Ron Hess,
President
    
PAST ISSUES
ON MY MIND ...

Social media advice from the front-lines

     

For me, fall 2010 was highlighted by a whirlwind tour of presentations and client visits that took me from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando to Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere.

At a workshop in Philly, Christa Semko, internal digital media specialist at Dell, and I talked about the power of using social media tools to build collaboration and create a high performance workplace. Dell’s EmployeeStorm idea sharing site is an industry model. 

In Atlanta, SCANA communicators Therese Griffin and Christy Season and I discussed what it takes to build a great intranet. SCANA’s intranet was recently recognized as one of the best in the world. In Fort Lauderdale and Orlando I spoke to HR and communicator groups about the power of employee communication in achieving employee engagement. If you would like copies of any of these PowerPoint presentations, just send me an e-mail at motiv8comm@aol.com.

In thinking back about my recent discussions with dozens of communications and HR professionals, it’s clear that online communication dominates the conversation, but we continue to see many companies still applying a cautious “go slow” approach regarding social media. 

As you progress in the online world, consider these key points emphasized by Christa, Christy, Therese and yours truly in our workshops:

> Involve employees … and listen carefully … at every stage of the process. The SCANA team has continuously received great input from employees about its intranet and the upfront pilot testing work it did with a VIP group of 300 employees made its intranet conversion go smoothly. At Dell, responding to employee questions and ideas in a timely manner is recognized as a key ingredient in building and sustaining a successful social media program.

> Develop a well-thought-out social media policy. Sometimes communicators rush to social media implementation without spending enough time working with HR and other departments to construct a comprehensive social media policy. Many companies have regretted their lack of attention in this area. Send us an e-mail at motiv8comm@aol.com if you would like us to point you to some good examples of social media policy.

> Educate, educate, educate … Make a strong effort to educate employees about your social media policy and provide tutorials on how to maximize use of social media tools.

> Build a sound governance structure … Clearly define responsibilities and levels of authority in the social media process to ensure that everyone is working together as a team and following through on commitments. 

Looking for good information about intranets? One of my favorite resources is the down-to-earth blog written by Rachel Lai and company at Intranet Connections, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Plenty of good food for thought here for intranet management communication professionals.

-- Ron Hess
   Motiv8 Communications

 
CONTACT US
CLICK HERE to submit your comments and questions.
 

 
MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2010

YOU TUBE PROVIDED THE INSPIRATION
ConEd finds creative, effective, low cost solution for corporate video

  “The pride, skill and commitment of what our people do and accomplish really comes through in the stories they tell.‘’
– Fred Leich, employee communications manager, ConEd of New York City
 

Simple, fast, effective, low cost, minimally resourced.

Sounds like a solution made in employee communicator heaven, doesn’t it? Well, it is. Just ask Fred Leich, employee communications manager for ConEd, the giant New York City utility. “When we began thinking about development of a corporate employee video program a few years ago, we looked at You Tube and thought to ourselves, ‘Why not apply that concept to our video program.’”

ConEd did just that in 2008. And the rest is history, with a slew of awards, strong internal viewership and many positive comments from management and rank-and-file employees alike.

The idea for the ConEd in-house video program originated with a contest the company held on YouTube several years ago to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the introduction of electricity to New York City by Thomas Edison. Teen filmmakers were challenged to show the important role electricity has played in daily life.

CE Eye videos feature employees in the field

   
  Despite the fact that ConEd employs many people who work in the field with limited computer access, over half the ConEd workforce has viewed CE Eye videos over the past year.  

“The contest was very successful, stimulating thinking within the company, and we created our own YouTube communication channel for employees called CE Eye,” says Leich. Consistent with ConEd’s business, videos of employees working in the field helping customers and in communities supporting worthy causes are emphasized. As it turns out, these are the most visited types of videos on the site. Also popular are stories of personal heroism at accident scenes and in fire rescues. Videos are short – usually one to two minutes in length. “The pride, skill and commitment of what our people do and accomplish really comes through in the stories they tell,” notes Leich.

Here are links to two ConEd employee-developed videos, both of which were posted on YouTube for external viewing in addition to being posted on the intranet:

     
A recent ConEd community service activity was filmed by employees for submission to the CE Eye video program managed by the company’s corporate employee communications team.
 		  

Employees use inexpensive, easy-to-operate Flip video™ cameras for filming. Specific stories range from explaining how ConEd people worked furiously to restore power after a major storm to fishing out a customer’s cherished ring that fell between pavement cracks on ConEd property.

“We purchased Flip cameras for each of our eight offices,” says Leich, “and asked for management volunteers to come in for training and lead the filming in the field. The training has paid off because we usually get a good, raw product.” Leich and his team do little post-production editing, keeping costs and manpower requirements to a minimum.

Videos are converted to Flash and uploaded onto the intranet. They’re housed on a SharePoint server. The entire process takes about 24 hours from receipt to posting on the company intranet.

Nearly 200 videos produced to date

  Fact stats about ConEd’s flip video program
  • Flip video base model price: $130
  • Weighs 3-5 ounces
  • 640 x 480, 1280 x 720 available
  • USB and NTSC./RCA connections, MPEG-AVI
  • Stores up to 1 hour of video
  • Includes uploaded software.
  

Since its launch in May 2008, nearly 200 programs have been produced. “We are getting 2,000 to 3,000 unique viewers per month; the really popular ones exceed 5,000 viewers, and the videos we did during the September tornados that hit NYC exceeded 10,000 views.” Overall, 54% of the company’s 15,000 employees have seen CE Eye.

Measurement is accomplished through SharePoint site statistics that show requests per day, average requests per month, top pages and top referring pages. WebTrends is also used to measure hits, visits, page view and duration. Leich and his team also conducted an employee survey using surveymonkey.com.

“One of the main reasons the CE Eye concept has proven so popular is that employees get to talk about what’s important to them,” says Leich. “We benefit, too, because our employee communications efforts are augmented and increased in value by having additional people on the ground getting footage and even editing complete programs that we can roll out to all employees.”

FIRST FORAY INTO SOCIAL MEDIA
Inspire Wire online idea sharing program finds early success at Orlando Health

  “Our employees who are out there doing the work every day see opportunities for innovation, change and improvement that others simply aren’t positioned to see.” – Bree Balchunus, internal communications consultant, Orlando Health.
 
On the pages of our web site and through our Ideas for Employee Communications newsletter, Motiv8 Communications has chronicled the meteoric rise of social media as a powerful tool for idea sharing and collaboration.

One of the newest offerings to come along is Inspire Wire, the online idea sharing site launched this past summer by Orlando Health, one of the largest health care providers in the state of Florida. “This was our initial move into internal social media and so far it has been very successful,” says Bree Balchunus, internal communications consultant. “Several hundred ideas have already been submitted and a number of them are being implemented.”

Any one of Orlando Health’s 14,000 team members can post a suggestion or make a comment in one of four categories: service excellence; reducing cost/enhancing revenue growth; improving safety and quality; and supporting the vision, where employee input is sought on the company’s 10-year strategic plan. Inspire Wire does not replace existing compliance and complaint procedures.

     

Ideas inspired by your imagination is the tag line for the program. “Our employees who are out there doing the work every day see opportunities for innovation, change and improvement that others simply aren’t positioned to see,” comments Balchunus. “We want to tap into all that brain power to make Orlando Health a more effective, innovative organization that gets better and better at meeting patient needs.”

Concept pilot tested at local hospital

Orlando Health laid the groundwork for success by thoroughly researching and planning Inspire Wire and pilot testing it at a local member hospital. Executive support is crucial and a senior VP was assigned to “champion” the project and help ensure commitment and visibility with upper management.

One of the key elements of the program is the committee structure that the Internal Communications team helped design and implement. Local site committees consist of representatives from different departments who screen submissions and flesh out the best ideas for thorough evaluation and action. Ideas that are company-wide in nature go to committees in the corporate office. Cross-site coordination is accomplished through periodic meetings to discuss policy and experiences and to share ideas. A “how to” guide helps committees follow an agreed-upon set of program guidelines.

Employees access Inspire Wire from the intranet home page and, upon arrival at a security page, they type in their ID and a password to enter the site. “The ID tells us what hospital site the employee is located at so that their idea can be channeled to their home location for review,” notes Balchunus. “Team members can track the status of their idea online, an indication that the program is taken seriously and follow up occurs in a timely way.”

Execs participate in ‘meet and greet’

Recognition isn’t monetary, but acknowledgement is both public and high level. Senior VPs write a letter of appreciation to each individual in their organization whose idea is acted upon. They also invite them to their office for a “meet and greet,” a gesture of gratitude that also puts a stamp of importance on the program and reinforces the value of employee ideas.
Ron Hess
.....................................................................................................