This guest post is by Miri Zena McDonald, a strategic communications consultant. Miri tweets at @miri_orgchange. She attended the Marcus Evans 6th Annual Employee Engagement and Internal Communications Conference earlier this week in Orlando.
Molson Coors was able to dramatically improve its employee engagement through its Our Brew program, Jill Hollingsworth, director of employee communications for Molson Coors, shared in her session at the conference. That program serves as the foundation for the company’s common culture, identity and team, she said.
Our Brew is a multi-pronged program that promotes the company’s mission, vision, values and goals, Hollingsworth said. Among its unique features is the way it was created, via a method called “clue gathering,” in which employee worked together to gather facts about the company. About 3,000 such “clues” were gathered and distilled into the common themes that underlie Our Brew.
From this, a 38-page document was created and shared with all employees, organized by the following topics:
- What we will do (Mission)
- Who we will be (Vision)
- How we will work (Codes of Conduct)
- What we value (5 values)
- Our ambition (To Become a top 4 global brewer)
- What we must deliver by 2012 (Big Hairy Audacious Goals, ala “Built to Last” authors James Collins and Jerry Porras)
One key initiative from Our Brew is “Pub talk,” which encourages leaders to talk to employees using plain language. For example, “the things we do well” is preferred over “core competencies.” Guided by this approach, the CEO transformed the earnings memo into a two- minute video with a conversational tone.
The employee intranet was dubbed the “Brew Hub,” and it was redesigned with a number of interactive components, such as a toolbox for managers and a place to submit stories that show how their colleagues are living Our Brew.
Social media also plays a role. About 2,500 employees are using Yammer to communicate internally, including the CEO.
The company’s strategy to keep up the momentum of Our Brew centers on four areas:
- Activate the activists. Pockets of very passionate people formed Brew Councils. Molson Coors tests some communications and tools with them first.
- Storytelling. Keep telling stories on the intranet that link employee behavior to Our Brew.
- Executive visibility. Keep the CEO visible through “town halls,” videos and meetings with small groups of employees.
- Managers living Our Brew through tools and training. Provide tools to help managers make this real for employees.
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I love this form of employer branding — they are truly engaging their workforce. Smart move to choose a social media platform (Yammer) for conversation at all levels. We have to go where the workers hang out versus expecting employees to come to us.
Congratulations to Molson Coors for keeping things simple and recognizing that your employees make the difference. Reminds me of an old story where a professor illustrates an important life lesson using an empty glass. He puts in some large stones – to signify the larger priorities in your life. The glass seems full. He adds some smaller stones that manage to fit their way around the larger pieces and symbolizes how your life is enriched and that you need to make time for the seemingly less important things too. The glass appears full. He then adds sand which fills in all the crevices. The glass, your life, is now full. But is it? In the final gesture, he adds beer to the glass (your life) because "there is always room for beer". Cheers
We'll know this is a successful program if 2 things happen. 1) It survives — far too many employee engagement initiatives are "flavor of the month". Employees are confused when the next flavor is introduced and resent the fact that management can't make up its collective mind. 2) Employees change their behavior in ways that enhance the companies long-term prospects.
More on employee engagement here: http://bit.ly/aykG8L
Thumbs up to Coors – hope the commitment to plain-spoken runs through the organization's process and behavior. The best language comes from within, not imposed from without. Thanks for the post.
[...] competencies” are now referred to as “things we do well,” according to a recent blog posted by Miri Zena McDonald on SmartBlog on Workforce. The CEO of Molson Coors isn’t tossing [...]
I believe a small percentage of employees buy in and actually perform with company goals in mind.
The vast majority will revert to old ways very quickly. If reinforcement is not constant, employees will not feel good about what they do.
[...] How Molson Coors Brewed up Stronger Engagement – SmartBlog on Workforce [...]
[...] http://smartblogs.com/workforce/2010/11/12/how-molson-coors-brewed-up-stronger-engagement/ [...]
Molson Coors engages employees using plain English…
To improve engagement, Molson Coors Brewing started at the top by encouraging leaders to communicate with employees in a concise, jargon-free way, says Jill Hollingsworth, the company’s director of employee communications. The “Our Brew” program, wh…
I believe where you engage with employees, they will engage with you. it's all about give and take in the business industry. where you take only, you will never survive. where you give only, you have no chance, but all in moderation, your business will work out perfect. Brilliant post.
Natalie Newton
EHRP http://www.ehrp.co.uk