO needs to interface with
the employees at both official and personal levels to create a sense of belonging and give
direction to the organization. Communication is said to be the bedrock of building trust and
congeniality within an organization. Empirical data suggests that the quality of information was
responsible for creating varying degree of trust among co-workers and supervisory staff and
adequacy of information in the top management.
Marcia Xenitelis talks of the ‘Aha’ moment when communicating with employees, especially
about change. The ‘Aha’ moment, she says comes when the receiver of communication has the
following expressions:
• ‘Now it makes sense’.
• ‘Now I can do something about it’.
She recommends conducting focus group interviews among employees to know their
communication needs, so that appropriate communication strategies can be devised.
In an age of information revolution and viral impact of communication, the people in charge of
employee relations have to be very cautious while handling negative messages such as
severance with empathy while using the appropriate tone and tenor of communication. The
below case highlights that an HR issue became an image/reputation management issue when it
appeared in the media, and hence became the responsibility of the corporate communication
department to salvage it. Even issues that could have been dormant like the compensation
package of the top brass also came in limelight, reflecting lack of sympathy for people who got
fired (refer the below case from Jethwaney) without assigning any reason for the act.

1 May is celebrated all over the world as Labour Day. The month, however, did not seem to
augur well for the IT professionals in India in 2017. Thousands of them were given the pink
slips despite the IT sector in general earning decent profits and paying hefty compensation
to its top management running into millions of dollars per annum. WIPRO, Infosys and Tech
Mahindra have come in focus for firing their technical staff without assigning reasons. The
techies under the aegis of the Forum of IT Professionals (ForIT) have come together to fight
for injustice and inhumanity, seeking intervention of the government.
Anand Mahindra, the suave CEO of Tech Mahindra, apologized on Twitter for the sacking
of the employees without providing any road map. Vineet Nayyar, the CEO, posted, ‘I
deeply regret that conversation between HR representative and the employee has come
out in social media and we will take all measures that this should not and will not happen
(audio leak) in future, upholding the core organization values’. Interestingly, what seemed to
worry the top brass was that it leaked into the social media and not the loss of job of people
who were shown a fine line in the appointment letter that they could be terminated by
paying a couple of months’ salary. The response from angry netizens was on the expected
lines. Sympathizing with those who were fired, one of the respondents (Sushil Rajame)
wrote,
Apology should not be accepted!! IT companies hired too many people, without thinking of
sustainability of the model. This was bound to happen in all IT service companies. But it’s
very inhuman. The managements earn multi-million yearly and do not care what happens
next year to company or its employees. The business is based only on greed. To be frank
that’s how capitalism works, solution is to adopt balance between capitalism and socialism.
1. There should be Union of IT employees. 2. Govt should enforce all private companies,
not only IT companies, to handle cost cutting in better manner. Companies must pay
minimum 6 months gross salary. 3. Unions can take steps like mass Strike if management
does injustice.

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Three Major Phases of Employee Communication:
Michael C. Brandon, cited three major phases of employee communication but did not
specifically label them, which now Lyn Smith has adapted as follows:

Stage 1 (pre- In this phase, the predecessor was industrial relations; goal was to improve
1960s) employee morale; emphasis was on individual orientation and camaraderie;
attitude was warm and personal; and focus was on people

Stage 2 (mid- Here, the predecessor was journalism; goal was to deliver news; emphasis
1960s–1980s) was on facts; orientation was reporting; attitude was cool and skeptical; and
focus was on events

Stage 3 (late During the current phase, the predecessor is marketing; goal is implement
1980s–now) strategy; emphasis is on organization; orientation is aid to management;
attitude is business oriented; and focus is on strategic objectives

Corporate Communication and its Interface with Other Management Functions:

Corporate communication is a staff function that lends aid and advice to the management on
issues relating to communication. The success of the corporate communication department
impinges on the support and understanding it receives from various line and staff departments,
by timely sharing of information and insights. Let us look at its relationship with various
departments.

Marketing As both the functions reach out to people, they need to work in harmony.
If internal and external marketing messages are misaligned, customer
experience will suffer (e.g., telling customers that their welfare is #1
priority but telling employees that lowering costs is #1 priority). As
marketing is all about products and consumers, they often feel that
corporate communication should be a part of their department in the
interest of integrated marketing communication. The major areas of
conflict between the two are advertising and publicity, especially product
advertising and institutional advertising. In non-profit organizations, the
cause of friction is the allocation of funds, raising funds and reaching out
to a variety of publics with educational messages.

Law In times of crises, especially in case of defamation suits, top

management seeks legal aid to get out of the mess. In such times, it
generally refuses to speak to the media because the counsel may have
advised them to keep quiet. Close cooperation between corporate
communication and law is necessary looking at difficult times, when
more and more corporate organizations find themselves entangled in
issues relating to safety, environment, health, and resettlement and
severance, among others. While taking care of the legal aspects, it has
to be ensured that the human touch is not lost sight of in fighting the
cases in courts or through reflection in the media.

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Personnel, HRD, As both corporate communication and personnel departments deal with
Industrial Relations employees, the risk of friction between the two is high. The employees
are governed by certain policies and conduct rules, so if something is
written about employees in an emotional tenor in an employee
communication channel, the HR often feels that it could be held against
the management, especially if the issue is under negotiation with a
union.
With time, the roles and expectations of management and employees
have also been redefined. The management is increasingly aware that a
motivated employee is an asset and can be used as an ambassador of
goodwill. If the relationships are stifling within an organization, they
inevitably have their echo externally.
Who should communicate to the employees? The answer is both the
personnel and corporate communication, each having its area defined.
While communicating information relating to policies, procedures,
welfare activities and trade union negotiation are HR functions, writing
stories on organization for various mass media, the achievements of
some employees and human interest stories in media targeted at the
internal stakeholders, and writing and editing on employee
communication media including the house journal fall in the corporate
communication arena. Close cooperation between corporate
communication and HR brings about better understanding and respect
among employees and serves as a morale booster for them.

Outsourcing Employee Communication:

Many companies, which may not have an internal corporate communication department, often
outsource work to an outside PR/corporate communication firm, while others that may have an
internal corporate communication department still hire an outside firm to supplement its efforts.
Employee communication can become a very creative job, encompassing various channels in
engaging with the audiences. While face-to-face communication, brainstorming sessions, shop-
floor discussion, writing for employees in employee-oriented magazines and other media, and
idea boxes are better handled by the internal staff, the strategy, the packaging of information,
designing of journal, bulletin board, idea boxes and events can be handled more professionally,
if outsourced. An ideal team for employee communication would have both internal and external
members. When engaging an outside firm, it is important to give it a proper brief and advise it to
assign a dedicated staff member to work on internal communication in association with the
internal staff.

Theoretical Underpinning in Employee Communication:

Internal communication is about reaching out to the minds of a diverse group of people, with a
view to put them on a common wavelength about organizational goals, despite their varying
work profiles, status in the hierarchy and cultural backgrounds. Giving each employee a sense
of usefulness and a feeling of pride in the organization they have voluntarily joined is
challenging but not difficult to achieve.

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Cutlip, Center and Broom propose the following seven conditions for achieving an effective
working relationship with internal stakeholders:
1. Confidence and trust between employer and employees
2. Candid information flowing freely up, down and sideways
3. Satisfying status and participation for each person
4. Continuity of work without strife
5. Healthful surrounding
6. Success for the enterprise
7. Optimism about the future
Charles Handy’s classic book Understanding Organizations (1985) identifies four kinds of
organizational cultures
1. Power culture: Small entrepreneurial organizations often have a culture that revolves
around the founder. The founder generally represents the voice of the organization, at
least in the initial stages, so he/she also controls communications. Even if later a
professional communicator were to be put in place, but in all likelihood, the founder
would continue to be the central figure in maintaining internal and external relations.
2. Role culture: Where bureaucracy heads an organization, it places importance on
functions and specialism. Such organizations are often bound by rules and procedures,
where everything goes by the rulebook. There are laid-out procedures for doing things
as also settling disputes. Large companies and public sector organizations, in general,
have well laid-out policies and procedures for appointments, promotions, retirement, and
grievance redressal and conduct rules. Such companies when referred by critics as
bureaucratic imply that they suffer from ‘red tape’, hierarchies, delays and so on.
3. Person culture: Charles Handy posits that within some bureaucracies, one can find
traces of yet another culture, which can thrive quite happily within but have little affiliation
to the whole. Some cases in point are educational institutions, hospitals, architecture
firms and legal firms and so on that develop personal culture. In these kinds of
institutions, a typical personal culture develops. In such organizations where there is a
concentration of professionals, it is not likely that for fulfilling their communication needs
they do not look inwards. They rather look outside their organizations to be updated
about the latest happenings in their profession.
4. Task culture: The task culture focuses on the job in hand or the projects. In such
organizations, the project groups based on the task culture are expected to do the job
well. According to this theory, for internal communication, this kind of culture would
provide fertile ground in terms of material for publication or broadcast.

What to Communicate with Employees:

An organization that looks like a composite unit from outside is but a bundle of complexities
from within. People who work in an organization, when looked at carefully, are divided by
gender, age, educational qualifications, hierarchy, location, salaries and attitudes. At the social
level, people tend to be divided by caste, religion and ethnicity.
Corporate communication has to win over all divisions and diversities, which other departments
may or may not be suited to do. Lyn Smith opines that while working on communication
strategies, it would be a good idea to remember the following:
• Front-line staff prefers to hear the news straight from line managers.
• A mix of media (intranet, publications, audiovisuals) would best serve the hard-to-reach
groups. Middle managers should be seen as facilitators rather than blockages.

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 • Creatives and specialists should be handled sensitively.
• She recommends taking into account the diversity (age, gender, race and culture).
Experts suggest that the senior management should first be encouraged to think about what is
needed to be communicated. An ideal employee communication should have a mix-up of stories
relating to the organization and employee achievements, namely how the organization is doing,
challenges of time, competitive edge, expectations from employees, futuristic plans, awards
won by the organization and so on. For employees, motivational stories on people who made a
difference, stories of their courage and grit, their achievements in areas beyond work such as
sports and culture, and so on would find enthusiastic readers because such stories concern the
people they know personally. Do not forget to include the achievements of their family
members, especially children. Devote some space on employees’ contribution in writing for the
journal or their skills at photography and so on. Everyone wishes to see his/her name in print.

While taking the decision on the choice of media, the corporate communication professional will
have to consider:
• Most effective media,
• Most efficient media, and
• Most credible media
It is important to know your TA (Target Audience) threadbare so that communication is decided
keeping in view their demographics and psychographics. Ultimately, ‘What’ (the content) would
determine ‘where’ (channels) to communicate.

Various Media for Internal Communication:

There are no two views that corporate communication, of which employee communication is a
part, is a top management function. The corporate communication manager, in fact, works as a
link between the top management and various employees. In order that communication is not
seen as the ‘mouthpiece’ of the management, great caution and balancing act is required. At the
same time, the aim of such communication is also to reflect management’s perspective and
ethos. What would it mean in practice?
Here is a case study of a company that faced a situation like this. The National Hydroelectric
Power Corporation (NHPC), a public sector enterprise (PSE) with a workforce of more than
20,000 employees, has a number of employee unions, many of them owing allegiance to
different political ideologies. Once, while negotiating with union leaders, the HR department
called for a photographer from the communication department to take pictures. The
management had reached consensus on some issue with a number of unions. The HR later
sent a write-up for inclusion in the employee magazine. As soon as copies of the house journal
that carried the story were distributed, it created a ruckus between the management and at least
one union that had been on the scene for a long time. The cause of commotion was that the
picture that went along with the story did not have the representation of the ‘senior most’ union,
but of a union that had just been formed. This union alleged that it was a deliberate act on the
part of the management to bring the new union in focus, because the management wished to
break the older unions. Now the fact of the matter was that the HR had no role to play in this.
The communication department, based on its quality, had selected the picture. The problem
needed a quick resolution. The HR consulted with the communication head, who came out with
a solution that, under the circumstance, soothed the frayed nerves. The department used to
bring out two employee magazines, one a quarterly, in the magazine format, which had carried

26
the picture, and the other a four-pager that was brought out every month to provide snippets of
developments and achievements. So losing no time, a collage of all the pictures of that day’s
function along with the news item was given prominent position in the publication and brought
out at a war-speed to salvage the damage. The moral of the story here is that the person in
charge of employee communication has to be sensitive to both the management and
employees’ perspectives and, when in doubt, must consult the concerned in the management
before making anything public.
The range of media for internal communications is immense but not all channels are used by all
the organizations. It depends on how much importance the organizations give to the function,
the locations of the projects and the interest the team takes in the activity.

1. Induction Literature/Information Kiosks

When new staff members join a company, it takes time for them to get accustomed to
organizational culture. Good companies make all efforts to make new entrants feel comfortable
through various means, which may include a welcome letter, an induction training programme
and literature, or through an interactive medium like a CD-ROM/DVD, an electronic information
kiosk and intranet. All these media are aimed at informing such employees on how the
organization works, its hierarchical structure, the decision-making process, its product range,
locations and so on.
2. House Journal
House journal is the most popular corporate communication channel for employee
communication. However, not all journals are interesting from the perspective of employees’
interest. Bringing out a nicely packaged journal with color pictures is no guarantee that the
journal would be popular. The basic aim of a house journal is to provide a communication forum
to employees through which they not only get informed and motivated but at the same time also
participate. A journal that has its CEO on various pages is often touted by employees as ‘His
Masters Voice’ and would not be respected. On the other hand, a column on a CEO’s interfaces
with employees on issues that concern them would be appreciated. The corporate
communication head is ideally the editor of the house journal.
A house journal can be registered with the Registrar of Newspapers, if it has some innovative
title, because it would need the clearance. In case it is after the name of the company, say Tata
news, or Birla newsletter, it would not need the name clearance. While most of the house
journals are free, some are nominally priced. It would be a good idea to write ‘For internal
circulation’ on the house journal to avoid any problem. If the journal is registered with the
regulatory body, then the registration number must appear on the cover or inside of the journal;
the statutory information must be published each year and copies of the journal as stipulated
must be submitted.
A house journal can cover topics that would include the organization’s achievements, fulfilment
of targets, futuristic plans, human-interest stories, social news, employee contributions and so

27
on. The mailing list may encompass employees, distributors, agents, opinion makers and other
external publics. Larger companies can have separate journals for internal and external publics.
The bottom line for a house journal is that it must satisfy the needs and interests of its readers.
Human interest should be the governing principle for stories. Too many uninteresting figures
and technical details are unlikely to interest readers.
For publishing a house journal, let us consider the following steps:
• Planning: Develop a concept that serves the company best. The decision about size,
format and periodicity may be taken after a brainstorming session with the team and the
management. The popular formats are tabloid and magazine. While getting the
management’s approval, a format presentation should ideally include suggested titles,
masthead design, some page dummies, suggested paper and an indication of the
expenditure envisaged.
• Organizing: Organizing is all about putting together a network. Once the management’s
approval has been taken, the corporate communication head must set about organizing
staff to get going with the job. The greater the frequency, more likely the need for more
staff. Depending on the size of the corporate communication department at the
corporate office and availability of communication staff at projects, proper networking for
news gathering should be made. In the absence of regular staff, it is advisable to
develop a band of ‘freelance writers’ from within the organization. The immediate step is
to work out a strict schedule for collection, writing of stories, production and printing.
• Publishing: A professional corporate communication practitioner plans several issues
ahead in addition to the one being worked on. As an editor, the corporate
communication head must inculcate the habit of reaching out to people and places. It is
not possible to write interesting editorials, cover stories and human-interest write-ups
while sitting glued to the corporate seat. In order to bring out the publication on time, one
should involve as few management hierarchies as possible for the clearance of
text/copy.
• Distribution: A journal loses its value if it does not reach the targeted public on time. The
quickest and most economical means possible must be selected to reach out to the
readers. Some organizations distribute the journal at the place of work, while others mail
it to employees’ homes. The obvious advantage of the latter is that the staff members
are relaxed at home and can read the journal leisurely. Also, the family members can
have access to the publication.
In order to make the publication popular, it is necessary to make it reader oriented. Organized
feedback through a questionnaire survey could be undertaken periodically to examine the extent
to which employees are satisfied with the publication. It needs to be remembered that shorter
the questionnaire, the better would be the chances of receiving the response.
3. Closed-circuit/In-house Television
In-house TV is a great medium linking up a scattered audience in an office and township. Many
companies telecast address by the CEO to employees and their families during times of crises.
The interim management at Satyam uploaded a video on its intranet to address the concerns of
employees in 2009. The video was later shared with news channels also to inform people at
large about the management’s initiatives for its thousands of employees. Some of the leading
organizations have been using video magazines for employee communication. The contents
include management’s point of view on various issues, company performance, welfare
measures, human-interest stories, engagement with communities and so on. However, video
magazines have not really replaced printed house journals. They, in fact, complement each
other.

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 4. The New Age Media
The new age media has brought about a paradigm shift in employee communication. Many
companies are now using the digital media to connect with their employees; in the Indian
context, both Infosys and Satyam Computers use the Internet and intranet to connect to its
thousands of employees scattered in various continents and countries.
Infosys Intranet connecting its about 70,000 employees across 18 countries is called Sparsh
(Touch). It is Infosys’ primary channel of news and official information. It provides a
communication platform and networking avenues for Infosys employees.
Selected for an award by the rating agency Nielsen Norman as one of the 10 best intranet sites
for its award ‘Intranet Design Annual: The 10 Best Intranets of 2007’, Infosys is the only Indian
company to have received the award. Among the features that the award recognized were:
• User participation and incredible user uptake
• New avenues for publishing and networking
• Content freshness and access to archived content
• Personalized and customized content
• Clean and simple look and navigation
• Attention to design details
Satyam Computers before it was bought over by Tech Mahindra had launched a web radio
station, called Planet Satyam in 2008, to connect to its over 50,000 workforce. The station
according to Satyam sources is patterned on ‘YouTube’.
The company had also launched Satyamstarpower.com, a web portal to showcase the creative
talents of its associates and employees worldwide. The company claimed it to be the first of its
kind lending a new dimension to Satyam’s fun@work initiative that involves its associates and
families in social and recreational activities sponsored by Satyam. The Satyamites were
encouraged to post their abilities reflected through various forms such as painting, singing and
writing, which are rated by colleagues.
5. Employee Blogs
It is a newer strategy but is catching up fast. Southwest Airlines (SWA) encourages its
employees to blog, as it believes it to be another communication tool, which can be handled
without incurring any additional cost. The employees were sceptical in the beginning, but no
more. ‘Nuts about Southwest’ is accessed by many who share their experiences, concerns and
so on. Robert Scoble, an employee of Microsoft, began his blog called Scobleizer, which
contained all sorts of informal and even highly personal information, such as family details and
bereavements, that his salary was ‘less than $100,000’, as well as what came to be closely
followed observations on Microsoft’s products, which were not always complimentary. Scoble’s
writings, according to analysts, started attracting such high volumes of traffic that any attempts
by the software company to stop it were not successful. Analysts feel that the blog did more
good than harm to the company as Microsoft is now seen as a cool company against the earlier
perception of being monopolistic and a predator. Scoble has since left the company.
Many companies in India are waking up to use employees as bloggers for their brands and
offerings. For instance, Tata Motors was one among the first ones that made use of collective
blogging, at the time of launching its Nano car in 2008, which resulted in many from the public
joining them in endorsing the brand.

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 6. Idea Boxes
The concept of idea boxes is to create a channel through which the management encourages
submission of innovative ideas in various areas of activities from employees. The ideas are
discussed among the management, and those that could be implemented are rewarded. Idea
boxes are placed at vantage places for employees to drop their ideas on various areas that may
include improving systems, processes or even put in their complaints. When sifted and seen
closely, the medium helps in tracking employee perceptions on various issues, areas of their
concerns and their possible contribution in innovations.
7. Shop-floor Discussions
Shop-floor discussions can be great morale boosters, for both employees and managers. The
discussions can be on many subjects relating to work, targets or issues that crop up suddenly.
Motivating employees is an important task for management, in which corporate communication
can play a very significant role, by coining motivational messages that can be displayed. The
management often complains about lack of motivation on the part of the employees and forms
its own perception about the reason.
Ferdinand F. Fournies lists the following reasons why the employees do not act.
• They do not know why they should do it.
• They do not know how to do it.
• They do not know what they are supposed to do.
• They think your way will not work.
• They think their way is better.
• They think something else is more important.
• They think there is no positive consequence of their doing it.
• They think they are doing it.
• They are punished for doing what they are supposed to do.
• They are rewarded for not doing it.
• They anticipate a negative consequence for doing it.
• There is no negative consequence for not doing it.
• There are obstacles beyond their control.
• Their personal limits prevent them from performing.
• Personal problems.
• No one can do it!
It is important to partner with employees in day-to-day work and brainstorm with them when
finding solution to a problem.
Some companies like the Delhi Jal Board encourages its employees to contribute slogans on
safety. The most appropriate ones are painted on the walls. The employees also get awarded in
case their slogans are selected for display. The strategy has helped the company in motivating
employees by recognizing their talent and also making them conscious about safety norms,
which are important from employees’ perspective. The company feels that this has helped a
great deal, as employees tend to follow the safety norms more sincerely, because they believed
in what came from them.

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 8. Bulletin Boards
A bulletin board in an organizational context can be described as a channel for continuous flow
of news and messages concerning employees. They come in various sizes and shapes. Some
are mundane looking, while others are well designed. The bulletin boards have a fixed
periodicity. These are generally placed at the exit gates of the shop floors, but some could even
be seen inside the assembly lines.
Apart from circulars and notices, the bulletin boards have become a sought-after medium by
production heads for motivating employees to reach the production targets. Giving shift-wise
production details on the bulletin boards also encourages competition among different shifts. A
corner of the board can also be set aside for social news relating to employees and their family
members. For instance, if an employee’s child topped the examination in the district, his/her
picture along with a small news would not only make the parent feel proud but would also
please others as it could happen for their children later.
9. Visits by Management
Organizing visits of the top management to various projects achieves two aims from the
corporate communication perspectives: one, the employees feel motivated when they are face
to face with the top management; two, these can be turned into a media opportunity to gain
some mileage.
It would be a good idea to organize interactive sessions for the project managers with the
visiting senior officers. For employees, it can be a gathering followed by participation by
employees in cultural activities. This would give an opportunity to the top management to meet
the blue-collar workers and mix up with them. Some companies organize open forums, in which
employees could share ideas, give suggestions and also give vent to their grievances.
10. Clubs and Societies
Talent cuts across artificial hierarchical barriers. In order to encourage the entire office fraternity,
it is important that employees socialize and share common interests through sports clubs,
literary societies and so on. This helps build personal rapport and respect among managers and
workers for each other as human beings.
At Goodyear Tyres, a British company, there is a common canteen for management and staff. It
is not uncommon to find them sharing the same table during lunchtime, which obviously leads to
socializing.
11. Open House/Events
An open house is a designated day; it could be landmark day like the foundation day, when
employees are invited to come with families including children for their day-out to visit the plant,
participate in various activities, and have food and oodles of fun. The families get a chance to
see the place, their spouse/parent’s work, go around the plant/workplace and get acquainted
and, may be, feel proud of the family member and the company.
In a talk show, a few years ago with programme host Simi Garewal, industrialist Kumar
Mangalam Birla shared that on one such open day, as he entered the premises of the plant, he
found people in masks going around, leading him to believe that he had come to a wrong place,
until he realized that it was an ‘open day’.
Australian airline Qantas roped in famous actor John Travolta, a trained pilot, to serve as its
‘brand ambassador at large’ on a range of employee and brand-building initiative. The
association brought about a lot of media mileage for the company, besides raising employee
morale by arranging for John Travolta to meet and speak with Qantas employees in each of the

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cities on the tour. Travolta spoke about his passion for aviation and special attachment to
Qantas.
12. Employee Involvement in CSR Initiatives
Many research studies suggest that one of important considerations for people to join a
company is its commitment to CSR and its corporate governance record. In an age where an
average person has more exposure about the environment in which he/she lives, many
companies are involving their employees to contribute in issues that go beyond work. This
exposes the employees to the contribution of the company in the social sphere; it also
sensitizes them to the importance of these areas. Here are few cases in point where employees
have been actively involved.
Out of Fortune 100 best companies, 55 allow their employees to undertake paid volunteer work
with communities. The top 3 among 55 who have been doing exemplary work in this regard
include Novo Nordisk, a Danish pharmaceutical company, which takes the top position when it
comes to providing employees with paid time off to volunteer with 80 hours, equivalent to 10
days per year, followed by NuStar Energy, a Texas-based liquids terminal and pipeline operator,
which allows employees up to 60 hours (7.5 days) of paid time off to volunteer in a year.
The originator of the ‘1-1-1’ model of corporate giving, Salesforce lets its employees 56 total
paid hours (7 days) for volunteering every year. And for those who do complete all seven days
of volunteering within a year, Salesforce provides a $1,000 grant they can donate to a non-profit
organization of their choice.
Here are some more examples from India.
Citi Bank
Citi Bank has been organizing—‘Global Community Day’ across the world where it has its
footprints, for many years. On 10 June 2017, it organized one more time in partnership with
Bloomberg volunteers from ‘New York to Mumbai to Paris’, covering 500 cities in 91 countries,
engaging in service for the local communities. Citi employees, alumni, clients, family and friends
volunteered ‘on more than 1,500 service projects ranging from urban revitalization to mentorship
and job skills training, literacy and education, environmental conservation and disaster relief’, as
per Citi Bank’s news release.
Accenture
India has launched a very innovative scheme, under which employees running short of leave
have to look for ‘generous colleagues for help’. The employees are allowed to donate their
excess leave to someone in crisis, thus bringing to life the age-old adage, ‘A friend in need is a
friend indeed’.

Best Employer Survey:

Mainstream magazines from time to time conduct employers’ surveys on certain benchmarks. It
surely works as an image booster for the companies in the reckoning, besides providing a
window to potential employees about the functioning of various organizations. The 2009 Outlook
Business–Hewitt Associates Study on the best employers highlighted the significance of
communication, especially in times of downturn.
The companies that received the accolades for motivating managers in times of economic
recession to get the best out of them and propel growth included HCL, Hindustan Zinc; Taj
Hotels, Resorts and Palaces; Cisco Systems and ITC, and Welcome Group, in that order of
merit.

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The best practices parameters included the following:
• time for ideation,
• contribution to CSR,
• leadership career planning,
• flexible work–life options,
• voting people to employee councils for better representation, and
• training

Key Sources:
Corporate Communication – Jaishri Jethwaney
Corporate Communication – Paul Argenti

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