Communicating across geographic boundaries

Lesley Whitteker

Outline

• Context: Leighton Contractors Resources and

Construction Divisions, operating across multiple sites

• Business needs analysis – a key to internal support

• The basics: target publics analysis, key messages,

strategy and implementation

• Case study: Construction Safety Essentials: 8 Essentials

– for Life.

• Digital is another channel, not a complete solution

• Case study: Radio Mining

• Conclusions

Leighton Contractors

■ One of Australia and New Zealand’s premier developers

■ Provides clients with end-to-end services in the civil

engineering infrastructure development, non-residential

building, contract mining and telecommunication

infrastructure sectors

■ Employs over 7,000 people and currently has almost

$9 billion of work in hand

Leighton Contractors

Leighton Contractors Northern Region covers Queensland,

Northern Territory & Papua New Guinea. Recent projects

include the Gateway Bridge Upgrade, CLEM7 tunnel tollroad

and HQ.

Our business, our people

■ Construction and Resources Divisions

■ In Resources alone, more than 4,000 employees, many

remote/FIFO, at 26 sites in two countries

■ Construction Division – in Northern Region alone,

typically twenty different operational sites across Qld, NT

and PNG, from civil (roads) to building

■ Engineering lead organisation – cultural implications

■ Safety a key priority

■ High levels of change – potential change fatigue

■ High pressure jobs, long hours and technical focus –

successful projects

Business needs analysis – a key to internal support

■ Research – annual internal survey

■ Business objectives – safety,

winning work, values and

behaviours

■ How communication helps achieve

these

■ Importance of planning and

strategy to gain senior support for

successful internal communication

Issues

■ Not enough communication

■ Paradoxically, too much information, but irrelevant or not

well targeted

■ Some frontline managers find communication a challenge

■ Encouraging and enabling living company values

■ Low awareness/confusion on brand externally

■ Client satisfaction

Target publics analysis in depth

■ Intensive analysis publics/segmentation

■ For example one segment is Resources wages

employees

■ Site-based, ‘hyper-masculine males’

■ Must be in control

■ Competitive risk takers

■ Peer pressure

■ Humour a good way to convey a message

Getting the basics right

▪ Key messages

▪ Strategies e.g. supporting leaders

to communicate well with their

teams

▪ Implementation- frontline leader

communication training and tool kit

▪ Not overlooking simple but

important tactics e.g. ensuring all

internal distribution lists correct

and up to date!

▪ Intranet review and redevelopment

a current priority

Case study: Construction Safety Essentials: 8 Essentials – for Life.

■ Objectives – inform, educate, change behaviour

■ Need to change systems, procedures, training as well

■ Risk of becoming change managers as well as

communicators

■ Phased campaign over 15 months – 4 months in

■ Initial awareness and commitment, informing on changes

■ Emphasis on 2 way communication/workshops

■ Longer term change behaviour around 8 safety essentials

e.g. working at heights

■ Evaluation will include surveys and safety stats

Digital is another channel, not a complete solution

▪ 85% mining employees

operate from remote

regions

▪ Minimal access to digital

communications

▪ Often prefer information

from supervisor, stories

and shared experiences

Case study: Radio Mining

■ 26 mine operations and two countries

■ Objectives: improve morale, highlight employees’

importance, increase cross-site communication, remind

on values

■ Recorded live at mining ops with high employee

involvement - more than 450 employees involved in

recordings – had benefits in itself

■ Studio produced CD and distributed with newsletter to

employee households (3,500+ employees)

■ Piloted to test effectiveness

Case study: Radio Mining

■ 3 target publics: wages employees (hardest to reach);

staff; employees’ families

■ Radio was an informal, innovative medium, effective for

hard to reach audiences with low interest in print

materials

■ Strategy tactics included emails/posters; merchandise,

events and tour website/internal newspaper, Unearthed

Case study: Radio Mining

• Evaluation: employee survey and small focus groups

• Competition assisted gathering of feedback

• Highly successful results eg 92% indicated value of

hearing from supervisors; 93.7% believed Radio Mining

was focused on employees

• Targets met or exceeded

• Won PRIA Golden Target award and was published as a

case study in an academic textbook

Conclusions – communicating across geographical boundaries

Business needs analysis& senior buy in essentialto resources and success

Strategy, target audience knowledge,planning and evaluation are key

Tools and channels must be appropriate from face to face to online.Innovation and dialogue important to effectiveness.