Measure twice, cut once: Preparing to communicate the new brand internally Maurice Harris, Director, Internal Communications 25 Feburary 2013

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY FirstGroup Profile and Org Structure 2 First Vehicle Services Greyhound First Transit First Student FirstGroup America 14,

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY Internal Communications Profile 3 Field Operations Internal Comms Corporate HQ The model conceptualizes innovation, competitiveness, and organizational effectiveness as organizational outcomes of employee engagement promoted by effective internal corporate communication (Welch, 2011).

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY The Role of Internal Communications 4 Psychological presence at work (Kahn,1992) The antecedent to high performance (Barrett, 2002; Schuster, 1998) The #1 driver of employee engagement The top factor behind successful change

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY FirstGroup’s Strategic Focuses 5 First Student EFFICIENCY First Transit & First Services EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT/ REBRANDING Greyhound REVITALIZATION/ CUSTOMER SERVICE

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY Identifying the Problem: Different Businesses, Similar Opportunities Lack of access to information networks “Us v. Them” mentality Top-down decisions based on assumptions The perpetuation of ineffective communication vehicles 6

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY Quantifying the Problem 7 16% of Salary Budget! (Hempel & O’Conner, 2008) Of the factors that influence employees to work for one company rather than another, open communication ranks highest (Therkelsen & Fiebich, 2003).

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY Communication Research Methods 8 Self administered questionnaires 21 locations 715 Non-management respondents 60 management respondents Observation Studies Focus Groups 3 locations

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY Findings 9 Employees understand the importance of communication to their specific role as well as their engagement in the company. In general, most non-management staff were not receiving any company communications, even when managers were asked to share it widely. Managers are overwhelmed by the amount of communication they receive and would like help streamlining, organizing and prioritizing it. Employees want access to technology that will allow them to communicate more easily across the company.

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 10 Revise…Reset (Re)Define the expectations Leverage internal comms as an external marketing catalyst Make “Culture” a strategic imperative

CONFIDENTIAL – FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY 11 Thank you.