Communication culture

Alex von der Heyde provides some practical advice for achieving employee engagement in delivering change, starting with enforcing principles of good communication

Back in July 2012 a study was published on behalf of the Law Society, the Legal Services Board, and the Ministry of Justice entitled 'A time of change: Solicitors' firms in England and ales'. What it highlighted was that firms will have to adapt and develop to survive and thrive. This has certainly proved to be true.

Whether converting to an alternative business structure or limited company, undertaking a merger or acquisition, restructuring the practice, or delivering another change in strategic direction, it is the practical implementation of your strategy that is the real challenge.

Consideration needs to be given to timings, the scope of change, what must be preserved, the resources available, and the abilities and capacity of staff to deliver, as well as their readiness to embrace change.

Failure to think through these issues can lead to cynicism and a loss of engagement across the firm, from partners to fee earners to support staff. Too often we see new initiatives that fail because the implementation planning hasn't happened and staff have rapidly lost belief in the process.

Above all, there is one part of the implementation of your strategy that is critical: communication.

This is not just about the fanfare of the initial announcement. Effective and ongoing communication is vital to the successful engagement of staff. People want to understand, as far as possible, what is happening and the logic behind it. Even bad news can be more palatable if staff understand the reasoning.

Referring to retail sector examples is not necessarily popular, but the turnaround of Asda in the 1990s is a superb story to learn from. In 1991 the company was teetering on the verge on bankruptcy. By 1999 shareholder value had multiplied eightfold. A recognised reason for Asda's success was the focus on communication. You may vaguely remember the slogan 'Ask Archie'. The process went a lot deeper than this. Asda's CEO, Archie Norman, was regularly on the shop floor, making himself accessible to staff and managers. He enforced the culture of communication across the management team, with store managers monitored as strictly on their communication measures as on the financial ones.

If this was achievable in a large, diffuse plc, there is no reason why principles of good communication should not be applied to your firm. Whatever the practice size, these principles are critical for staff engagement.

So, if you are struggling to engage your people in the changes that you want to make, or having difficulties settling the team post-merger, ask yourself this: Since the bold announcement, the memorandum to staff, and the press release, have my senior team and I:

• Been present at the office meetings to talk to and hear from staff;

• Visited the other offices in the firm on a regular basis;

• Provided updates on developments to staff, discussing both what's gone right and what's gone wrong;

• Explained where strategies are changing in light of external factors; and

• Been truly receptive to feedback?

If not, there may be a reason why things aren't progressing as well as you would like.

Alex von der Heyde is managing director of Esterase

alex.vdheyde@esterase.co.uk