Vodafone: Gathering perspectives on communication from senior leaders
Background and challenge
Vodafone is the world’s leading mobile telecommunications company and has an extensive range of channels to support both global and local communication. In early 2008, the newly-appointed global head of internal communication wanted to understand more about how senior managers viewed communication so that the team could shape its priorities going forward. The company approached Ibis Communication to run a series of interviews and report back findings with recommendations.
Approach
To obtain a comprehensive picture of senior manager perspective, we approached the CEOs and HR Directors from all operating companies along with a selection of senior managers from Group functions. All participants were asked to undertake hour-long telephone interviews and in total, over 40 participated.
Each interview was based around three main sections: perceptions of the current Vodafone message and how it’s being communicated, the impact of communication aimed specifically at senior managers and the effectiveness of communication support given to senior managers so that they can play their part in the communication process.
Our findings and recommendations were summarised in a single report structured around these three sections.
Results
The findings and recommendations were presented at the start of 2008 and played an integral role in the planning for that year. The process also helped to raise the profile of the internal communication function and demonstrate its desire to play a strategic role in the overall direction of the company.