The communicator as gardener: effective strategic counsel means nurturing corporate culture

When Alexander the Great conquered Sidon after a long Persian occupation, there were no survivors of the reigning dynasty from whom to name a new king. Alexander often let locals rule, as long as they were loyal to him. He gave the assignment of finding and installing a new king to his best friend and commander, Hephaestion. Hephaestion went "underground,' poking around Sidon incognito with an interpreter, looking for a person worthy to be the new king. He was unsuccessful, and Alexander grew impatient. One day, Hephaestion came upon an incredibly beautiful and well-kept garden. His interpreter explained that when the Persian uprising began, rebels tried to torch the garden, but the gardener stood in the doorway facing death rather than let the garden be destroyed. His name was Abdalonymus, and on Hephaestion's recommendation, Alexander made the gardener king. He was reported to be the best king in living memory.

Communication professionals can find a worthy role model in Abdalonymus. And organizational management can learn much from Alexander's decision to make the gardener king. When managing correctly, communicators are the gardeners of organizations. They nurture the life force of the organization--its strategic communication. They prune the weeds of inaccuracy, reticence, rumor and half-truth. Communicators cultivate this life force with accurate, timely and relevant strategic information. They then propagate the truth found in honest and proven business practices, so the bounty of success can be harvested.

Like plants well watered, organizations run better when the work force is well informed. Organizations reap success with knowledgeable employees who are engaged, committed and productive. Communicators are vital to employee cultivation.

A longtime editor and columnist for Fortune magazine, Geoffrey Colvin, wrote in the 16 Sept. 2002 issue: "The terrible damage to investors and employees at Enron, Tyco and Global Crossing has shown that the markets don't need winks and nods, they need comprehensive information, which is exactly what they are not getting from those companies."

BALANCING THE ELEMENTS

To communicate effectively to employees and other audiences, corporate communicators must align outgoing information with internal business issues and work-a-day realities. They must dig beneath surface communication skills and tactics. They must learn more about organizational dynamics and behavior, about corporate climate and culture, about management and leadership, about building (or rebuilding) trust, and then they must unify it all with strategic communication management. Successful gardeners do not just plant the seeds and hope for the best. They use all available tools. So must the communicator, and the breadth of knowledge required goes beyond communication theory and practice.

A survey conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting in 1997 found that half of the employees polled believed the reasons for important changes in their organizations were not explained to them. According to the report, employees have numerous unanswered questions:

* Why must the organization make these changes?

* What market forces dictate this response?

* What might the consequences be if we don't take any action?

* What new behaviors will be required of me and why?

* Will I get help in retraining myself in any required new skills?

From this survey, communication professionals can learn a lot about what is required for relevant strategic communication. These responses show that employees want information about organizational climate and culture, about why management makes certain decisions and why leaders behave the way they do.

CLARIFYING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Organizational culture is the values, beliefs and norms as expressed in actual practices and behaviors of the organization's members. Culture drives organizational success and embodies what the organization values. There are three elements of culture:

1. Artifacts: the visible, audible, tactile manifestations of culture, such as stories, myths and metaphors. For example, many organizations have "founder stories" that help to explain the culture and "the way things are done around here." Organizations can be formal or informal in their day-to-day interactions, each based on the behavior of the founder.

2. Shared values: the norms, codes of ethics and reward systems unique to an organization. If these differ, then what an organization rewards financially speaks more loudly than what it merely says it values.

3. Basic assumptions: how people are socialized into the organization, who fits in and who does not. It's wise for organizations to test applicants extensively before making hiring decisions. As a result of extensive, front-end testing, new hires tend to become productive quickly and stay longer, cutting wasteful turnover.

Organizational culture and climate are important factors in determining the work environment quality quotient. Employees' work-life quality determines whether they will make a productive contribution to the organization. One 25-year-old high-tech professional working in Fairfax County, Va., a Washington, D.C., suburb, had this to say of his employer after his annual leave was cancelled: "I guess they just don't care about my happiness."

There is a conflict here between business needs and the employee's desired leisure. Who is right? It depends on the expectations of each. This is the so-called psychological contract, the set of expectations held by the employee specifying what he and the organization expect to give and receive from each other in the course of their working relationship. It is management's responsibility to ensure a fair exchange and the communicator's responsibility to explain the resulting policy.

Among the determinants of a high-quality work life are:

* Participation--involving people from all levels of responsibility in decision making.

* Reinforcement--creating reward systems that are fair, relevant and contingent on work performance.

* Responsiveness--making the work setting more pleasant and able to serve individual needs.

* Trust--redesigning jobs, systems and structures to give people more freedom at work.

BUILDING FOUNDATIONS FOR TRUST

In these cynical times, trust is a universal ingredient in a high-quality work life. Twenty-eight-year-old Munetaka Yaginuma, in an interview with National Geographic, explains the erosion of trust in corporate Japan: When his father grew up in the 1950s, the drive to rebuild their devastated country had infused people with a keen sense of national purpose. They went to work for a big company, adopted its values, and in return were guaranteed a job, often for life.

But Yaginuma says hard economic times have changed the social contract, leaving many Japanese workers to fend for themselves.

Trust may be at an all-time low, To build, or rebuild, trust, an organization must take real action, such as the steps listed above. A good start is for an organization to trust its employees, who may in turn view the organization as trustworthy. Trust of an authority figure is predictable on two fronts: values and skills. People expect consistent, predictable values and problem-solving skills from their authorities. Communicators can help explain company values and practices to an organization's employees.

Consider these four ways a communicator can help an organization build, or rebuild, trust:

1. Always say "we." When communicating about any strategic issue, think in terms of "our" goals. Be inclusive, trustworthy. Be sensitive to employees' needs, fears and interests. Make sure management speaks in these terms.

2. Create interactions. Not even Alexander the Great could do it alone; he regularly sought the advice of his commanders and other thinkers. Building trust means involving people in planning and problem solving and creating cooperative goals. Communicators must ensure that these interactions and subsequent goals are understood throughout the organization.

3. Lay a firm foundation for trust. Help management be predictable. Help leaders delegate, thereby building trust and collaboration, making people feel safe and secure. Avoid secret meetings and closed-door sessions. Work to see that the organization keeps its commitments and promises.

4. Focus on gains, not losses. The communicator can help emphasize wins, not losses, and opportunities, not just problems. Get a dialogue going on solutions to major strategic problems.

DISCERNING LEADERSHIP VS. MANAGEMENT

To proffer effective strategic counsel, communicators should know as much about leadership and management as any business manager. Management involves planning, organizing, leading and controlling the use of organizational resources to achieve high-performance results. The managerial role includes an interpersonal role--working directly with other people; an informational role--exchanging information with other people; and a decisional role--making decisions that affect other people.

It then takes skill to translate these areas of knowledge into action that results in desired performance. There are three skill types: technical skills--the ability to perform specialized tasks; human skills--the ability to work well with other people; and conceptual skills--the ability to analyze and solve complex problems. All skill types are important, and each can be effectively supported and enhanced in management by the communicator's wise counsel. Therefore the communicator must master these skills to assume higher organizational leadership.

Harvard University's Ronald A. Heifetz, in his book 'Leadership Without Easy Answers," provides a gold mine of knowledge for the organizational communicator with his insight into technical versus adaptive leadership. Heifetz defines leadership as:

* Technical: the organization already knows how to respond to the problem and the necessary knowledge about the problem has been formulated for authoritative response.

* Adaptive: management must look beyond authoritative solutions to mobilize toward a solution, rather than direct means to institute one.

It follows then that leadership is a special case of interpersonal influence that gets an individual, group or community to face and act on its problems. Leadership mobilizes employees to tackle tough challenges. And to whom does management look for assistance in mobilizing organizational problem solving? You got it-the communicator. Whenever coordinated action is required, the communicator is the leader skilled in making it happen.

HERDING CATS

From both a management and leadership perspective, a primary function of organizational communication is to achieve coordinated action. Yet "communication" is sometimes the ultimate buzzword. What's really important in communication? Consider these pointers:

* Never assume that anyone knows anything in an organization.

* Explain things. The communicator must constantly put issues in context so that employees can understand and then take coordinated action.

* Explain what issues mean. "What's in it for me? (WIIFM)" is the standard by which communicators must judge their efforts to explain organizational issues to stakeholders.

* Be responsive, not defensive, when asked questions.

* Seek feedback. Communication must be two-way to be considered strategic.

* Listen. It's as important as talking, if not more so.

By unifying their knowledge of work-place climate and culture, trust building and management versus leadership with existing strategic communication expertise, communicators can improve organizational productivity.

The following 10 steps should guide the communicator:

1. Communicate clear, high-performance standards.

2. Set the tone in all employee meetings and with any media relations activity.

3. Create a sense of urgency among employees.

4. Make sure organizational members have the right skills by providing communication counsel to your organization's human resources, training and organization development professionals.

5. Communicate clear rules for desired organizational behavior.

6. Counsel organizational leaders so that they model the desired behavior--they must "walk the talk."

7. Identify and communicate "quick victories"--early successes in goal achievement that build spirit and a sense of accomplishment.

8. Continually introduce relevant new facts and information to the work force.

9. Make sure organizational members have time to interact and increase unity.

10. Give positive feedback, rewarding and recognizing high-performance results.

The desired outcome of the communicator as organizational gardener is a high-yield work force. Communicators who continually broaden their management and leadership skills will doubtless have a successful harvest.

RESOURCES

The following background sources offer additional reading for those wishing to dig deeper into the communicator's garden.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

Geoffrey Colvin, Fortune (16 Sept. 2002. p. 60)

Tokyo Bay

Tracy Dahlby, National Geographic (October 2002, pp. 32-56)

Senior Executives and Corporate Communicators, Wake Up!

Roger D'Aprix and Karen Greenbaum, Communication World (August/September 1997, pp. 39-44)

Leadership Without Easy Answers

Ronald A. Heifetz (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999)

Customer vs. Audience: When Worlds Collide

Robert J. Holland and Lester R. Potter, Communication World (August/September 2000, pp. 15-17)

Alexander. Volume II: The Sands of Ammon Valerio M. Manfredi (Washington Square Press, 2002)

Managing Organizational Behavior

John R. Schermerhorn Jr., James G. Hunt and Richard N. Osborn (John Wiley & Sons Inc., 1994)

AVAILABLE FROM IABC

The Communication Plan: The Heart of Strategic Communication Second Edition, Lester R. Potter, ABC (IABC, 2001)

Business Management for Communicators: Beyond Strategic Communication Lester R. Potter, ABC (IABC, 2000)

Measuring Organizational Trust

Pamela Shockley-Zalabak, Kathleen Ellis, Ruggero Cesaria (IABC Research Foundation, 2000)

Available online at www.iabc.com/store

Lester R. Potter, MBA, ABC, is president of LES POTTER INC., an international consulting firm based in Vienna, Va. An ABC Fellow and a past ABC chairman, Potter wrote IABC's top-selling manual, "The Communication Plan: The Heart of Strategic Planning." He can be reached at les@lespotterinc.com.

COPYRIGHT 2003 International Association of Business Communicators
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