A client recently confessed that she was a “report card girl,” and I immediately grinned. As a kid, I loved seeing a quarterly, tangible report on my progress. My favorite part of report cards? The teacher comments.
“Kristi works well with others. She’s curious and excited to learn. She fell short in Spanish this quarter, but she gets pulled out of class regularly for music lessons. With more focus, I’m confident her grade will improve.”
For me, the teacher comments in a report card offered validation and a situational context beyond what any letter or number grade could convey. The comments painted a better picture of me as a student, and how I learned, worked and partnered with my peers. They offered insight beyond the data.
Fast forward more than three decades and it’s no surprise I’m obsessed with tangible proof that comms efforts are producing results. Or, that while I find data and dashboards important, what I really love are the insights into how communications influence employees’ ability to work, grow, adapt and change. Today, my desk is stacked high with rich research reports, industry articles and books from Brené Brown, Kevin Oakes, Simon Sinek and Katie Paine—researchers who distill statistics and data into powerful insights about how people think, lead and measure change. I’m in heaven.
And I’m not.
Leading with Insights, not Data
With “transformation,” “change management” and “culture resets” becoming commonplace in companies today, I question why more organizations aren’t doing more to measure and track the communications that get us from point A to point B, and why they’re not using rich insights to refine their comms approaches.
Companies worldwide are investing in sophisticated continuous improvement “ninja” trainings and multi-million-dollar transformation efforts, but they often fail to gather communications insights to ensure they’re connecting with their people and teams in the most efficient, effective and meaningful ways. From COVID back-to-work policies to attraction and retention communications, we need to be translating the “what is happening” into the “why it’s happening.”
Instead, many companies churn out content and simply rely on data (clicks/opens) versus seeking insights (beliefs and behaviors). This gets under my skin, because just because an email is opened, doesn’t mean it’s read. And just because an article is read, it doesn’t mean the message inspired behavior, culture or organizational change. Communicators can’t stop at straight data…we desperately need insights if we want to inspire lasting, sustained organizational change and culture shifts.
Data-driven insights can help comms leaders make more informed, objective decisions regarding comms strategies and tactics, and even uncover significant and meaningful gaps. (I once recall a business partner raving about their high digital newsletter click/open rates, only to discover that only 20 percent of their global team had email access. So, while the actual engagement data was impressive, their primary communication tool was missing 80 percent of their employee population. Maybe not something to brag about.)
Start by Starting
So here’s my proposal: start by starting. If your company isn’t investing in comms research, you can still embrace an “insight mindset” when it comes to comms. Try some simple, low-risk, low-cost comms measurement:
- Set a few measurable personal communications development goals. Rate your own comms skills and competencies (writing, presenting, listening, motivating, influencing, teamwork, etc.) on a 1-5 scale today. Then, pick a few to focus on. Rate them again in six months to see if you’ve progressed…and think about what drove that progression.
- Host an informal focus group and ask folks what they remembered/retained from your last leadership message. Ask what broke through the clutter and explore why. Was it tone, voice, timing, format? Chart these results, make changes and then host another focus group in six months. Has anything changed?
- Kill one of your non-mission-critical communications completely for a month and take note of who notices. Ask these folks how this communication helps them do their job or makes their life better. Then reinstate the communication with a laser focus on those features.
- Try “A/B testing,” by sending out the same message in two formats. Measure which format gets more engagement. Adopt the more engaging format for a few weeks, and then survey folks to find out if they prefer the new format and why.
Data and insights can shift your thinking about comms from deliverables and output to results and outcomes. If change, transformation or growth is your goal, that’s where you want to be.
Like my report card all those years ago, if you can go beyond the data (the grade) and get to the insights (the comments), you can better understand what truly matters and what’s shaping your results. (Note to former self: ditch the clarinet lessons and double down in Spanish class, kiddo.) That baseline will help you to continue to improve your employee communications–ninja or not!
With more than two decades of communications experience spanning agencies, Fortune-100 organizations, non-profits and academia, Kristi Hinck Mills today brings her passion for communications to CommsLede Consulting, where she delivers smart, strategic communication solutions for her clients. Visit the CommsLede blog for more tips.
