New McGraw-Hill Marketing Book Includes Culture as a Topic

McGraw-Hill just published a terrific new resource in July 2010. Marketing DeMystified, by Donna Anselmo, provides the practical how to' knowledge and best practices on all facets of marketing. Chapter 8, Incorporating People and Culture includes my anthropological perspective on this very important topic.

Stephanie Leibowitz, MA, Anthropologist At Work

Anthropologist At Work Now on Examiner.com

I've recently landed a new publishing venue for my articles under the Business & Finance channel of examiner.com. As the NY Business Communication Examiner, I publish articles on  all matters of business communication, the role of culture in communication, and the unique perspective of a business anthropologist on the work environment.

View and comment on my articles as:
http://www.examiner.com/x-63033-NY-Business-Communications-Examiner.


Stephanie Leibowitz, MA, Anthropologist At Work

Lead with Your Organizational Culture and Achieve Better Business Performance

CULTURE POWER©

Community
Create a sense of community through actions. Organize work in collaborative ways; tear down silos; define, communicate and reward the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that help the company succeed.

Unique brand personality
Set your brand apart through consistent messages and employee actions that are tied to desired client outcomes. Brand from the inside out so that there is a seamless understanding of what your company represents and why it’s different than competitors.

Longevity
Create a vision of long-term sustainability that aligns company culture, strategic business objectives, business health, and employee performance.

Tools for learning
Provide the technology, access to information and people, and role-specific training, so employees can perform at their best.

Unlocked potential
Require employees of all levels to learn new skills and knowledge. Conduct annual organizational talent assessments to better align talent with emerging business needs and demonstrate the strategic link between professional development and business success.

Robust performance
Evaluate the impact of all operational areas, including communications, on bottom-line performance. Identify and implement changes to improve effectiveness and ROI.

Engaged employees
Create an environment in which people and ideas are valued. Provide opportunities for employees to participate in projects that grow your business and stretch their skills.

Positive purpose
Be clear about your business mission; tell and show each employee her/his importance to the business’ success.

Openness and opportunity to innovate
Encourage the flow of ideas across the organization, acknowledge that good ideas come from anywhere, are appreciated and vital. Reward appropriate risk-taking.

Wisdom
Tap into the collective wisdom of your employees. Document and share this wisdom across the organization.

Energy
Energize employees with challenges to improve the company. Energize clients with fresh insights and relevant information.

Resilience
Build in organizational agility with decision-making, problem-solving, operational and communication strategies that make it easy to do business with you and a place people want to work.

Communication Choice Affects Productivity,Brand Value and Performance

In every era, as new technology becomes available, we have to figure out the best way to incorporate our new tools into the mix, as evidenced by an 1890 New York Times article.[1] With so many options these days (email, cloud computing, conference calls, web and streamed meetings, voicemail, texting), how business people choose to communicate within their own walls has implications beyond personal preference.

While electronic communication is critical to global business and yields tangible benefits such as cost savings, shortened response times and simultaneous connection to multiple parties, a company may be less efficient and than it believes. Increased productivity and better financial performance do occur when communication content and vehicles support business objectives and include the purposeful exchanges of ideas and information. Yet, it’s rare that companies routinely apply this simple, common-sense ‘test’ to internal communications.

The powerful role of internal communication in all aspects of business warrants more attention and active decision-making by executives and managers[2]. Today’s executives are stepping back to examine their employee communications and assess whether their choices are helping or hindering their business and what communication vehicles say about the culture of their organizations.

At the center of this issue is the fact that communications reflect what a company values, from whom, and within what context, as well as implicit or explicit rules about expected behaviors that will help or hinder the business performance. In other words, communications tells us a lot about an organization’s culture, such as:

• Who communicates with whom (vertical and horizontal) and under what scenarios?
• Who decides what gets communicated, how, and when?
• Are there stated and/or implied communication preferences (electronic, face-to-face, phone)?
• Is information shared in ways that promote open discussion and trust?
• Do executives / managers encourage and role model communications that support alignment of objectives, organization of work, employee engagement and reward?
• Do all forms of communication mirror company mission and support desired beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that add to company success and positively represent the brand personality?
  
  By following through on some basic business steps, executives and managers can help ensure a company’s communications contribute to productivity, efficiency, and financial performance.

Be strategic. Start by asking what are the critical success factors for the business and what communication plan will support it (type of communications, vehicles, frequency, other)? Then, use the most appropriate communication tools/vehicles to complement, reinforce, and share important information. It’s not a technology vs. personal communication argument. Information sharing, and thus problem-solving, should drive these decisions. Answer these questions to choose the best mix of vehicle(s), format, and frequency.

• What is the purpose of sharing this information?
• What do I want employees to do -- read it or act on it?
• Who needs this information and why?
• What's the best way to provide this to the appropriate parties (how they need to use it, will understand it, other)?
• Are there time constraints for communicating this information?
• Is this an issue that is better resolved through discussion (phone or in person)?
• Are there roadblocks to productivity and what do we change in our communications to address this?
  

Consider the relationship between employee engagement and brand value. Companies that promote a work environment in which employees email others in the next cubicle rather than converse face-to-face (or via phone) can develop organizational cultures in which employees feel unconnected from and not engaged with colleagues and employers. This disconnect may result in low-performance behaviors that dilute other productivity gains and erode the company’s brand with its customers and partners. Because accountability can seem distant with the ability to ignore, delete, or remotely avoid issues (and people) with a click, executives need to pay attention to communication more than ever. There is plenty of research on the cost of a disengaged workforce.

• Disengaged employees cost U.S. companies as much as $350 billion annually in lost productivity[3].
• Only one in five workers give full effort on the job, 8% are fully disengaged, and 71% fall into the massive middle of partially engaged or disengaged employees.[4]
• In good times, top talent is usually loyal, but in a downturn they may become anxious, frustrated, and disenchanted. Also, in a downturn your competitors may target your top people. To keep employees engaged, energized, and motivated, organizations must make them feel secure and confident that they play a critical role in the business.[5]

Apply the criteria of substance and relevance. Technology has set an expectation of immediate response to everything. Some circumstances demand such speed, most do not. Many issues demand thoughtful consideration.

• A false sense of urgency leads people to believe that speed trumps content. Companies are not game shows. A quick response is worthless unless there’s substance. Companies are better served when employees take time to problem-solve, so that their contributions, regardless of how these get communicated, will be valuable.
• Overuse of flagged email is the electronic version of ‘crying wolf’. If you want credibility in crunch time, avoid tagging everything urgent. If you absolutely must receive an answer from someone who’s in the same building as you, there’s nothing like face-to-face communication.
• Insist on and role model minimal use of cc/bcc and ‘reply all’ email functionalities, which are time-wasters. Make it known that email is most effective when there is a need to circulate reports/data, quickly alert employees about a problem that truly needs an immediate response. Most executives do not read cc/bcc messages and reply all scenarios can result in hours (sometimes days) of threaded comments without any productive work as an outcome[6].
• Communication is valuable when the content is clear, easy to comprehend, and relevant. With email, a reader’s interpretation of a message and need for clarification require at least one additional, sometimes more, emails to the sender, making this inefficient for certain types of communication. In other cases, the reader may have formed an unfavorable impression that is not easily overcome. For one-on-one communication, going down the hall, or at the very least, initiating a phone conversation can be more productive.

Tap into the power of personal connection. Interpersonal skills remain essential no matter how much technology is used.

• Where logistics permit, encourage and use face-to-face communication to create a sense of belonging to a community, strengthen the mindset of working toward a common goal, reduce a sense of isolation, and reinforce mutual acknowledgement / agreement about expected and outlier behaviors. When not possible, find ways to tie virtual team members to the organization. This includes identifying beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of a virtual team/community that align with business goals and objectives, communicating these, and then fully incorporating these into performance management programs.
• Creative sparks generated by conversation in the moment are different than email exchanges. Notably, technology companies recognize this. As much as those companies use technology to communicate, they organize work groups in spaces where people readily interact face-to-face to ‘brain storm’ or exchange ‘aha moments.’ These companies understand the power of matching communication methods with objectives. Being present causes the parties to focus what’s communicated. It’s common for employees of all levels to respond to email or do other work while on a conference call or even at meetings. Lack of focus means lower productivity (longer meetings, calls or follow-up emails to repeat information) and possibly inaccurate use of vital information. Some managers have gone so far as to force employees to leave all e-devices (phones, PDA’s, laptops) at their desks when they attend a meeting.
• Keep in mind that face-to-face communication provides more information about the message to recipients than communication that is solely through written form. Visual and vocal cues (body language, voice tone, among others) provide a context for understanding, opportunity to clarify intent, and strengthen the relationship between sender and receiver.

Stephanie Leibowitz, MA, Anthropologist At Work

[1] Changed Conditions.; We Are More Dependent On One Another Than Our Fathers Were. From Detroit Free Press, July 27, 1890.
[2] Secrets of Top Peformers: How Companies with Highly Effective Employee Communications Differentiate Themselves. The Methodology Behind the 2007-2008 Communication ROI Study™, by Richard Luss and Steven Nyce, January 11, 2008.
[3] Gallup, Peter Flade, Director of Finance, "Employee engagement drive shareholder value," Feb 13, 2008.
[4] Towers Perrin 2007-2008 Global Workforce Study.
[5] Workforce Management 12/18/08.
[6] New York Times. Corner Office: Kasper Rorsted.No Need to Hit the ‘Send’ Key. Just Talk to Me, August 28,2010