Issued by: ChatROOM


Internal communication is a vital means of addressing organisational concerns and, if done successfully, helps employees to understand the organisation's vision, values, and culture and establishes formal roles and responsibilities for employees. Communication can be oral, written, face to face, virtual, one-on-one or in groups, downward, upward and horizontal, depending on the different audiences and the messages. By maintaining open lines of communication between management and employees, effective internal communication can enhance stronger relationships throughout all levels of the organisation and forge a sense of community.

An internal communications plan should include developing and maintaining suitable channels that allow effective communication to take place. These channels include among others, intranet, website, conference calls, internal newsletters, e-mail, message boards, printed materials, virtual meetings, pod casts, video casts and face to face meetings.

Open communication in large corporations is a challenge in itself and the demands on it is determined by the size of the company, hierarchy levels, the number of branches and the number of countries involved.

Let us look at an industry example: The Internal Communication challenges of the Automotive Division of Toyota Tsusho Africa, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japan based Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC), are of a special kind. It comes as no surprise that Toyota Tsusho Africa (TTAF) has adopted “Unity in Diversity” as their internal slogan. Established in 2000, the company has evolved to form a multi-business enterprise, comprising both automotive and non-automotive production support capabilities, strategically located to ensure optimal service and delivery output for Toyota Motor Corporation's automobile business and other Toyota Group companies in Africa. The Automotive Division of TTAF provides key support to the 7 TTC Toyota distributors in Africa, namely Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Mauritius, Angola and Kenya with a total of 1 900 employees.

In addition to the diversity experienced across the African countries, the Japanese culture is another major influence. The Toyota Tsusho Corporation is a member of the Toyota Group, the sixth largest trading company in the world. With over 100 offices, and 500 subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide, Toyota Tsusho has a world-wide presence.

Hylton Bannon, head of TTAF's Automotive Division, has a very busy schedule. In addition to regular trips to the African distributor countries he travels to Japan several times a year. Marrying Ubuntu with Kaizen - can this be possible?

“After attending a Strategic Leadership though Coaching course at the Centre for Coaching, UCT Graduate School of Business, I became more aware of the importance of effective communication on a personal and organisational level and identified the gaps in the internal communication in my division. This also sparked the motivation to get a better understanding of the role a vision, mission and slogan can play in an ‘identity' for our division and to develop an internal communications program to communicate one message to all staff,” says Bannon.

After two initial briefing and consultation meetings with ChatROOM, an integrated Communications agency specialised in strategic and creative brand development and brand communication, a three phase project plan for internal brand communication was set-up, spanning over two years.

An initial snap-shot research showed that with the different Toyota Distributor countries and teams based in South Africa that are part of the division, a streamlining of messages would be necessary before any communication takes place.

The ultimate goals of the project were therefore defined as the alignment and definition of the division's vision, mission, values and goals, the development of an internal communications strategy and finally the implementation thereof, including all necessary infrastructure and communication channels.

In the first phase, ChatROOM conducted desk research on all communication material available and conducted a survey with the members of the African Management Team of the Division on the Division's Identity. The responses to the questionnaire gave insight and information on their views and the needs of the various units and distributors who operate under different political, socio-economic and demographic circumstances.

From those findings, a hypothesis for a defined organisation identity will be formulated and brought back to the African Management Team for discussion and feedback.

Once the internal identity has been finalised, phase two and three will start, with the development of the communications strategy and the implementation thereof.

Ahead of the process, one crucial tool for effective communication has already been identified. To enable open communication and information and knowledge sharing by allowing the involvement of every individual staff member, ChatROOM is in the process of designing a “Communications Wiki” for the TTAF Automotive Division.

The internet based platform will be accessible to all employees at all levels. Information on the wiki will be kept static and contain key messages such as the vision, mission, goals, values and company culture. By the time the wiki becomes accessible, all TTAF Automotive Division staff will have completed a computer license course and computer stations will be set up at all the offices for staff members to download information.

What's a “wiki? A wiki is a collaborative website where users can define how their processes will develop by randomly adding information as it is received. The basic concept of a wiki is to make content that is time-less, open ended available and that allows individuals to edit or add information at click speed with minimal technical skills via the Internet. The primary aim of setting up the TTAF Wiki is to provide easy to use accurate, timely information across departments and lines of business that will reduce costs, manage risks, enhance productivity, efficiency and visibility.

A defined workable content structure will be designed consisting of “fresh” information that employees can act on including a blank slate for the staff to communicate via the Wiki.

Clearly defined supporting information detailing instructions and disclaimers and the implementation of best practices will be available to record knowledge and participation.

In a two year time frame, the TTAF Automotive Division is successfully achieving what many other smaller companies strive to do, that is to build a successful organisation with increased efficiency, productivity and turnover while maintaining a steady and motivated workforce with a strong sense of identity.

Visit our PRESS OFFICE: ChatROOM is a full service brand marketing and communications agency that will provide you with consulting, creative high touch/tech design and the implementation of communication activities. Consult. Brand Development and Management mean more than just producing colourful logos and campaigns - they involve the whole company organisation. In full consultation with the client, ChatROOM creates holistic brand experiences by integrating company culture, communication, product and service delivery. Create. Brand Design is the visual expression of core competencies and the personality of an organisation. ChatROOM ensures that the visual appearance of a brand represents all aspects of the predefined Brand Identity. Communicate. Brand Relationships are established by opening a dialogue with the target market through relevant channels. ChatROOM assists in establishing brands in a prominent position in the mind of the customer to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.- more....

[17 Nov 2008 10:54]

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