Award Winning

Case Study

Cardinal Health chose Dulye & Co. to partner with

them on a unique communications measurement program that involved instant analysis and reporting

of numerous national leadership listening sessions, through a real-time online measurement portal.

Background:

Cardinal Health is a $96-billion global health-care services company with two main business segments: Medical and Pharmaceutical. These segments were established in 2009, following the spin-off of the

company’s medical technologies business. At that time, the medical products manufacturing operations were combined with the medical distribution business to create the Medical Segment.

To leverage the unique capabilities of the new, combined Medical Segment organization, leadership developed a new strategy and organization structure and, in late 2009, started to communicate this to the segment’s 15,000 employees. At the same time, the Medical Segment launched a huge three-year project—the “Medical Business Transformation”—that would simplify all systems, policies and processes

used to support customer transactions.

As a result, Medical Segment employees were facing simultaneous changes in business direction,

organization and work processes. As more details were developed and implementation got underway, the company recognized the need for focused communication to inspire confidence in leadership and commitment by all employees to the direction ahead. A communication plan was designed that would launch with a segment-wide Town Hall meeting, to be followed by the “Strategy to Win” tour, where

senior executives would visit all major locations, communicate the new strategy and structure in face-to-face forums, and provide two-way communication and feedback opportunities.

The company chose Dulye & Co. to partner with them to provide general consulting support and, more specifically, to develop and manage the measurement and feedback processes for this phase of the communication effort.

Goals & Objectives:

The “Strategy to Win” tour had several overarching strategic goals:

• Build increased involvement and visibility by senior leaders as champions for change • Deliver consistent messages regarding the overall strategy, while also meeting the need by employees

to understand local impacts

• Build understanding of the need for a new strategy / structure and support for implementing changes among all employees

• Use communication processes that emphasized two-way dialogue and provided frequent feedback opportunities

• Track progress regularly and make just-in-time adjustments to address performance gaps Communication Objectives & Metrics:

Over the course of the tour, the communications team sought to achieve substantive improvements in employee knowledge and understanding on several key dimensions, including:

• Understanding of the need for a new strategy for the Medical Segment • Knowledge levels regarding the new organizational structure

• Understanding of how the Medical Business Transformation initiative supports the new strategy

The team also set tactical objectives to:

For more information, visit Dulye.com or contact Roger Gibboni: 845-987-7744 | rgibboni@Dulye.com

• Position the site visits as true “two-way communication” opportunities, where not only could questions and comments be immediately discussed, but the team could also collect and

document all questions and comments submitted by employees, to be used as guidance in identifying focus areas for on-going communication.

• Make the meetings and other activities during each visit as effective as possible by providing leaders with useful support materials and tools, coaching and just-in-time feedback.

Our Spectator-Free WorkplaceTM Solution

In order to establish baseline data on several key dimensions—employee knowledge and understanding,

confidence in the new strategy, leadership and communications effectiveness, etc.—Dulye & Co. designed and conducted a feedback survey that was conducted in early March, following a segment-wide Town Hall meeting where details regarding the new strategy and structure were communicated.

The survey was administered using in-meeting hard-copy forms, distributed and collected at major locations where employees gathered for the meeting, and an on-line form made available to employees who joined the meeting via telecon line, or viewed a replay. The results of this survey provided leadership

and the Cardinal Health communications team with valuable data and insight regarding:

• Level of understanding regarding the new strategy and structure

• The need for increased “localization” in communicating the implementation plan • Level of confidence in the direction, leadership and the company’s ability to meet customer

needs and grow the business. • The need for improvements in the meeting process, and further emphasis on two-way

communications and responding effectively to feedback

All of this information was considered in finalizing plans and messaging for the “Strategy to Win” tour,

which involved 26 site visits by senior leaders over a six-week period, from early April through mid-May.

A key component of the plan was a unique just-in-time feedback process designed and managed by Dulye

& Co. that provided the touring leaders with immediate (often same-day) reports that summarized the data and comments received from employees at each site. As part of the agenda for each visit, the leader held group meetings with employees; at some sites, the groups were small—15 to 20 employees—while at others the numbers were considerably larger. At some sites, multiple meetings were held.

At each meeting, employees completed a short feedback form that asked them to evaluate the content of the meeting, and the leader’s effectiveness in hosting the meeting. Completed forms were immediately

faxed to Dulye & Co., and our measurement team compiled the data and comments, provided analysis and observations, and generated an online report. The link to each site report was transmitted immediately to the appropriate Cardinal Health contacts. In many cases, we were able to provide a feedback report to a leader before the next day’s site visit—creating the opportunity for on-the-spot

adjustments in process or messaging.

We also were able to provide, using the same online system, a cumulative report that automatically

updated with each additional visit—giving the client an up-to-the minute view of the “big picture”.

Dulye & Co. also compiled all written comments received, as well as questions and comments collected by Cardinal Health team members attending each meeting. Every comment / question—over 400 in total—

was documented, cross-referenced by location and compiled in a database format. This became a valuable source of input for identifying issues of key concern and planning on-going communication efforts.

This program earned a 2010 Silver Quill Award of Excellence from the International Association

of Business Communicators.