25 November 2008
Citi’s CEO holds "rallying" town hall
Successful town halls strike a balance between what leaders want to say and what employees want to hear.
Citigroup’s CEO Vikram Pandit recently hit the headlines with news of his “rallying the troops” town hall. He predicts the bank will cut 52,000 jobs in the coming year – twice last month’s announcement – as the economy continues to slide. Yesterday, the figure cited rose to 75,000.
In an earlier staff memo, Pandit spoke of “abundant liquidity” and strong revenue. This recent town hall aimed to boost staff morale and calm investors’ share price concerns. The bank began shedding jobs last month, with the total forecast job losses amounting to nearly 20% of the current headcount of around 352,000.
Preparing for a town hall
Veronica Apostolico (pictured, right), director of internal communication, Global Operations at medical devices organization Smith & Nephew spoke to the Hub about getting the best from a town hall.
“The important thing is to strike a balance between what senior leaders want to say and employees want to hear,” she says. “Pre-work for the town hall is key.”
Apostolico has been interviewing communicators recently and asks them, “How would you help a leader prepare for a town hall?” Several respond by saying “I’d find out what the leader wants to say.”
What do employees want to know?
But she has a different view. “We should be telling leaders what to say,” Apostolico counters. “First, we have to help them understand who they’re speaking with. Find out whether they’re conducting the town hall in person, virtually or a mix of both, as this affects delivery.”
Many organizations now have regular town halls and Apostolico advises communicators to review the feedback from prior events. “If you’re not measuring them you should be,” she says. “You need to know what worked, what didn’t and people’s concerns.” This should also include a venue review – was it comfortable?
Helen Johnston, former head of internal communications at Marconi, says feedback is important for her too. “We learned employees connected better with the CEO in a smaller setting – around 50-80 employees. He feels more at ease and they feel more comfortable asking him questions.”
Conduct research before a town hall
Research is crucial before any town hall. It can be qualitative – by calling people at random – or a short quantitative survey to determine people’s main concerns. Apostolico says this research gives senior leaders some context. “Let them know what employees are really concerned about,” she advises. “If there are rumors, let the senior leaders know the background.”
Busy leaders often lack a full understanding of their audience’s start point and have more background information than the average employee. “You need to remind leaders where this audience is coming from – what they know about a given topic and what they don’t,” Apostolico says.
Communicators should bring recommendations for the agenda and town-hall format to their meeting with the senior leader and use them to shape what the leader wants to say.
Stories – not fact dumping
We should challenge those leaders who want to share lots of data and information. “It’s our job to get them thinking less in terms of data,” Apostolico says. Leaders should be encouraged to ask themselves, “What do we want our employees to leave this town hall thinking, feeling and doing? If they remember nothing else, what’s the one thing we want them to take away?”
Having the leader address tough questions up front is very powerful and gives people permission to ask.
The communicator’s role is to help leaders use their information to provide stories and context, rather than just dumping it raw. “As senior leaders, they have so much information they sometimes forget to tell the story, explain why and give the background to frame things properly,” she says.
Solicit questions beforehand
Should you plant questions in the audience? Apostolico says it's useful to solicit questions from employees in advance. “Don’t plant them,” she warns. “If some employees feel uncomfortable asking questions, suggest they give them to you beforehand.” This helps start the conversation and the leader can say, “Here are some questions you’ve already given me.”
Sometimes communicators get protective and say, “We can’t ask this question!” But having the leader address tough questions up front is very powerful and gives people permission to ask.
Marconi’s CEO takes the opportunity to interact with employees in a more personal setting – special lunches with 10 to 12 high-performers. At the sessions the CEO asks questions such as, “What are your burning issues?” or “What would you do if you were in my shoes?” to initiate the conversation.
Personal preparation for the CEO
Communicators should use more than one session to prepare with the CEO. “Bring the CEO to the venue ahead of time to walk through the logistics,” Apostolico suggests. “Show them where they’ll sit, the microphone you’re using and any cameras. This means they’re not trying to figure these things out in the moment.”
Pay attention to events happening around the town hall. “In other words, what’s the leader’s schedule before and after?” Apostolico asks. “If there’s a tough board meeting, or financial review, it can affect the leader’s mood.” To overcome this problem, she advises working with the leader and their assistant beforehand. “Clear the morning if you have to,” she says.
“Be with them at least 30 minutes prior to the meeting to focus on what they’re going to say. There’s nothing more disastrous than a leader who comes in rushing and flustered, or upset and aggravated because they’re still thinking about their last meeting. It’s our job to bring them back around by taking whatever time we can beforehand to help them focus and prepare.”
Global perspective
Johnston adds a global perspective. “At our site in Germany, some employees are fluent in English while others are not,” she explains. “Previously, we only ran town halls with the CEO and a translator to ensure all employees could understand his message.”
There’s nothing more disastrous than a leader who comes in upset and aggravated because they’re still thinking about their last meeting.
Several fluent English speakers found the translated session tedious and Marconi now offers sessions in English – as well as translated sessions – so employees can choose which to attend. The CEO also attends product demonstrations with front-line employees.
“This is a highly interactive way for the CEO to wrap up his day at the site. It’s a good example of two-way communication between our top exec and the front line,” she says.
Check back on the Hub later this week for advice about what not to do when arranging town hall meetings.
Have your say
What hints do you have for running a successful town hall? How do you publicize your meetings? Do you ever invite outsiders – customers, for example? What about covering shifts – would your CEO turn up in the middle of the night?
What to do in a global organization? Do you deliver the CEO’s message by video – how is this supported by local leaders in different geographies?
Recommended resources:
Q&A: Can you give me some advice on ratings scales for employee surveys?
Creating a targeted survey at ntl
Got a news story? Contact the newsdesk