Improving staff communications and boosting employee morale: West Sussex County Council

Overview

With 5,300 employees across a large geographical area, West Sussex County Council needed to improve the way it communicated important internal updates to all staff (including critical communications from the Chief Executive). By using the GovDelivery Communications Cloud by Granicus, the council has been able to engage more employees than ever before, give staff a voice, and increase satisfaction ratings.

SITUATION

Ineffective internal communications across multiple locations, with no way to track engagement or gather feedback.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) serves more than 800,000 citizens, as well as a significant tourist population. Email alerts powered by the GovDelivery Communications Cloud were already proving to be an effective way of engaging the public, and the council saw an opportunity to use the platform to improve the effectiveness of its internal communications updates to 5,300 staff members across multiple locations.

The Leadership and Internal Communications teams knew that with a strong internal communications strategy, they could help boost staff morale, job satisfaction, and awareness of what’s happening across the council. Leadership also wanted to be able to let all staff know that their voice is important and show them that they are listening.

Print communications including payslip inserts and posters in council buildings were still important to the council’s internal communications strategy, particularly for reaching those who do not have regular access to a computer, however, these channels are costly and engagement rates are difficult to track.

The council needed to broaden its tactics and find an effective way to:

1. keep staff informed of decisions from the Cabinet and Leadership team
2. give employees a chance to voice their opinions on the direction of the council
3. share successes from across the organisation to highlight the importance of WSCC’s work.

SOLUTION

“One Voice” email communication brings council staff together.

WSCC decided to start using the GovDelivery Communications Cloud to deliver a regular staff update called One Voice. The analytics dashboard enables the internal communications team to track and report on staff engagement campaigns, and have greater visibility of what’s “working” and what’s not.

One of the core challenges that needed to be addressed through an improved staff communications strategy was the need to bring every employee together and make them feel like one organisation working toward the same goal. The proactive staff email updates now form an important part of a range of tactics that encourage more people to share their ideas about how the council could work more efficiently and respond to budget challenges (as part of “Our Big Conversation”). Ultimately, Leadership wants to make staff feel valued, and empower them to do their jobs to the best of their ability.

WSCC has been able to take a creative approach to their internal communications, experimenting with video, audio, different email designs and layouts, and concise messaging to engage time-poor staff quickly. These changes have not gone unnoticed. A recent staff satisfaction survey generated higher engagement rates than expected (onethird of staff responded), and a high proportion of staff reported “feeling supported by management” and satisfaction in “giving great service to residents”. Undoubtedly an improved, open and robust internal communications system helped contribute to this result, as staff generally report that they now feel well-informed.

Nathan Elvery (Chief Executive) is committed to building an authentic and open relationship with everyone at the council through honest internal communications. He says, “We deliver the ‘key message’ which ensures the organisation hears as one, moves as one, and becomes one organisation for the public it is there to serve. This has a positive impact on your organisation’s culture and how each member of staff connects to the organisation. Underestimate the importance of internal communications at your peril. Go seek them, go find them, make the difference. Your team wants to hear from you”.

RESULTS

West Sussex County Council engages more staff than ever:

• 68% of staff engage with One Voice email newsletter
• 5,300 employees have easier access to organisation updates
• More staff aware of organisation’s goals and future plans
• Increased participation in staff consultations and surveys
• Increased job satisfaction