Five strategies for helping leaders become better communicators.

1. CONNECTIONS
An Edelman perspective on making meaningful
employee connections that deepen engagement,
build trust and accelerate business performance.
NOVEMBER 2012
EXPLAIN, ENGAGE, EXECUTE
FIVE STRATEGIES FOR HELPING LEADERS BECO ME BETTER COMMUNICAT ORS
Picture a strong leader. What makes them so special? Most likely, they deliver solid business results. Respond to
customer needs. Capitalize on emerging trends. And demonstrate less-quantifiable behaviors as well: Walking the
halls and connecting with employees. Sharing information freely and proactively. Simply listening. It’s clear that a
strong leader has both functional expertise and communication skills.
This isn’t a profound or new revelation. But it’s
easy to lose sight of this basic truth as social Communicators say “improving line manager
media and a 24/7 news cycle give employees communications” is their No. 1 challenge
other avenues for gaining information about (Melcrum Member Survey)
their company. Still, bosses continue to hold
enormous influence over their teams. Indeed,
leaders who demonstrate effective Only 41 percent of employees say their leaders
communication skills can: create a dialogue with them.
(2011-12 Towers Watson Change & Comm. ROI Study)
 Minimize turnover and retain top talent
 Align employees’ work with strategy
 Increase trust in leadership Only 40 percent of employees say the CEO is a
 Surface emerging issues early credible source of information.
 Limit distractions caused by rumors or (2012 Edelman Trust Barometer)
speculation
DEVELOPING LEADERS’ COMMUNICATION SKILLS: WHAT DOES IT TAKE?
Not every leader thinks about communication as often as they do the latest sales numbers. Some are just less
comfortable engaging with their teams. Fortunately, leadership communication is a teachable skill. Numerous
training programs are available to help build such competencies, some customized right down to the individual.
Generally speaking, though, the companies that best empower their leaders to communicate treat them as a special
population, not just as a communications channel. They engage leaders in the business so they have the skills and
context to initiate conversations with their teams to:
 Explain new information
 Engage employees in dialogue
 Agree on actions they will Execute
Typically this approach involves combining several strategies to provide leaders the confidence and context to
communicate. Here are five critical ones...
For more information, please contact Edelman Employee
Engagement at employee.engagement@edelman.com.

2. CONNECTIONS
From Edelman’s Employee Engagement Practice | October 2012
1. CREATE EXCLUSIVE FOR UMS FOR MANAGERS
Many companies host regular, planned events
(either virtual or in-person) for leaders and LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
managers. The goal: to get them more deeply
involved in the business beyond their
immediate business unit. This helps them
provide context about new developments when
engaging with their teams. It also serves as an
opportunity for managers to interact with senior
leaders and their peers. Some communication
departments set up virtual discussions via
Yammer, Sharepoint or other interactive
platforms just for those who manage people.
2. PROVIDE ADVANCE
NOTIFICATION
How much time before a major announcement
do your leaders and managers get to review
talking points before they must communicate
with employees? Often, it’s only a matter of
minutes. Provide managers as much time as
possible to become familiar with their
communication materials, while of course not
creating any regulatory disclosure issues. If feasible, schedule a call before announcements so managers can ask
questions and prepare for communicating with their employees. Some companies do this ahead of quarterly
earnings announcements, sharing a preview of the release (with actual numbers omitted) the night before. At one
organization, managers join a call with the CEO and ask him their toughest questions. Consequently, managers get
to learn more and the CEO is able to prep for questions he’ll later get from analysts.
3. OFFER COMMUNICATION AND STORYTELLING TOOLS
Provide leaders and managers a central place to find everything they need for their communication. Whether it’s a
standalone website or section on the intranet, house all templates, toolkits, sample materials and communication
guidance there. One organization follows a “60/40” formula in delivering materials for every announcement: Sixty
percent of the content is standard for everyone in the company, while managers have autonomy to customize the
remaining 40 percent to address their team’s interests.
4. PROVIDE TARGETED TRAINING AND COACHING
Just as communications prowess varies from leader to leader, so do the types of training programs available to
them. Many companies start by assessing managers’ skills, then creating a mix of in-person workshops and self-
paced online modules. Typically, these focus on general communication skills (such as training for first-time
managers) or on specific topics (conveying strategy, crisis communication, engaging employees during times of
change, etc.). Often, communicators will offer senior-level executives one-on-one coaching and support with the
goal of empowering these leaders to communicate effectively on their own. One client recently launched a training
program to help managers develop their own personal storytelling approach to drive change with their teams, even
when the communications staff wasn’t present.
For more information, please contact Edelman Employee 2
Engagement at employee.engagement@edelman.com.

3. CONNECTIONS
From Edelman’s Employee Engagement Practice | October 2012
5. EVALUATE AND MEASURE COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVENESS
No communications effort is complete without measurement. Holding managers accountable for communication is
truly the only way to make sure they do it. Specific communication metrics should be integrated into performance
reviews, with corresponding processes set up to gather feedback on how well managers meet those objectives, such
as 360-degree evaluations. Look for opportunities throughout the year – and beyond the annual review cycle – to
give leaders and managers constructive feedback. These can include instant polls via mobile devices or post-
meeting surveys to gauge leaders’ effectiveness during town halls or other employee gatherings.
ABOUT US
Edelman’s Employee Engagement Practice helps organizations accelerate business performance, delivered by
highly engaged and trusted employees. We do this by making meaningful, trust-building connections — connecting
employees with the company, connecting employees with each other, and connecting employees with the outside
world. We have a global network of employee engagement specialists who can develop engagement strategy; deploy
the tools and processes to deliver it; create the multimedia channels and content that support it; and design the
insight mechanisms to measure it.
For more information, please contact Edelman Employee Engagement at
employee.engagement@edelman.com.
For more information, please contact Edelman Employee 3
Engagement at employee.engagement@edelman.com.