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Business Television: Issues and Potential
Introduction
More people rely on television for news and information than any other source. Its ability to command authority and add impact to messages is unchallenged. Recognising this, large companies such as British Airways, ICI, Halifax Building Society and Sainsbury's are increasingly turning to business television as a key channel of corporate communications. Experience shows that a business television service can have the same degree of impact on employee audiences as traditional broadcast television has. In many cases, (for instance, Royal and Sun Alliance) feedback suggests that it has contributed to the successful management of cultural change and ultimately to competitive advantage. A growing number of companies, particularly those with geographically dispersed workforces, are capitalising on the power and speed of television and using it as a means of communicating within the company. Business television can be limited to one-off initiatives involving a high impact launch or major communication exercise. It is more powerful, however, when it is used regularly, in conjunction with a suite of other communication tools (newsletter, intranet, cascades, etc) to implement a total communication strategy. For instance, it can: |
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Communicate quickly, enabling staff to find out important information about their company before reading about it in the newspaper; |
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Inform and educate staff about all parts of the company and about the competitive environment in which the company operates; |
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Provide a means of delivering feedback from staff to the management of the company by use of televised question and answer sessions, phone-ins, the installation of more sophisticated interactivity devices, or simply by provoking discussion at the local level; |
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Provide a channel through which the aims and values of the company can shine; |
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Improve the visibility of senior management to the staff and vice versa; |
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Improve morale in the company through achieving a better informed and more involved workforce. |
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In general, business television is most successful as a means of communication and a tool of culture change within a company if staff view it as their channel and not as a means of management propaganda. This requires a degree of independence in editorial policy and a willingness to encourage the active involvement of staff in the making of programmes. The introduction of a business television service, for the prime purpose of communicating with staff, is a bold and groundbreaking initiative. It represents a major commitment to employee communications and to improving management and performance at all levels in the company. Benefits
The principal benefits of business television are intangible. That does not mean that they will have no impact either on the profit and loss account or on the company balance sheet. It means only that their impact can be difficult to quantify. The benefits will be reflected in the speed and clarity of decision-making, in a better informed workforce, in improved staff morale, in the degree of buy-in to management initiatives, in improved understanding of the company and the markets in which it operates, and in improved productivity. Improving internal communications
Internal communications are the means by which companies are managed at all levels. Communication forms the corporate glue which carries the mission, values and culture of the company throughout the business. Communications failure can also form the black hole into which key messages can disappear without trace. Research often shows that a company's internal communications are seen as poor, weak and infrequent. Business television can deliver the step change in the effectiveness of internal communications needed. In order for internal communications to be effective, they must command credibility. Audiences need to believe that the information is accurate and objectively presented. While management needs to use internal communications channels to present clear undiluted messages, this should be coupled with a willingness to promote dialogue and to have positions challenged. The communications process should be involving: encouraging discussion and the sharing of views. It should be open, accessible and honest. This is difficult to achieve with many of the existing communications channels. But the very nature of the medium lends business television immediacy and impact, which in turn, delivers messages with authority and credibility. Because of its directness, universality and immediacy, business television can foster a change of approach which is: |
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egalitarian |
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non-hierarchical |
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open and honest |
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supportive of managers' role in communicating with employees |
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a source of credible and fast information |
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a reinforcement of measures to achieve the company's business objectives |
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Research in other companies shows that business television: |
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was seen as open and honest |
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made staff feel valued |
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was popular |
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was credible |
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provided speedier communication |
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led to better understanding |
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Business television can promote more effective communications not only down the regular management chain, but also laterally across the company and back up the management chain, enabling regular and rapid feedback to senior management. There is little doubt that a workforce with a better understanding of the objectives, pressures and constraints of different parts of the company will pull together more, feel more like part of larger team and tend to a more pragmatic and integrated approach than a more insular and less well-informed workforce. Business television can help employees understand the significance of profit targets and business performance figures for each individual. If each employee becomes better informed, with greater understanding and an increased sense of his/her personal role, responsibility and contribution to the collective target, then the company will be far more likely to meet that target. Support for corporate values
At its most direct, business television can provide programmes in which the company's corporate values will be enshrined. Business television can offer a clear opportunity for the company to be seen putting its mission, values and goals into practice. For instance, a company's overriding concern for the safety of its activities, its customers, staff and property can be embodied in news stories, features and messages and, longer term, through training programmes delivered via the television network. In this way, business television can provide emphasis and support, in every broadcast, to key corporate values. Better management decisions
Business television brings with it its own imperative to improve the quality of management decisions-the thoroughness of deliberation, the speed of decision-taking and the way in which the decision is communicated. Managers need to think harder about the implications of their decisions and prepare to be questioned about their rationale. This can impose new disciplines on those managers whose tendency is to avoid hard decisions or to prolong the process. Equally, business television can provide an unrivalled opportunity for managers to explain their decisions and achieve greater buy-in particularly where tough choices have had to be made. Improved Customer service
The most important proportion of the company's workforce is customer-facing. As such these staff need to be able to answer customer's questions about the service the company provides-the whys and the hows and the explanations when things go wrong. Business television can provide vital and timely information to all such staff to enable them to answer these questions. In times of disruption it can brief staff on what went wrong and what to say to the customer, it can inform staff about a new product or service, thus enabling staff to sell or explain it to customers, and, by educating staff about other parts of the company, it can better equip them to represent the whole company rather than just their own part of it. Developing people
One of the key potential benefits of business television is that it can provide a means of delivering consistent and cost-effective training to the company's staff. Training can be provided in especially tailored programmes and if required interactivity can be built into the network. Apart from the obvious savings in travel and subsistence and the opportunity cost of disruption caused by training away from the home base, much greater coverage of staff can be achieved through the use of television. Arguably, more acceptance of the training message may also be achieved through using a medium with which staff are already familiar and comfortable. Improved productivity
Business television can deliver improvements in productivity brought about by having a better motivated and better informed workforce. High absence statistics are often used as an indicator of poor staff morale. As business television establishes itself, staff will feel better informed and have an opportunity to be heard by both their peers and their managers and absenteeism can be expected to drop. Equally, with better understanding of management decisions, ensuing actions can be discharged more quickly and comprehensively, and the impact of such decisions will be felt more readily throughout the company. There can be opportunities for reducing the amount of duplication within the company as different departments have an opportunity to explain to the rest of the company just what it is they can offer both internally and to the customer. Broader communication strategy
Corporate communications problems cannot be addressed by business television in isolation. Indeed, its effectiveness can be seriously undermined if it is not introduced as part of an integrated communications strategy. While part of business television's value can be its unique ability to leap the traditional communications cascades, more often than not it must be seen to support and work within them. Business television should not usurp the communications responsibilities of middle and operational management. It can be designed to assist them and complement the communications process. Its content can also be tailored in such a way as to elicit positive responses and feedback. Business television can provide the sort of news and information that will encourage discussion within departments, groups and teams and that will lead to action. Business television can: |
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provide a means of reinforcing corporate values through its style, programme content and through its own integrity; |
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through its programming, provide a way of making staff feel valued, recognising achievement and communicating those achievements; |
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deliver key business messages which stimulate/aid discussion between managers and their teams in local departments; |
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through the use of devices such as Q&A sessions and through intelligent and independent reporting, provide a means of improving two-way understanding between managers and staff; |
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ensure that staff are informed about the company, presenting the company to itself, fostering lateral communication, engendering a single company feel; |
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provide a cost-effective means of delivering training, in due course interactively to a greater range of staff world-wide. |
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Issues and challenges
Introducing a television service brings with it a series of issues to be faced, decisions to be taken and some potential problems. Some of these demand from management the sort of imagination, determination and openness that must mark out the progressive company. They also demand risk-taking and good judgement. Watching business television should not be compulsory; rather, line management should encourage their staff to view at a convenient point during their working day. Managers may be reluctant to grant such licence especially where working to tight schedules or when their department is particularly busy. But for business television to work, managers need to see it as both an educative process and a communication tool, important for improving the awareness, knowledge and motivation of their staff. Senior management need to set the example. Business television may also cause unease amongst managers ill-informed about issues featured during a programme. Used to knowing more than their staff and usually able to answer questions, they may find themselves exposed on issues outside their usual range of interests. Managers need to be encouraged to accept that this is not a problem and that there is no disgrace in admitting that their knowledge of the company is incomplete. The issue of costs
Some companies fear business television because it appears to be associated with a large cost outlay for no measurable increase in revenue. They are also concerned about the arrival of new technology which could overtake the television with which we are all familiar. One-off programmes recorded on video for specific events are relatively inexpensive. What is more costly is the installation of a television network involving satellite installations across the UK or even world-wide. There are two components of costs to consider: the first is the set-up cost involving the installation of the hardware and the creation of the programme, its look, identity, format etc. the second is the running cost associated with a degree of regular programming. These costs need to be seen in context. The set-up costs are significant, but they are largely associated with putting in place a network (like the national grid or the rail network) which can be made available to many different users and which has many uses beyond the initial regular television programme. Of course, running costs vary with programming frequency but in some large corporations, a five day a week programme is costing approximately a pound a week per employee. Companies need to consider whether in these competitive days, they can afford not to communicate effectively. Finally, technology is not the key issue. It is the content of the programming which is important rather than the means by which it is delivered. Television programmes can be delivered via conventional television monitors or via cable to the desk-top to certain types of PCs. The choice of delivery route is a tactical decision for the company and will depend on both the activities and skill level of its staff, the extent to which the company is or wants to be at the forefront of technology and cost. |
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