The power of leadership communication

When Kevin Warren (now Chairman of the board, President and CEO of Xerox Canada) began his career at Xerox in 1984, he conducted an audit to assess the success of communication and he has remained an advocate of communication ever since.  He believes that the positive impact of his efforts extends far beyond the organisation and its internal audiences to include external stakeholders. “Well rounded communication is imperative in any organisation”, he says.

For his role in leadership communication, he was awarded the 2010 IABC Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award.

Speaking at the IABC Conference in Toronto, Warren says that all business leaders need to be held accountable to communicate the same messages across multiple business units. He keeps management up to date on all strategic and operational functions with a periodic newsletter and podcast, while keeping all communication channels open.

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The World Cup was the model - now let's use it!

South Africa was probably the last destination people had in mind when they were thinking of going somewhere, until the advent of the World Cup.  But when they came in droves for the soccer, it opened their eyes.    They were pleasantly surprised: in fact, there was a lot of “Wow!”  They experienced a country with a sound infrastructure, good roads, hospitality - a vibrant country on the way upwards.   Clever people, good leaders, good business, good entrepreneurs.  Linda Hamman, CEO of Talk2Us, writes that she has no doubt that what they experienced will bring tourists to our shores. You can also listen to the speech she did at the recent IABC Africa feedback session looking at lessons learned from the World Cup from a communication perspective. 

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Strategic communication – the key to success

Day two of the 2010 IABC World Conference in Toronto, Canada, kicked off with a powerful speech by Kevin Warren, Chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Xerox Canada. Having successively navigated his organisation through the economic turbulence, he was in a position to make it clear that the relationship between employment communication and engagement is what leads to ultimate business success.  The positive impact of his commitment has been far-reaching and extended beyond employees to all his constituencies. His enthusiasm and commitment to communication is evident and contagious, and his fellow senior leaders at Xerox have also recently expanded their communication's breadth and reach.

Warren has been an advocate of communication from his early days within the organisation, and for his role in leadership communication, he was awarded the 2010 IABC Excellence in Communication Leadership (EXCEL) Award, which honours company leaders who have demonstrated superb communication skills.

5 habits of truly effective organisations

Taking up Warren’s theme, Julie Gebauer, head of  Towers Watson’s Workforce Effectiveness Practice, and managing director of its organisational research business, says nine out of every 10 workers in the world want to take on challenges and are ready to put ‘discretionary effort’ into their jobs. However, in reality, only two employees in 10 actually do so.

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Closing the Engagement Gap

Julie Gebauer, head of  Towers Watson’s Workforce Effectiveness Practice and managing director of its organisational research business, is on a mission – to close the engagement gap, or as she defines engagement, ‘the assessment of discretionary effort’.   Speaking at the 2010 IABC Conference in Toronto, Gebauer said that nine out of every 10 workers in the world wanted to take on challenges and were ready to put ‘discretionary effort’ into their jobs.  In reality, only two employees in 10 actually do so.

The engagement gap in the workplace is not a soft issue – it’s a key business imperative. There are a number of inexpensive, yet important steps that can be taken to close the gap. While these are sometimes difficult to get through, they are not insurmountable.

The recession has taken its toll on companies and employees alike all over the world. More than ever companies are looking at tightening labour costs; being conservative about ‘staffing-up’; seeking a more flexible and scalable workforce; and driving productivity gains. On the other hand, employees are thankful for having jobs during these tough economic times; looking ahead and wondering about the future; less apt to have promotional opportunities; and fearful of the future.

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