Asda's Award Winning Internal Communication

CIPR Inside case study
ASDA
#insidestory award winners 2014
Best in house team
Best use of video

@ciprinside
Asda is infamous in internal communication circles for its
ground-breaking Green Room.
The fact that it’s living its values of being transparent and making
its internal website open to all is extremely admirable and for
many of us desirable, brave and probably a bit scary.
The principle is simple and that’s what makes it so effective.
Asda’s colleague communication team has a lot more to be
proud of.
Asda’s award winning examples of best
practice

@ciprinside
Asda won two #insidestory awards this year (2014), scooping
‘Best in house team’ and ‘Best use of video’. On reading these
entries, and hearing the Asda team talk at the CIPR Inside AGM
on 26 March 2014, simplicity seems to be a key theme for its
communication.
The team is focussed on delivering excellent and appropriate
communication and the strategy is aligned with business
objectives. That’s what made the team award-winning this year.
Award winning

@ciprinside
The winning team
So we thought we’d
find out a bit more
about how
communication at Asda
works, and share it with
you here, whilst
bringing in some of the
details from the team’s
award entries.

@ciprinside
As the second biggest supermarket in the UK, Asda has a team
of 22 working on colleague communication.
There are 180,000 colleagues working at Asda, with 587 stores,
27 depots and three home offices, it’s a big company requiring
a big communication strategy and the team to deliver what it
needs to thrive.
It’s team of 22 works across events, engagement
communication and operational communication.
The scale of its communication

@ciprinside
The team has two key objectives:
• reduce and simplify communication
• free up colleagues to serve customers; engaging and inspiring
colleagues so they feel proud to work for Asda.
The colleague communication team delivered projects which
were closely aligned to Asda’s business priorities:
• making the most of technology
• getting communication right for different formats
• celebrating fantastic colleagues, customers and products
• reducing operating costs
The focus

@ciprinside
Going mobile in the store
The introduction of iPads for stores has created simpler, more efficient and
colleague-focused communication. Store managers can now spend more
time on the shop floor with colleagues rather than in the back office.
Introducing iPads means that they can coach colleagues at the shelf edge
rather than in a training room, making the training and communication
interaction richer for colleagues, paperless and more efficient.
This has saved £500,000 in printing costs alone and even more impressively
saved around four hours of each store manager’s time each week. So while
the introduction of iPads across 587 stores was a significant outlay, it’s clear
that the cost is outweighed by the savings and wider benefit of more efficient
communication.
So what did they do?

@ciprinside
The Green Room, Asda’s ground-breaking colleague website
has been fully mobile optimised. So now it’s quicker for
colleagues to upload, download and share stories and
comments on the site from their phones.
Approximately 15,000 colleagues use the site weekly. The cost
of mobilising the site has been covered by the advertising
revenue generated by banners on the site. More colleagues
have a smart phone than access to a computer or broadband at
home, so making the site functional for mobile made perfect
sense.
Going mobile out of the store

@ciprinside
In a move to get the communication right for different formats, the team set to
work on eliminating printing from Asda’s small stores. A group comprising
stakeholders from across the business then looked at every aspect of the
stores’ way of working.
Everything that was not vital to running a shop was removed, cutting the daily
tasks such as implementing new ranges or installing POS and processes by
approximately 50%.
The daily tasks were reviewed to see what was necessary for a manager or
what could be implemented by another member of their team and therefore
cutting the time and number of steps needed to implement a given task.
The right communication for the different
formats

@ciprinside
Working closely with the relevant teams the colleague
communication team holds a weekly communication surgery,
where the big colleague news stories are discussed, the focus is
agreed and campaigns are born.
Communication and campaign planning

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Last year (2013) a new internal mission for the company was
announced: ‘To be Britain’s most trusted retailer’.
The team showcased this through its annual conference for
senior leaders , engaging store and depot colleagues through a
special ‘Big Meeting’ delivered through TV and slides as well as
cascades for head office colleagues.
Being aligned with product campaigns has enabled the
colleague communication team to contribute to double digit
growth in market share across some of Asda’s own brand
products, demonstrating the power of effective
communication ‘celebrating its fantastic products’.
Communication and campaign planning

@ciprinside
In a great demonstration of sharing knowledge and encouraging
colleague participation, the film manager and the external
production company run a weekly film surgery advising
colleagues on the best, most cost effective ways of bringing their
ideas to life.
Requests for film for training or briefings for example would be
worked through at these surgeries.
This initiative has led to higher quality content being produced
and cost savings where recommendations have been made
against using film in a number of instances in the last
18 months.
Film Forum

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Talking Shop is Asda’s weekly news programme for store managers. It won
Best use of video in the #insidestory awards 2014.
It’s well thought through, clear, and has a consistent formula so store
managers know what to expect, understand its purpose and are familiar with
the format.
Using TV means that each of the 587 stores gets a consistent message. In
the fast-moving retail sector the ability to disseminate messages quickly and
effectively is vital.
For Asda colleagues, TV is a particularly effective communication channel as
it is a media with which they are familiar.
Talking Shop

@ciprinside
Talking Shop
A colleague presenter is used to link the programme,
giving it credibility, reflecting the Asda brand and
keeping to budget.
It’s well produced, but not too high-end deliberately
keeping it at an ‘every day low cost’ in-line with the
company values of saving customers money every
day.
The programme is available to the store managers
via their iPads, as well as on the in-store TVs
enabling them to coach their teams on the shop floor.
It is six minutes long, split into three segments
covering up and coming product events and
launches, operational news, and a
motivational message from a senior leader.

@ciprinside
The themes always reflect the retail activity plan, and complement other
communication channels. And most of the content results in action for the
managers to implement e.g. point of sale campaigns.
Clear production values balance impact, creativity and cost and align to the
other channels used across colleague communication.
The schedule is tight, and so the very structured and formulaic approach to
production keeps it on track and on message.
Filmed on the Tuesday, edited on the Wednesday, feedback and amends on
Thursday, the final thought added on Friday allowing for up to the minute
messaging, and then available in store to view from the Saturday morning.
Talking Shop

@ciprinside
• Introducing iPads has saved £500,000 in print costs alone
• iPads have also saved on average four hours of each store manager’s
time every week
• 15,000 colleagues use the mobile Green Room every week
• Daily tasks and processes have been cut by over 50% in small stores
freeing up time to run the stores
• The film forum has saved £196,000, providing advice and advising against
film where not suitable
• Each episode of Talking Shop is rated by stores and feedback provided
• Viewing figures are assessed and combined with feedback from
contributors and exec improvements are fed back into the production
process
• 70% of Asda’s managers are regularly tuning in to watch Talking Shop
Measurement and feedback

@ciprinside
“Colleague Communication has delivered fantastic results this year. The team
makes sure that we are industry leading and continually challenges itself to
do more for our colleagues at all levels of the business up to the shop floor.”
Mark Ibbotson, Asda Exec Retail Director.
“Before the small stores communication project began I had so much in my
diary that I wasn’t supposed to get a break until Wednesday lunchtime! The
fall in the number of daily tasks and the removal of so many requirements on
our time have made a massive difference. It’s made my time on the shop floor
really count so I can coach my colleagues and implement better.” Chris
Thickett, Store Manager, Kirkstall Small Store.
What they are saying about Colleague
Communication

@ciprinside
“It’s great to get a consistent message delivered directly.”
“We watch in teams to keep everyone involved in everything.”
“It’s a really good tool to use, to inform on content.”
What they are saying about Talking Shop.

@ciprinside
It’s clear that the Asda Colleague Communication team has
made a real difference to the business, helping it streamline its
communication and continually improve.
Each action and communication ties back to the business
objectives, giving the team a clear focus and direction.
Conclusion

@ciprinside
Thank you to the Asda Colleague Communication team for
arranging for us to share their award winning communication
practice from their award entries.
Do you have examples of where your internal communication
work supports the wider business or organisational objectives,
has saved money, improved the quality of communication, and
enhanced colleagues’ engagement?
We are continually on the look-out for great examples of best
practice, so get in touch, we can work together to share your
story. inside@cipr.co.uk @ciprinside
Thank you

Asda's Award Winning Internal Communication

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