The roles of Corporate Communications and Human Resources are SHIFTING – and increasing visibility along with demand TO DELIVER for the business.
What is the difference? IMPACT is delivered and quantified. For example:
- $14 million saved through engaged employees at the frontlines
- $725 million in cost reduction through Human Resources process improvements
- Three plants changeover systems at the same time, on the same day through clarity of personal expectations, defined roles and responsibilities, and active leadership
First, what is driving this demand for impact from Communications and HR and the need to shift? The lineup of drivers includes:
- Digital and social media
- Reputation management
- Employee engagement
Next, what do you do? Look at your world from a simple 20-60-20 perspective:
- 20 percent of activity – eliminate activity that is not measured or build processes and tools to shift implementation to other functions for self-service
- 60 percent is for excellence execution – keep those initiatives where measurement is currently used or can be implemented to illustrate that projects of Communications and HR are moving in the right direction, e.g. surveys, feedback
- 20 percent for impact – identify the one-to-three areas where you can have an impact for the business in terms that can be translated to financial gain, e.g. cost out, productivity improvements, customer fill rates
Third, where do you start?
- Make a best friend in finance.
- Be sure your team clearly understands what is important to the business. This means the approach needs to shift to excellent execution with an operations mindset for delivering impact.
- Determine together where the team can define and deliver impact! A sense of collaboration working across functions is an interesting byproduct and builds more impact… followed by more impact!
Who to contact for building your impact model: Connect with On the Same Page by contacting Tracy.
