She’d been living and working in Spain for years until recently. She said with the recession there, her observation was that some large companies have just stopped bothering with employee engagement. A side effect of filling the work force with short terms contractors (less overhead risk) meant management perceived their need for communication to be less and subsequently their desire to invest in engagement went down. They stopped engaging people in the bigger picture.

As someone who is about to return to the UK (impeccable timing) to continue working in this field, I have to say I was slightly disheartened. Mainly because I think it reveals the knowledge still lacking in many organisations – that continuing to engage employees through the tough times, as well as the good can actually drive greater shareholder return. This is not the fluffy stuff. Getting it right can mean the difference between an organisation emerging stronger from the recession or a casualty of tough economic times. Engagement drives productivity and discretionary effort. Fact. Surely this in itself is enough for leaders to consider the advantages of continuing to communicate effectively through a down turn.

My advice to the C suite (and I say this to those in Europe as well as Australia) is yes absolutely, look at spend and be prudent, however don’t ‘cut-back’ on internal communication. It should be front and centre of your organisation during tough times. Your most powerful communication tool lies within your business – your frontline managers. Galvanise this army; equip them with the right skills, accountability and a powerful story, and you’re half way there. Enable them to have powerful conversations. Remember this should not be one way, the best employee communication is top-down, bottom-up AND horizontal, with a focus on informal influencers. Know who those go-to people are and leverage them.

As for my friend… after many years working in large and small organisations, she’s now busy avoiding mountain goats on a pair of skis in the French Alps.

As for me? Watch out UK. I come armed with a big and persuasive mission to fly the employee communication flag wherever I land (sans skis)…

Mike brings over 25 years’ experience in corporate and brand communication to the Ogilvy Impact table. In addition to driving internal engagement campaigns during his time in-house at Sony, Vodafone and Seiko, he has extensive experience across the marketing suite of disciplines.
As he has worked both on the client and consultancy side, he has fascinating insight intrinsic to all our client work. He was voted by BRW magazine as one of the best 5 Marketers in Australia and the Australian Marketing Institute named him one of the country’s 10 most effective Marketers – always driving the brand from the Inside Out.

The final report for the project was launched on 17 April 2012, with attendees taken through the results of the research by Professor Paul Flatau, Chair in Social Investment and Impact and Director of the Centre for Social Impact at the University of Western Australia. They were also treated with special guest presenter Dr Dennis Culhane, Chair of Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.

The Michael Project was created with homeless men in the centre, using a range of services to ensure their quality of life was improved across as many areas as possible over the course of the 12 month program. The key was building on existing services to extend the range of support.

Mission Australia was able to demonstrate that the program could effectively save Australian taxpayers as much as $3,061 per participant.

The following three points were the focus of the project, and the reasons for its success:

• Providing temporary accommodation – leading to more long-term housing
• Providing specialist support service access – this helped to increase many of the men’s ability to earn an income and be more involved at a social level
• Providing one-to-one support from a case worker, assigned at the beginning of the project

Ogilvy Impact partnered with Mission Australia to produce a short video, bringing to life a developed infographic, for the launch of the project and to visually summarise the 69-page report. The video has been embedded into the Mission Australia page and has resulted in over 500 views, an excellent result in terms of awareness of the project and the work that Mission Australia does.

http://www.missionaustralia.com.au/research-and-social-policy/3153-the-michael-project

April, 20 – We are delighted to announce the appointment of Lorie Helliwell and Mike Beckerleg as new joint managing directors of Ogilvy Impact Australia.

Lorie and Mike replace Tam Sandeman who has decided to return to the UK after eight years with Ogilvy Public Relations Group of Companies – Pulse and Ogilvy Impact.

The appointments reflect a growing trend of companies recognising there is significant bottom line benefit when more focus and investment are placed on building brands from the inside out and driving strong brand ambassadorship with their people.

“With more than 15 years’ experience in the employee engagement industry, Lorie is renowned for the development and delivery of behaviour change employee programs which have driven countless business results. Together with Mike, whose significant insights from his rich experience as one of Australia’s smartest marketeers, the pair will take an already very successful and leading business to new heights,” said Kieran Moore, CEO Ogilvy Public Relations, Australia.

“Tam leaves Ogilvy Impact in tremendous shape and the new team is working in tandem with her to ensure a smooth transition period for our clients and our people.”

Lorie has been with Ogilvy Impact for over a year and was hired from the UK.  She has vast experience in employee communication and prior to joining Ogilvy Impact in Australia, led in-house functions for large organisations such as BT, Telewest and Trinity Procurement, a SAB Miller company.

Mike brings 25 years’ experience on both the client and agency sides. He has overseen the brand, marketing and corporate communications divisions of such blue chip companies as Sony, Vodafone and Seiko and spent several years running Telstra, one of Australia’s largest advertising accounts.

They are both looking forward to making a strong Impact… (ahem…)

Two weeks ago, at around 7pm on a Friday evening, some of my colleagues and I were left sitting at our desks, hurriedly trying to wrap up our work and get on with our weekends, when we found ourselves in the midst of a rather robust debate about work life balance. I have to be honest and admit that the irony of the situation was indeed lost on us all at the time. But it was not only the irony of the situation that was left unspoken, but the impact of the topic we were debating on our area of expertise, employee engagement.

We were debating whether organisations should care about employee’s work life balance. If an employee enjoys their job, is highly engaged and fairly rewarded, you can pretty safely assume they’ll go the extra 10% for you and be highly productive. So why should you care if they don’t have a work life balance?

Without going into how to achieve a work life balance (stay tuned for next entry), here’s some reasons why you should care about the work life balance of your employees:

• There is more pressure on the average employee today than ever before
• Most of us respond to increased pressure to perform by putting in longer hours, which eventually takes a toll on physical and mental wellbeing
• This then leads to a decrease in engagement and productivity, and organisations pay the price of having overworked employees through an increase in operating and productivity costs, the costs of absenteeism, lack of commitment, recruitment and retention costs and possibly even medical costs
• By having increased energy levels, it is possible to get more done in less time, consistently and sustainably as well as improving relationships with clients and customers
• Rather than trying to squeeze more out of employees, if organisations invest in providing their employees with measures to help them achieve work life balance, they will not only get the most out of employees both physically and mentally, but they will also be more motivated and loyal
• A study by Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy as reported in Harvard Business Review in 2007 found that employees participating in an energy renewal program outperformed a control group of employees by 13% in the first quarter of 2006 and continued to significantly outperform the control group for a full year after completing the program
• Last but not least, an article by Peter Martin published in the Sydney Morning Herald reported that statistics show that those who play sport the most work between 40 and 50 hours per week, and that 88% of Australians working 41 to 48 hours play sport in their spare time, compared to 79% of those working 16 to 24 hours, indicating those with a work life balance work harder

So, it seems the more organisations can invest in their employees and provide the infrastructure and encouragement for employees to find their balance, the more likely they are to sustain high levels of engagement and productivity.

The Campaign Asia-Pacific PR Awards have become an unrivalled benchmark for the region’s external and internal communication industry and showcases the industry’s best and brightest strategies that have truly transformed businesses and brands.

Up against the likes of other major agency networks, we successfully beat the competition with a program that enabled McDonald’s Australia’s 600-strong corporate team to continue providing exceptional service and support to 85,000 employees across its restaurants following the introduction of a complex technical IT change.

Productivity levels were maintained throughout the introduction of new technology tools and survey measures identified 100% of employees supported the change and 88% believed IT was making it easier for them to do their jobs.

Using a robust, change management methodology ensured the strategy was tailored to the audience, change impacts and operational challenges. But what set this program apart was the creative genius applied to the messages, brand and execution, taking IT change to new heights.

Surprise, intrigue, experiential and interactive communication lay at the heart of the tactical plan and along with leadership endorsement and a change champion network in full swing, we ensured a highly complex IT change agenda was implemented successfully on time.

A big congratulations and a sesame seed bun to our employee engagement experts – Megan, Sabrina, Lori, Stef and Tam.  Please call us if you’d like to hear more about this program and our change management methodology.

Joining the team in March 2012 as Ogilvy Impact’s Office Manager, Autumn offers a unique blend of administrative expertise and in-house and agency public relations experience.

Originally from Los Angeles, California, Autumn completed an internship in the Corporate Communications department of one of America’s largest mortgage lending firms while studying for a degree in Communication Studies from the University of California Los Angeles.

Eager to promote community services, she worked for five years at a top full service independent Public Relations firm focused on benefiting non-profit organizations. Although much of her time was spent researching media opportunities, she most thoroughly enjoyed providing networking and special event services.

Autumn is currently pursuing a Master of International Public Health degree from the University of Sydney. Ultimately she hopes to incorporate her communications training and passion for community development to promote health messages in low-resource nations. Since moving to Sydney in 2010, she spends most of her free time training for half marathons, volunteering as a home carer for CSN ACON and exploring her new surroundings.

Joining Impact in January 2012 as a Senior Consultant, Maeve brings over four years employee and corporate communications experience to the team. Having previous in-house experience as a Senior Communications Manager within a large Telecommunication company, Maeve has worked on a variety of large-scale change programs including organisational restructuring, large IT transformations and culture change initiatives.

Originally from Northern Ireland, Maeve started her career at Mindshare media agency in London. In this role, she provided support on global pitch development and found her love for internal communications.

Over the years, Maeve has gained significant experience in SharePoint, intranet development, event management, CEO communication, customer service communication and internal communication channel management.

At Impact, Maeve works on a number of strategic communication projects with some of her recent client work including projects with Nestlé, Telstra and a large FMCG organisation.

Maeve holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Northampton, England. Out of work, you can find Maeve attempting to surf or relaxing with friends and enjoying good wine.

Mio joined Ogilvy Impact as a Coordinator in December 2011. She supports the team in a variety of strategic communication projects, from employee events to developing creative and engaging communications across a range of channels.

She has previously worked in administrative roles in the market research, sporting and insurance industries. She holds a Bachelor Degree in Management (Leisure and Events) from the University of Technology Sydney and is currently studying for a Graduate Diploma in Organisational Communication with Charles Sturt University.

Skye joined Ogilvy PR in October 2011, as a Coordinator in the Ogilvy Impact team.

She came with previous agency experience, having worked at Hill & Knowlton in their consumer and lifestyle team and with Maverick PR.

Skye has made the move to internal communications to further explore her growing interest in change communication, employee engagement and how to use social media to convey key messages.

In her time at Ogilvy Impact, Skye has especially enjoyed using a variety of mediums to generate conversation such as video production and illustration.

She enjoys the sunshine, yoga and going to a different beach every weekend.