Unilever: Burton-on-Trent
Business Challenge:
Faced with a severe restructuring process, Unilever wanted to ensure that all staff were well informed on a regular basis about the reasons for and the fairness of the redundancy programme.
The Solution:
Unilever had already been operating the Full Circle Communication system for about two years, when they were required to implement a staff reduction of almost 50% of their workforce. All aspects of the system were in place: content, process, feedback and analysis – and all the communication vehicles: flashboards, newsboards, pictures-stories, magazines and competitions – were operating effectively.
The solution therefore was simply to feed into the internal communication system all social, legal and commercial aspects of the retrenchment process – with a clear and repetitive message.
The focus of the communication was to:
1. Ensure employee understanding and internalisation
2. Reduce anxiety, ambiguity, mistakes and misunderstandings
3. Maintain leadership focus, responsibility and motivation
The Result:
The restructuring went very smoothly. All legal formalities were well communicated and goodwill was maintained amongst all employees, both those who stayed and those who left. Productivity and efficiency did not slip during the process and the site came out of the transition with a new vision and a promising future.
Testimonial:
“Full Circle Communications have provided a very responsive and flexible service to our site over the last few years, greatly improving the visual appearance and raising the effectiveness of communication within our factory. The range of communication methods employed has also increased the number of ways that we can introduce and reinforce change and improvements in our operations.”
Martin Beckford, Works Manager, Unilever Foods, Burton-on-Trent.