CULTURE OF OPEN COMMUNICATION

First publication in the Culture Transformation series

COC (KOK), or what does fashion have to do with business communication? You might say, she's gone mad. After all, she's a woman, she must have written something about fashion and clothes, another fashionista... Well, no, it will be about business communication, or rather about organizational culture. As usual, life and our business market inspire and make us think. This time, it was one of the larger online stores operating in Poland – Merlin. Discussing with my friend on Facebook, I found out that she is changing jobs because the company is relocating to Poznań and eliminating the home office. 

Everything's great, but where's the KOK, where's the trend? Well, in this whole story, KOK has grown into a mess, or rather, into its absence. What do I mean? KOK is nothing other than an abbreviation for Kultura Otwartej Komunikacji (Open Communication Culture). So what is this Open Communication Culture all about? One day, I had the honor of meeting and talking with Roger D'Aprix – a guru of internal communication, author of many books, a wonderful and charming man, wise and balanced. He is, among other things, a proponent and co-creator of the concept: Open Communication Culture, or OCC. What does this simple, yet often difficult, misunderstood, and frequently underestimated concept by many entrepreneurs or CEOs really mean? I would add that true leaders – those "flesh and blood" leaders have it in their genes. 

The Culture of Open Communication according to D’Aprix means: A way of conveying information so that it flows freely and is easily accessible both to experts in the field and to the general public (i.e., the company's stakeholders). In accordance with the culture and values of the organization, its management must ensure and enable employees, customers, shareholders, and society to have free access to this information. The communication activities aimed at achieving goals should be transparent, although any deviations from this rule should be strictly defined and regulated. To put it simply, KOK defines: An organization in which public and non-confidential information is actively and freely shared with both employees and interested parties with full management acceptance and engagement. 

Banal, why is it so difficult and incomprehensible for many people? It's worth considering why direct contact between management and employees raises so many doubts, why supervisors don't see the point in communicating and engaging with employees, and why, in the end, simple words like "thank you" and "sorry" cause so many problems. Honestly – I don't know, maybe it's laziness, maybe a sense of superiority, or maybe… unfortunately… a lack of personal culture, or perhaps in the end a lack of need and understanding that an employee is also a human being, and without them, there would be no business? I admit, I don't know, but one day I will find out and I will definitely inform you. 

Proposal for an exercise.

Take a piece of paper, a pen, and ... a watch. Do you have it already? Wonderful! Now, if you don't have it on your wrist, put it on. OK? If you usually wear your watch on your left wrist – move it to your right wrist, and if it's on your right wrist, move it to your left wrist, fasten it tighter (if possible) – done? Excellent! So now, write down on a piece of paper what you are feeling at this moment, right now, what you thought when I asked you to perform all these tasks, what you feel when the watch is already on the second hand? Please write down the questions you would like to ask me and contact me to discuss your experience – What do you think? 

If you want your company to gain a competitive edge in the market and grow, it is worth considering the benefits that come from a Culture of Open Communication: 

1. Engagement

Peter Drucker once stated that "the best employees are volunteers, not slaves." If your team is engaged and feels like part of the organization, they will be effective. Efficiency translates into productivity, which in turn leads to profits or cost reductions. In the opinion of ROI Communication advisors, companies with a high level of engagement experience a return on assets six times higher than those with a low level of engagement.

Engagement is particularly important when we are implementing changes. If the management of the aforementioned Polish online store had involved the employees in their plans, i.e., at least asked them how they perceive the proposals, whether they are appropriate, or if the employees have other suggestions, they would have avoided a total communication failure, effectively shooting themselves in the foot and embarrassing themselves on forums and social media. They would also avoid a minor image crisis and mistakes made in the introduced "dress code."

Another example – the head of a company I advised claims that employees should focus on increasing sales and not think about the company, or whether communication with employees is sufficient.

From the audit I conducted, it turned out that employees had created their own information channels about the company's plans and activities: the bathroom, the balcony, and the kitchen. How familiar, right?

Another organization I worked with introduced meetings called Communication Meetings. Once a month, everyone would meet with the management and share ideas, observations, and plans. When the organization grew, the management introduced meetings with the managers, who in turn met within their departments and also held such meetings. The company built a team—dedicated to the cause, engaged, and clients were switching from the competition. Nothing to add, nothing to take away.

2. Customer service

We all know that the best salesperson is the one who believes in the product and truly loves it. It's like a system of interconnected vessels – engagement evokes emotions. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative, but it evokes them, and that's the most important thing. If there are no emotions, there are no results, no engagement, there is burnout, we hear "what's the point," "it's not worth it," "it won't work anyway." How are such people supposed to serve the customer and win them over? It's worth remembering the drawing of the lady from the customer service department in the article "Lucky Seven."

Once again, I will refer to ROI Communication – engaged employees are 56% more likely to create customer loyalty. You know it yourself, there's nothing like a loyal customer. A loyal customer will recommend us and return, and most importantly, their service will cost us significantly less than acquiring a new customer. As experts claim – a 5% increase in customer loyalty creates a 25% to 95% increase in profit.

I would add that a loyal customer is a goldmine of knowledge and is our partner in business. The concept of relationship marketing is gaining popularity worldwide, but more on that in upcoming articles.

3. Brand

Image builds the brand, the brand attracts customers. A brand is value, trust, and loyalty. I would compare it to magnesium and chocolate – chocolate contains magnesium, which calms us and soothes our nerves, we combine the pleasant with the useful, and above all, we all love chocolate, we all love our favorite brands.

A brand is built over years, an image from six months up. Both can be lost in the blink of an eye, both are built from the inside out, both are the DNA of a business or a person.

A brand can be a lifeline and pull us out during a reputation crisis. In such cases, open communication is invaluable. There is nothing worse than hiding things, keeping mum, or diverting attention.

The other side of the coin is that the owner, president, CEO, or director builds the core of the image—the business is a reflection of his or her character, personality, approach to life, and style.

If such a person has insecurities, they often project them onto employees, for example, taking it out on those who are better dressed, more attractive, more creative, etc. Among other things, such an approach ruins the image. You probably know many organizations that have a fantastic image on the outside, but from friends who work there, you know that it's nothing more than – sorry for the comparison – a rotten egg – once you break the shell, you'll really feel it.

Communication builds the image both internally and externally, but before you start external image-building activities, begin from the inside, that is, first from the "I" and then from the employees. It is said that everyone is guilty except for me. Maybe it's the employees who are fine and there's something wrong with me – it's worth considering.

And here again, the interconnected system appears: engagement – image – brand – business development.