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Last updated: 08 February 2010
Building a better department
Thanks to technological advances, more and more people use their freedom of choice to decide how to interact with the media.
While that makes it more challenging for government communicators, they are approaching this with greater insight and fresh thinking to help connect with audiences, change behaviours and improve the quality of public services for every citizen.
Strategic communication in government has been helped greatly by the development of the Engage programme [External Website]. The core of Engage is based on gaining deep insights into what motivates people and helps to identify what might change their behaviour. The Engage framework helps government communicators apply a range of strategic communication techniques and tools, such as detailed segmentation and targeting. This helps them focus on developing identified audience insights so that they can seek more effective ways of communicating with citizens.
Engage principles have been used for a number of departmental and cross-departmental communication projects, and a recent 2008 Government Communicators Network (GCN) [External website] tracking survey shows continued success in embedding Engage across government. Respondents have shown an 89% awareness in the programme over the last 12 months, with unprompted awareness rising from 43% to 61%. Seventy three per cent of those surveyed have some knowledge of Engage, while individual adoption of Engage principles increased from 42% to 57%. The research shows a clear pattern of increasing awareness, which is improving knowledge and changing behaviour in line with the programme's aims.
Success has been achieved through a targeted use of GCN channels, including the upgraded website, knowledge seminars, live events, development courses and inter-departmental activity, put in place following last year's survey results. The challenge for the year ahead is to maintain the momentum, by bringing Engage to particular GCN groups, such as press officers and internal communications specialists, as well as building a greater understanding of strategic communications skills among the policy-making community. To help achieve this we are developing new channels and products targeted at these more difficult to reach groups.
The progress that Cabinet Office has made since the Capability Review [External website] has been underpinned by the work of the Internal Communication team. Social media tools have been introduced on CabWeb such as CabCam – a film channel – and COmment which gives all members of staff an opportunity to contribute their views and ideas; while the Intranet Benchmarking Forum recently rated CabWeb among their top five member sites.
The team has helped the Board increase its visibility, through events, seminars and film. Inside, the award winning staff e-newsletter has scored highly in respect of its authenticity and coverage of issues of interest to employees – winning another two publishing awards. A series of lunchtime seminars offer staff a range of interesting topics for discussion and involvement. Success has been built on a mixture of innovation through film and social media alongside effective team working across groups with HR, the Change Team and Finance. During the last 12 months there has been a concerted effort to draw out the voices of the internal audience, with staff more likely to ask challenging questions, often expecting answers and feedback via new channels.
November 2007 saw the Cabinet Office introduce a new approach to its annual staff survey based on measuring levels of employee engagement. The new survey was designed as a pathfinder for an improved approach that will be rolled out across the Civil Service.
Over three quarters of Cabinet Office people completed the online survey, which covered a broad range of issues about working in the Department – from management to reward. The results highlighted an increasing sense of pride in being part of the Cabinet Office, with 72% of respondents saying they would recommend the Department as a place to work. The new approach has enabled the Department to identify what motivates and engages its staff. This means that the follow-up action planned by managers is targeted on the areas that will make a genuine difference to staff motivation and performance.