Internal Communications Is Everyone’s Job

BY Carole Robinson Oliver

Mary Beth Wolicky, Manager, Corporate and e-Communications, Communications and Citizen Engagement Sector
Photo: Bill Rankin

If an e-mail falls into a thousand in-boxes and no one reads it,
can we still say that communication has occurred?

This is not a Zen riddle, but rather an all-too-common occurrence in many departments. Managers may think they have done a good job of communicating once the information goes out, in whatever format. But they’ll never know for sure unless they hear from those on the receiving end.

Communications is a two-way street. True communication means checking to see if the message was received and, more importantly, how it was received. It also means being ready to listen and respond to what comes back.

Whether it flows downwards, upwards or horizontally, internal communications refers to all forms of communication inside an organization. Information can be exchanged face-to-face, via the printed word or electronically.

Some employees would say that they are literally drowning in the deluge of information that pours into their computers especially if the information is repetitive or if it isn’t relevant to their own work. And yet, their thirst for information remains.

“This is what we found when we did an internal communications survey last May,” says Mary Beth Wolicky, Manager, Corporate and e-Communications, Communications and Citizen Engagement Sector at National Headquarters.

“The survey also told us that there’s not enough face-to-face communication between staff and their managers,” she adds, “and not enough ways for employees to provide feedback.”

Wolicky notes there have been other related surveys in previous years that also pinpointed the need to improve internal communications at the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), including the 2005 Public Service Employee survey and the series of values and ethics focus groups carried out in 2006.

“We’ve come to the same conclusions from a variety of sources,” she notes, “because everything is connected. It’s hard to make progress in one area, like trust and respect, without improving how we communicate with each other.”

The Corporate and e-Communications team has responded to these findings in a number of ways, beginning with the tool everyone loves to hate but can’t do without — e-mail.

“We’ve tried to make the e-mail messages more efficient, easier to archive on the system and easier for employees to access the information they need, to keep in touch with what’s happening in the organization,” says Wolicky.

She adds that the new weekly e-mail, dubbed News@Work, is intended to foster a sense of community by sharing good news and regional stories.

Managers Play a Critical Role in Internal Communications

Though there are no specific measures to address the need for more face-to-face commu­nication at CSC, it is no longer optional for managers in the sense that the Commissioner has put internal communications into all executives’ performance agreements. In fact, Commissioner Coulter himself is the CSC Champion for internal communications, and a strong believer in the need for effective internal communications in high-performing organizations.

Recognizing the critical role managers play in effective internal communications, the internal communications team will launch a Manager’s Toolkit, on how to effectively communicate with their employees.

One especially useful tool is a series of grids to help managers decide how to match the method of communication to the situation at hand. For example: deciding whether to hold a staff meeting, send out an e-mail, post an article on the InfoNet or host a brown bag lunch. For each method, the grid lists the benefits, along with suggestions on how to do it well.

Wolicky points out that the Toolkit will also be available to staff. “It’s not just for managers. It’s there for personal and professional development,” she says, “because that’s the other side of the internal communications equation. All employees have a responsibility to keep themselves informed about the organization they work for, and to bring important issues forward.”

Other key initiatives include a revamp of the CSC Internet and InfoNet sites to include user-friendly portals, development of an internal communications training module for staff and creation of an internal communications advisory committee — a group of employees from across the country who contribute to building internal communications capacity at CSC by offering feedback and advice on internal communications challenges and solutions.

“Internal communications, when it’s done right, can help everyone feel they’re part of a team and that they belong,” says Wolicky.

“And that goes a long way to improving the ethical climate and promoting teamwork.” ♦