Have you have had one of those days when you wake up and everything seems different? Things seem clearer. Where you're headed and what you need to do to get there seems more obvious somehow.
I am excited about the future and the opportunities in front of me. I'm excited (and a little frightened) about the prospects for growth. I am focused on where I want to go and I'm having a ball learning along the way.
It's been over 5 years since I took the plunge to be on my own and, despite all my complaints over the trials and tribulations about being a small business owner, I am looking forward to the next five years.
The people, clients and colleagues I've met along the way have each added something to my journey of continuous learning. They've allowed me to help others with what I've figured out along the way.
While it's five years in, it feels like the start of something new.
I guess that's the way it's supposed to be if it's something you love.
Get Engaged
Thoughts about life and the lessons we learn along the way from a guy who continues to chart his own course.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Do The Right Thing.
This column first appeared in Progress Magazine in March 2012......
One of the lessons I remember most as a young child was the
constant reminder from my father that I didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. Others before me had discovered the
path of least resistance and I should just listen to them, follow their advice
and “do the right thing.”
This lesson came back to me this week as I completed my
fourth stakeholder audit in as many months. As an independent consultant who specializes in strategic
planning, corporate social responsibility development and stakeholder
engagement, I have the truly amazing opportunity to work with organizations who
provide me full access to their key stakeholders and entrust me with reaching
out and determining what those stakeholders think of the organization, it’s
vision and mandate, it’s successes and challenges and where the organization
needs to focus on for the future.
In the past four months I’ve worked with two industry
associations, a health care organization, and a provincially driven agency. They are all good organizations with
solid histories, excellent staff and a strong record of results. What’s most interesting, are the key
challenges that stakeholders identified within each of these organizations that
they all have in common.
This got me thinking about all of the engagement exercises I’ve
done with Atlantic-based businesses over the past few years and surprise,
surprise, many of their challenges were the same.
Communication
This is the most common challenge I hear from stakeholders –
regardless of the sector.
Stakeholders consistently outline the challenge of not knowing what an
organization does, whether or not it has achieved success and, most
importantly, what that organization can do for the stakeholder. While fundamental to everything an
organization does, communications is perhaps the one area where most tend to
fail on a regular basis. Whether
some take it for granted or just don’t think of it, stakeholders continue to
feel a disconnect with the very organization that depends on them to help reach
their goals. While every manager
I’ve ever worked for fancied themselves an excellent communicator, the truth is
that solid, consistent, two-way communications with key stakeholders takes
focus, strategy and commitment.
Collaboration
Another key area stakeholders highlight is the
organization’s ability to work with other groups or organizations to ensure the
best focus and strategy possible.
This could mean collaboration between business and government, our
educational institutions and the private sector or even like-minded agencies that
offer similar services. Yet we
continue to see groups operating in isolation. Stakeholders want to see groups and organizations willing to
accept that they don’t always hold all the answers. They want to see integration and collaboration with a goal
of providing the best product, service or support possible.
Shared-Value
Beyond being a financially successful operation,
stakeholders want to see the added-value that organizations bring to the
communities in which they operate.
I’ve talked many times in this column about the concept of shared-value
yet many organizations remain unaware or are unwilling to act on the
opportunity to make a difference in
the lives of their stakeholders while at the same time, making a profit. Again this is not about
sponsoring little league teams or providing ball caps for golf
tournaments. It requires thought
and strategy and tends to be an after thought with many organizations across
our region.
Openness and Transparency
In addition to effective two-way communication, stakeholders
want to see organizations that are willing to be open and transparent in
everything they do. From profits
to solving challenges, stakeholders have greater trust and respect for the
organization that is willing to share through reporting and ongoing
communications. This allows
stakeholders to make informed decisions, generate greater awareness and
ultimately create stronger good will.
Leadership
Perhaps the most difficult to quantify, stakeholders
continue to highlight the lack of leadership within many of the organizations
in our region today. While it’s
not about the ability of the individual leaders, it is about the ability of an organization
to play a leadership role in whatever it is they do. Stakeholders want to be part of successful
organizations. They want to see an
organization that has the ability to inspire, to make a difference and to be
true innovators in their various disciplines or sectors.
So there you are.
Whether you’re a government agency or a private organization, are you
truly aware of what your stakeholders think of you and, even more importantly,
whether or not they see themselves within your organization?
Don’t assume.
Take the time to reach out to stakeholders and engage them in a
dialogue. Also don’t assume
they’ll be frank and open unless you employ an independent consultant who can
ask the tough questions and be prepared for the tough answers. While difficult to hear, I guarantee
its better to know than to remain ignorant.
I finally get what my father was saying. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel
and find out the hard way. Many
organizations have been down that path.
You have the ability to follow an easier one. A path that will lead to improved stakeholder engagement,
greater social responsibility and a stronger bottom line.
Mike Randall is a communications
and engagement specialist living in Moncton. He can be reached at mike@engageatlantic.ca.
Monday, February 04, 2013
Finding Your Sweet Spot
The new ingredient to
drive the next wave of innovation and productivity growth is
collaboration. That’s the growing
opinion from businesses committed to creating shared value.
We’ve talked about the concept of shared value in this
column in the past. How “creating shared-value” may be the real key to creating
sustainable and high-performance organizations. Basically the philosophy is
equally about organizations committed to making a difference in the lives of
their stakeholders while at the same time, making a profit.
So how do
organizations who are committed to created shared value begin to choose where
to make a difference?
For Bell Aliant its
about finding that “sweet spot” that addresses a real community need, while at
the same time engaging stakeholders to be hands on in the execution of making a
difference.
“it’s about more than
writing a cheque,” says Bell Aliant’s VP of Corporate Affairs, Lisa
Merrithew.
Once again Bell Aliant partnered with Bell to launch its nation-wide
Let's Talk campaign inviting Canadians to join in on the conversation about
mental health.
The campaign focuses on reducing the stigma around mental
illness. The commitment by Bell -
For every text message sent and every long distance call made by Bell and Bell
Aliant customers on February 8, Bell will donate 5 cents to programs dedicated
to mental health.
“we are absolutely jazzed about helping a cause that affects one in
five,” says Merrithew. “The
reaction from our employees has been absolutely incredible.”
Merrithew says that the Let’s Talk Campaign, while only in its second
year, helps to deliver value on a number of levels.
“While we support a lot of causes in the communities in which we operate,
this campaign allows our employees to get involved in making a difference
towards a cause that needs attention.”
Before deciding on mental health, Merrithew says the company did a ton
of research and discovered there was a tremendous need – not only for cash –
but to help create awareness and get people talking about mental health.
“We’re a communications company and we have the channels available to
us that make sense to help create a conversation and improve awareness. Says
Merrithew. “I think organizations
have an obligation. If you have a
voice and a place to deliver it -
it’s something you are obliged to do.”
Another term used for
this kind of investment is ‘impact investing’. Dr. Judith
Rodin, President of the Rockefeller
Foundation, says: “When I talk about impact investing, I’m talking about [a]
double bottom line. You want a financial return but you also are looking for a
social or environmental return as well.”
Rodin says businesses
must reconnect company success with social progress. Shared value is not about
redistributing existing value but about expanding the total pool of economic
and social value. She contends that businesses will need to overcome the deeply
entrenched assumption that there are tradeoffs between economic efficiency and
social progress or between economic efficiency and sustainable environmental
practices.
For Bell Aliant the
benefits were multiple.
“First and foremost,
this was about employee engagement,” says Merrithew. “It’s about finding that sweet spot that allows
organizations to provide stakeholders the opportunity to really dig into an
issue and take it to the next level.”
As well, Merrithew says
the campaign clearly helps with Brand Awareness and also addresses an
identified need in Atlantic Canadian communities.
“So many people have
come forward to say thank you and the campaign is clearly hitting a nerve with
our customers.
Another key benefit was Bell
Aliant’s ability to partner with key stakeholders in government – seeing the
Provinces of PEI and NB actually promote the event on their government sites.
For Merrithew, the real
challenge for any organization is finding that sweet spot that hits all the
marks. She says organizations need
to listen to stakeholders and engage them in the decision-making.
Another benefit is the
fact that, with shrinking community relations budgets, being focused helps to
manage expectations.
“While people still come
to ask us for assistance with their community event, they are starting to
understand that we have a focus on where a portion of our community spending
will go. While we will never stop
supporting lots of causes, this focus helps everyone understand what we’re
trying to do and helps us tell a better story.”
Let’s Talk isn’t the
only campaign that is providing shared-value for the organization. Bell Aliant also runs a Backpacks for
Kids campaign that is employees and supplier driven. Together these campaigns create a sense of ownership for Bell
Aliant’s key stakeholders and help to create the all important goodwill as the
company continues to evolve in the marketplace.
The one-day Let’s Talk
Campaign raised over $3million nationally for Mental Health programs. More importantly it has placed Bell Aliant
in that unique position of creating real shared-value across the region.
That’s a position that
money alone cannot buy.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
New Beginnings - Time To Get Engaged!
Three years after venturing out on my own with Mike Randall Communications I am now ready to evolve to the next step.
Over the past 25 years the one thing I have learned more than anything else is the importance of engaging key stakeholders in an ongoing manner.
Without relationships based on trust and transparency you have nothing. Without goodwill from key stakeholder groups you have no long-term sustainability.
Engage Atlantic is the culmination of years of working with companies and organizations to engage stakeholders for one purpose or another.
Over the past 25 years the one thing I have learned more than anything else is the importance of engaging key stakeholders in an ongoing manner.
Without relationships based on trust and transparency you have nothing. Without goodwill from key stakeholder groups you have no long-term sustainability.
Engage Atlantic is the culmination of years of working with companies and organizations to engage stakeholders for one purpose or another.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
CBC.ca | Information Morning Moncton | His Story
I enjoyed recalling our efforts during 9/11 this morning on CBC's Information Morning.
Hope you enjoy!!!!
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