Most Effective Use of Internal Communications


WINNER ATS Euromaster


FINALISTS


•Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust


•Punch Taverns •RS Components


hen tyre retailer ATS Euromaster decided to


close 80 of its 460 centres, it put HR in the hot seat, deciding


if the decisions were communicated effectively to staff, everything else would flow from that. Staff are based across the country, with


little access to computers. And somehow HR staff had to effectively deliver bad news (possible redundancies, pay freezes for the foreseeable future) to them. But the HR department stepped up to the


plate. It launched a three-year plan, visible to employees, whereby the company’s aim of being the lead provider of tyre services to truck fleets would be communicated clearly. It offered staff the responsibility to become more attuned to customer needs and gave more training to line managers to help this.


hrmagazine.co.uk


Crucially, it moved its HR and internal comms departments right into the heart of the business. The company invited its top 50 managers


to a two-day event to ‘de-treacle’ and tackle bureaucracy head on. Following this, the company created a ‘road


to recovery’ map, which was a cartoon-style briefing for staff, along with DVDs for them to watch in their free time. The DVDs were designed to give all staff a


consistent message, break down barriers in an informal way of delivery, encourage staff to talk about what they had seen and generate ideas and raise awareness of the company’s financial investment in the initiatives it had put in place. The DVDs allowed communications to


go to a wider group of people and avoided confusion around clarity often associated with written communication methods. The communication at this stage was


designed to be relaxed and informal, with the DVDs including opinion from across the


business in telling the story. These were then followed by up-to-date DVD communications every quarter. The company also held a series of road


shows across the UK (at its offices in Bristol, Maidenhead, Glasgow, Stoke and Birmingham) talking to 120 employees at each event, and the HR department developed a communication forum for staff to air their concerns – and suggest proposals to benefit the company. Some 18 months on from the start of the


programme, staff understand fully the difficult decisions that have been made in the business, engagement is about 67% and retail sales have increased by 31% – meaning staff in 2011 will receive a pay rise for the first time in three years. Judges felt the initiative was “engaging,


innovative, inclusive and focused”. They believed the company thought about its people throughout, working like storytellers, delivering a scheme that was “cheap and yet sophisticated”.


July 2011 HR Excellence Awards 29


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