THE BRIEF
Turning strategy into action is a common leadership challenge. To do it effectively, individuals in the organisation need to be empowered to play their part. The Co-operative Bank knew that this started with effective internal communication, but needed us to help them design a new communications campaign that would bring its employees a fuller understanding of the Bank’s mission and strategic direction.
More importantly, the Bank needed our help to really hone in on their core strategic vision. Without clear language and a defined mission, quality internal communication falls flat. The Co-operative Bank asked HopeWorks to help them clarify their current strategy and distill that mission into engaging communications that would bring their team together.
THE IMPACT
HopeWorks first presented the Bank’s leadership team with creative ideas for how to turn a complex strategy into a simple, memorable communications plan. The chosen route distilled an extensive executive briefing into four key pillars of the Bank’s mission: Rebuild, Reduce, Revitalise and Reinforce.
The next step was creation of a detailed presentation that outlined the underpinnings of each of the four pillars. This presentation was built specifically to communicate Bank strategy at upcoming employee conferences. We then implemented a comprehensive communication plan to help employees engage with the Bank’s direction. For this, HopeWorks undertook event planning and execution, created intranet campaigns, e-mail cascades and commitment cards, and wrote leadership speeches.
After our comprehensive communication plan was put into action, colleague engagement showed marked improvement. In fact, a survey found that employee understanding of, and engagement with, the Bank’s new strategic direction reached an unprecedented high.
‘The best roadshow we’ve ever had. Fantastic!’
Senior leader, Co-operative Bank
