Substance PR the freelance team for your business
Change manifests itself in big organisations like housing provider Hyde, where there is always something new going on. We have supported the comms team on a variety of internal communications initiatives.
We helped co-ordinate the rollout of a change communications programme involving 1200 staff across London, the South East and Midlands.
The Group has experienced a number of mergers over the past couple of years, with new subsidiaries joining the organisation and staff working with new colleagues. Our programme was designed to help staff adjust to the changes in the Group and feel part Hyde and its journey.
This involved:
- running focus groups with staff, board members and other stakeholders from across the Group to gauge opinions and influence direction
- working closely with a group of ‘change champions’ and setting up workstreams to encourage staff to take ownership and become beacons for change.
- setting up a film group for staff and working with them to make films communicating change, such as what a new CRM system would mean to the organisation. As many staff were not familiar with the work of colleagues across the business, our home-made films shone the spotlight on these colleagues and provided a day-in-the-life view of their work. We trained the staff on storyboading, how to use the video cameras and how to edit a final cut.
- organising roadshows for the chief executive and members of the senior management team to get out and meet staff on a regular basis. We also organised roadshows for different teams to go out and meet colleagues face-to-face.
- helping to launch a new Core Brief system where staff received important Group updates face-to-face instead of the organisation relying purely on email and intranet.
Other internal comms projects for Hyde
Awards: We project managed Hyde’s staff excellence awards. It’s a great initiative where staff from across the Group can nominate colleagues who they think are making a difference. Working with Hyde’s communications and IT departments, we devised a system that enabled staff to nominate through the intranet. We ran photoshoots and interviews with the 49 entrants and made films about each of the six shortlisters. The films were screened at Hyde’s staff conference, where the winner was announced.
Inspection: To prepare staff for the organisation’s inspection by the government watchdog, we helped create an internal ‘inspection matters’ brand, a communications strategy and an information audit to make sure all staff were up to speed on what was expected during the two-week inspection period.
Magazine: We have run the monthly staff magazine, planning content with senior managers, co-ordinating contributions from staff across the Group, carrying out interviews and writing copy and designing the magazine.
Conference: We have helped organise Hyde’s energising staff conferences which bring together all 1200 staff from right across the business. Our work has involved everything from setting the agenda and writing speeches for senior management to devising fun and thought-provoking activities for a truly memorable day.
