While a leader’s presence in the market is likely to be quite evident, the way they communicate internally with their people will not usually be on display. So, if you are an internal comms professional, how do you know if you are on top of best practise approaches and doing a good job supporting your leaders? What does the most effective leadership communication look like? These questions prompted me to conduct some research and find out what leaders in other organisations were doing. This includes a first ever survey of insights from 79 communicators. I hope these thoughts provide other comms professionals with some useful ideas about how to approach and influence leadership communication in your organisations.

1. The role of
leaders in Internal
Communication
Megan Thomas

2. Let’s look at
What do
employees expect
from their CEOs
and leaders?
How are CEOs
communicating
in a range of
organisations?
What does the most
effective leadership
communication look
like?

3. What are employees saying?
Value us more,
communicate more often
and more transparently.

4. What do employees
expect from their
CEOs and leaders?
Clarity on strategy
Visibility of leaders
Open communication
Timeliness
01
02
03
04

5. 79 survey respondents (communicators)

6. What do you
think CEOs
should
communicate
about
internally?
73 72 71 70 69 67 66 66 64
57
47 47
29 28
14
10
4 2
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80

7. What is the
priority for
your CEO's
internal
communication
in 2018?
01
02
03
04
Vision/Strategy/Change
Culture/engagement
Channels
Build CEO Profile

8. How do you want your people to think and
feel about your CEO?
Respectful, inspired and
motivated. Someone they can
talk about to colleagues and
friends with pride, and as if
they know her a little
Champion of the
organisation and
its people
Think he's the right
guy for the job, feel
connected
Inspired,
energized,
confident
Transparent,
honest, has the
company
interests at heart,
ok with making
tough decisions
Progressive. Open-
minded. Innovative
He's managing the company
efficiently to ensure long-
term success and security
for all employees. He's
visible, personable and
down to earth
Sincere, authentic,
caring, visionary
Trusted, bold,
visionary
That she is
exemplary, a
safe keeper
able to take
the
organisation
to the next
stage
Open, transparent,
authentic
Bring his leadership brand to life
well planned strategic comms
connect people to him and vision,
purpose and strategy
Successful in steering
business to success;
compassion for people
despite changes impacting

9. What do you
think your CEO
expects from
his or her
internal
comms
function?
01
Pulse of the
organisation
03
Technical
skills
02
Business
understanding

10. Which CEOs do you think are excellent
communicators. Why?
Alan Joyce
CEO, Qantas
Firm on beliefs,
cares
Richard Branson
CEO, Virgin Airlines
Personable, visible, fun
David Thodey
Ex CEO, Telstra
Authentic, genuine,
personal, engaging
Gail Kelly
Ex CEO, Westpac
Open, honest, engaging
and down to earth
Giam Swiegers – visibility
CEO Aurecon and ex Deloitte
Focused on people and
strategy, great on social media
Arianna Huffington
CEO Huffington Post
Opinionated, highly visible
internally and externally
Bill Morrow
CEO NBN
Authentic, shares the good and
the bad, personal, in touch
Alison Watkins
CEO Coca Cola Amatil
Clear, confident vision for the future
despite challenges facing industry
Danny Celoni
CEO Pepsico ANZ
Warm, frequent comms, clear
business tie with each weekly note
Stuart Fletcher,
ex Diageo, ex Bupa
Thoughtful, purposeful,
inspirational, well prepared
Dara Khosrowshahim
CEO Uber
Open honest and transparent
across int & ext audiences

11. How does
your CEO
communicate
internally?
60
55
50
47
45
35
29
22 21 20 19 19 18
11
5 5 4 3 3
0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
“Email & spontaneous
dance parties”

12. How do you
think your
CEO should
communicate
internally?
61 61 61
56
54
49
46
44
35
32
29 29
25
20 19
9
7
5 5
2
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
ESN – Enterprise social network

13. How often
does your
CEO
communicate
with your
people?
Every day
3%
Every
week
20%
Every
fortnight
12%
Every
month
41%
Every
quarter
24%

14. How often do
you think
your CEO
should
communicate
with your
people?
Every
day 8%
Every week
27%
Every fortnight
22%
Every month
39%
Every quarter 4%

15. What do
leaders
need to do
to engage?
Demonstrates commitment to values
Involves employees in decisions
Builds trust in the organisation
Communicates clear vision of future
Seen to respond to staff feedback
© SCRF & Melcrum Publishing LtdSource: Melcrum “Employee engagement” survey of comms & HR professionals
Most important factors for a senior
leader to engage employees
70%
46%
40%
39%
33%

16. Key challenges
Time
Willingness
Skills and competencies
Accountability
Building the case

17. 10 tips for
getting traction
1. Make the case
2. Find the right fit
3. Identify what’s important to them
4. Make it easy
5. Have a regular cadence
6. Don’t rely on cascade
7. Help them use stories
8. Build in accountability
9. Be brave - give them feedback
10. Remember there’s no secret new tool, behaviour or process

18. Further reading
Roger D'Aprix
https://www.ickollectif.com/roger-d-aprix &
https://www.amazon.com/Credible-Company-Communicating-Skeptical-Workforce-
ebook/dp/B007HB5SF2/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=
Jonathan Champ
http://community.hrdaily.com.au/profiles/blogs/3-tools-and-an-essential-skill-to-
help-managers-communicate
Delivering Effective Senior Leadership Communication
Victoria Mellor, Director Strategic Communication research Forum, Melcrum
01
02
03
04 More detailed survey results available – contact Megan Thomas. (Special thanks to Ike
Levick, Head of Internal Communication, Deloitte)
Burson Marsteller (2014)
Corporate Purpose Three Times More Important than Financial Performance
05