Maersk

Maersk Case Study streamLINE communicationMaersk Case Study - streamLINE communication

• Some facts on Maersk LineA bit f hi t• A bit of history…

• The communication challenge• Phase 1 comms strategy: September – December 2008gy p• Phase 2 comms strategy: January and onwards

Maersk Line Internal Communication, 18-19 Feb 2009

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Facts about Maersk Line

> 22,000 people in 325 offices in 125 countries

> 2007 revenue USD 27 billion

> More than 470 operated vessels> More than 470 operated vessels

> A fleet of more than 1.9 million container units

> Our network made 41,500 port calls in 2007 – 1 every 13 minutes

> If all Maersk Line containers were placed one after the other, they would reach about 19,000 km – from Paris to Cape Town and back

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A bit of history…

Once upon a time there was a shipping company…

…that made a lot of money

People wanted to send containers around the world and Maersk Line was one of the few pglobal, reliable players

and a good carrier could charge premium prices…and a good carrier could charge premium prices…

…so margins were high, customers were plentiful and costs were pretty low…

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- but we grew too quickly and lost grip on the basics

What we sell is not what customers

Cost above competition

customers want

Ineffective & bureaucratic organisation

Too low profitsDeclining market share

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A bit of history… continued

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The challenge – starting point 1. Sep 2008

> For the first time in history the organisation had gone though a massive redundancy programme

> 3,000+ colleagues had left

> Everyone was still finding their feet

> 7 global improvement projects launched - each project with up to 4 workstreams

> The end goal for streamLINE, the vision for Maersk Line was not crystal clear

> The projects would be at different places at different times

> 22,000 employees in 125 countries would have access to different information at different stages

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Phase I Communication Strategy

S t b D b 2008September – December 2008

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Phase I comms strategy Phase I comms strategy

Background & Intelligence

Organisational need: The launch of projects

Experience: Change management and Communication best practiceExperience: Change management and Communication best practice

Measurement: Pulse survey and Webex meetings

Needs & desired outcomesNeeds & desired outcomes

Build awareness: Get information out there

Build communication competency in projects

Get commitment from senior management layer around the world

Drive consistent messaging

Strategy

Support the projects with coaching, advice, tools and strategy

S t th j t ith t t

Guiding philosophy1 streamLINE not the projectsSupport the projects with content

Communicate streamLINE to the organsiation•Coordinate the projects•Give clarity on why we’re changing and where we are goingShare success stories of it working

1. streamLINE, not the projects

2. Outcomes not processes

3. Benefits to employees and customers

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•Share success stories of it working

Advice and coachingAdvice and coaching

Project Communication: Providing the projects with intelligence and coaching on how to communicate with their key audiences, detailed audience planning tools, and resources to take it on themselves

• Strategy: Creation of communication action plans for each project, breaking down key audiences, “What’s in it for me” as an employee

• Key messages grids

• Message maps

• Training: Professional presentation training for g p geach of the project teams, plus key message training where required

• Guidance: Bimonthly meetings with communication reps in each project to sharecommunication reps in each project to share ideas and challenges

• Resources: Tools and toolkits for understanding how communication works, and how they should , yenact it

• Support: Ongoing advice centre, editorial support, creative ideas forum, etc.

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Materials and contentMaterials and content

Project Communication: Providing the projects with key pieces of content and templates for them to use

Message management Q&A and critical question documents, to help project leaders

Newsletter materials Creation of a newsletter template – a standard tool for them to use if help project leaders

handle tough questions they want to communicate with key stakeholders regularly

Presentation materials Creation of reusable slides – a standard pack to help them turn “What we have done” into “What’s in it for the audience”

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Driving streamLINE communicationDriving streamLINE communication

Mass Communication: Delivering content to the organisation about critical elements of the projects – their successes, their goals, etc. – as well as “boilerplate” communication about streamLINE

• Revamped intranet site:

• FAQs

• Project Leader videos

• Downloads

• Contact details

• “The 7 slides on 7 projects” basics pack• The 7 slides on 7 projects basics pack

• StreamLINE basic pack: The background to change (reusable template pack)

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Driving streamLINE communicationDriving streamLINE communication

Mass Communication: Delivering content to the organisation about critical elements – their successes, their goals, etc. – as well as “boilerplate” communication about streamLINE

• CEO messages: Centred on the key elements of communication we need to convey

• Publicising successes: Articles on intranet

• Interactive change communication toolkit

ghighlighting success stories so far

• Project articles: Series of weekly articles, highlighting the work of one project each week

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What was the objective behind all of this?What was the objective behind all of this?

Phase I was about:• Awareness building:

The outcome:• We delivered on our content promisesAwareness building:

The projects were new, so the goal at this stage was often simply to have content out there

C t b ildi

• We delivered on our content promises

• We gave the projects support and have had good anecdotal feedback

• We have seen them using the t l id d d h• Competency building:

We could not manage all of the projects’ communication. We quickly had to create a situation whereby they themselves could take it on

tools we provided and we have observed their skills rising

• We have received praise during our survey process for the efforts of our teamthey themselves could take it on

capably themselves

• Create “counterintuitive content”:

Even with coaching, the projects’ first

efforts of our team

• We have been approached as “best practice” by other communications team in our companyimpulses are usually to communicate

about themselves, their analytics and processes. In creating content through audience stories and also the project presentation materials

company

p j pas giving them a practical sense of “How To”

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streamLINE comms strategystreamLINE comms strategy

Phase I

Project launch: Lots of plans and strategies to develop, information to get out, and news

Phase II

Projects have strategies and understand the approach. Now we need to drive a proactive develop, information to get out, and news

to report strategy on the missing outcome (culture) and missing drivers (leadership and employees)

• Support the projects in developing communication strategies and thinking about their audiences and communication

• Drive culture – define and help move the org towards empowerment, simplicity and customer-awareness

• Support the organisation through intranet and cascade packs to get out wider messages around streamLINE

• Employ a more holistic vision of internal communication, and of engagement drivers, to achieve this:g to achieve this:

• Employee voices

• Leadership drivers and strategy

• Front-line management support

• Customer voices

• Hard measures

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Phase II Communication Strategy

D b 2008 dDecember 2008 onwards

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1. “What’s the ‘new culture’?”The new culture of the organisation needs streamLINE Mission

What is the immediate drive for Maersk Line?

t LINE G l

gdefining and driving

What is the immediate drive for Maersk Line?

“To be the most profitable container business in the world.”

streamLINE GoalsWhat is Maersk Line focusing on to achieve its mission?

21 3 74 5 6

streamLINE TacticsWhat is Maersk Line going to do to achieve those goals?

Improve Increase Improve Improve Improve E2E Empower Simplify

NetworkSales traction E4Cu FBIIPPS Bunker6

FT

pprofitability

of salesutilisation

preliability of service

pcost

management

pcustomer

experience

pemployees products and

processes

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Phase II comms strategy

Strategic needs & goals Tactical needs & goalsResearch & Intelligence

Tactical needs & goals

1. Define & drive culture

“Where we’re going”Intelligence

”Listen to me”a) More bottom up

More employee voices talkingDefine the new culture for the organisation (empowerment, customer-focus and simplicity) and drive its realisation

Listen to meLack of employee voice

More employee voices, talking about their personal experiences of the change and the future culture they perceive

2. Create hopeful visionWe need a vision of where Maersk Line is going that gives people

”Help me”People don’t feel anyone is helping them to change

b) More face-to-face support More work with line managers to provide the communication skills and tools they needinspiration and stops them leaving or

disengaging

3. Show “What’s in it for you”

helping them to change

”Who are they”

and tools they need,

a) More outside inMore customer voices, talking about their personal experiences ofMore on the day-to-day reality of

change – so that people know what it really means to them every day or how it’s going to help them

yCustomers are still faceless entities

about their personal experiences of the Maersk Line

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Giving employees a voiceGiving employees a voice

Goal:E l d fi th lt


Strategic needs & goals

a) More bottom up


• Employees define the culture• Employees define the hopeful vision: The

“Maersk Line of tomorrow”• Employees communicating with each other

2. Create hopeful vision3. Show “What’s in it for

you”

a) More bottom upb) More F2F support c) More outside in

about “What’s in it for me”: Pilot videos, etc all designed to give employees a voice inside the organisation – “People Like Me”

TacticsTactics

• User comments live on enable: Bringing live employee feedback into the organisation

• Pilot videos designed to give employees a• Pilot videos designed to give employees a voice inside the organisation – “People Like Me”

• Video diaries: A personal view of the journey through change

• Pass the Mic: Employee “Mash-up

• Culture: Use videos, stories or interactive forums to discuss what “empowerment” etc.

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mean to those on the ground.

Focusing on audiences, not projectsFocusing on audiences, not projects



) More bottom up


1. Define & drive culture2. Create hopeful vision3. Show “What’s in it for

you”

a) More bottom upb) More F2F support c) More outside in

• Create “Super Audience” stories for Sales, Finance, Customer Service and OperationsCustomer Service and Operations

WIIFY• Your job today vs Your job tomorrow• You will be doing vs You won’t be doingYou will be doing vs You won t be doing

Hopeful vision• Wouldn’t it be great if we were the only ones…

• Provides the “framing” for all project stories and also• Provides the framing for all project stories and also a clear articulation of the vision for those functions

• Keeps focus on what change means to employees, not to the projects

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Bringing customer stories inside…Bringing customer stories inside…

The original streamLINE research revealed what the most recent engagement survey confirmed – we are still not good at seeing our customers as people

1. Define & drive culture2. Create hopeful vision


a) More bottom upb) More F2F support



b) More F2F support c) More outside in

“Voice of the Customer”

• Website dedicated to showing that our customers are more than filled containers

• “Every container carries someone’s hopes and business needs”

• Articles about our customers and their experiences of working with Maersk Line

• “Meeting in the Box” including coaching materials and follow-up activitiesg g g p

• “Adopt a container” – promote understanding of what happens inside a container by getting employees to adopt a container and watch it ship around the world

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Using leaders to articulate the futureUsing leaders to articulate the future

The vast majority of industry research agrees that senior leaders perform one vital role during change: Articulating a clear and visionary picture of the future.

Strategic needs & goals Tactical needs & goals

1. Define & drive culture2. Create hopeful vision3 Show “What’s in it for



g

1 Raise visibility: We need to drive up CEO “virtual” visibility if not his actual presence


c) More outside in

1. Raise visibility: We need to drive up CEO virtual visibility, if not his actual presence

• More videos talking about a hopeful future for the company

2. Gain clarity: Working with CEO and the management team to get real clarity about the “meaning” of the new culturemeaning of the new culture

• Use storytelling to promote what each of the elements actually means

• Use blogs

3. Utilise extended leadership: Utilise other senior leaders more in “taking up the slack” on this critical element

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Big picture, small detail, quick movieBig picture, small detail, quick movie

We will launch a “Common Craft”-style movie, to illustrate where the company is going and what that means for the average employee (“What’s in it for you”)

St t i d & l Tactical needs & goals

1. Define & drive culture2. Create hopeful vision




Common Craft movie


c) More outside in

Common Craft movie

• Articulates the vision of the company –where we are headed

• Talks about the journey of an• Talks about the journey of an “average” employee over the next few years

• What streamLINE/the future of Maersk Line will actually means to an employee at the coal face.

• 3-minutes long and in the Common Craft style: Simple cheap fun and effective

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style: Simple, cheap, fun and effective

Phase II comms strategy

Tactical needs & goalsStrategic needs & goals

a) More bottom upMore employee voices talking1. Define & drive culture

“Where we’re going”

More employee voices, talking about their personal experiences of the change and the future culture they perceive

Define the new culture for the organisation (empowerment, customer-focus and simplicity) and drive its realisation

b) More face-to-face support More work with line managers to provide the communication skills and tools they need

2. Create hopeful visionWe need a vision of where Maersk Line is going that gives people and tools they need,

a) More outside inMore customer voices, talking about their personal experiences of

inspiration and stops them leaving or disengaging

3. Show “What’s in it for you” about their personal experiences of the Maersk LineMore on the day-to-day reality of

change – so that people know what it really means to them every day or how it’s going to help them

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thanksthanks

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What are our objectives? How will we know?What are our objectives? How will we know?

Culture change• Employees understand what the new culture will look and

feel like, and how they can contribute to it

• The culture becomes less bureaucratic

Culture changeThe culture changes!

Pulse survey

FThe culture becomes less bureaucratic

Hopeful vision• Employees more hopeful about the future

Focus groups

Hopeful visionHigher retention rates, higher EE scores

• Employees inspired to stick with us

What’s In It for You

Pulse survey

What’s In It for You• Employees see the benefits to themselves of the changes Increased Pulse survey scores on:

•“I feel the new structure lets me do my job better than before”

•“The new processes are helping me become more

• Employees feel they have more of a voice in streamLINE

geffective

User comments on intranet

• Line managers’ communication competence increases

• Greater sense of how we deliver to our customers

Increased Pulse & EE survey scores on:

•“I feel supported during change”

Improved EE survey scores on: customer factors

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• Greater sense of how we deliver to our customers Improved EE survey scores on: customer factors

Documents

Maersk