Situation

A financial services firm was undergoing a difficult period of change.  Low interest rates resulting from the 2008 financial crisis meant the firm’s traditional operating model no longer generated the same levels of revenue.  The firm was still prospering due to wise leadership and a portfolio of services valued by clients, but with a major source of revenue gone, it needed to align employees with this new reality and identify new lines of business.

The company had a tradition of holding monthly employee town hall meetings.  The format was very formal:

• The Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer would make remarks
• Another executive or functional leader would then deliver a presentation on a topic of interest to the senior leadership
• Time permitting, the speaker would take questions
• A scheduled Q&A segment received little participation beyond senior leaders, and often was skipped entirely to keep the meeting from running late

Employee attendance at the meetings was very low, hovering between 400 and 500 participants from the two largest U.S. locations.  The meeting was held in the late afternoon, after the close of the market, which discouraged participation from employees in Europe and Asia.

Communication Approach

Since all but 300 employees – those attending from the auditorium where the meeting originated – would experience the meeting via videoconference or webcast, the internal communications team proposed making the meeting more like a TV talk show, with the firm’s likable CEO as its host.

Informal Tone – The team also introduced an informal tone to make it more personal and engaging.  The Q&A session was positioned as a key segment and employees were encouraged to submit questions anonymously in advance through an internal website.

Email Invitation – An email invitation with the meeting’s date, time and agenda was made more engaging, scannable and eye-catching.  Other promotions also raised the visibility of the meeting.  For example, meeting details appeared on the intranet’s home page the day of the meeting.  (Months later, the team attached ICS files to the invitation so employees could block the time on their calendars.  This was not possible until the company migrated from a legacy system to Outlook.)

Meeting Evaluation – A post-meeting employee evaluation survey was totally revised with questions designed to assess overall meeting satisfaction, understanding of the topics discussed and how well the meeting met the information needs of employees.

The internal communications team considered changing the timeframe to make it accessible to employees outside the U.S., but chose not to pursue this since executives preferred the late afternoon (after stock market close) timeframe.

Implementation

The employee communications team became responsible for the town halls in July 2011.  This meeting was one of two semi-annual events providing a state-of-the-firm update.  These were typically well attended and aggressive promotions raised attendance to more than 1,000 employees.

The team implemented their new approach at the following month’s meeting.  To set a new tone, employees were encouraged to wear casual dress and a contest was held to encourage participation.  Attendance exceeded 1,500 employees (40% of the U.S. workforce).  Contributing to this level of participation were comments on workforce reductions by the parent company’s leader.  These comments were addressed directly in the CEO’s opening comments and in the Q&A session.

At subsequent meetings, the CEO conducted informal interviews with business leaders on topics of importance to the business and topics raised by employees in the post-meeting surveys.  After asking his questions, the CEO invited employees to pose their own questions to the guest.  Time was also reserved for the Q&A segment for questions not related to topics on the meeting’s agenda.

Result

The new format was an immediate success, with employees commenting in the survey they enjoyed the new approach and tone.  Employees appreciated that the CEO directly addressed the workforce reduction concern and he gained credibility in their eyes while simultaneously putting their concerns to rest.

Meeting Satisfaction – The new survey assessed employee satisfaction rates as a key metric.  Over the next 18 month, satisfaction remained around 90 percent, with 85 to 90 percent of employees saying the information presented was relevant to them.

Shaping Employee Perceptions – The new format was also effective at helping employees understand business concepts.  Typical of responses was the following result from the November 2012 meeting:

• 92 percent – I now have a better understanding of how regulatory issues impact Pershing’s business (top two boxes)
• 87 percent – I now have a better understanding of how I can provide service excellence (top two boxes)

Attendance – Attendance generally remained higher than before the format change, with 800 to nearly 1,000 employees from all levels and U.S. locations regularly attending the meeting.

A replay for those outside the U.S. was considered, but technology limitations prevented this from being offered.  To reach non-U.S. employees, the CEO and COO held town hall meetings whenever they visited the firm’s locations in Europe and Asia.

 

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