Case Study Series – Employee Communications
Department of Conservation and Land Management

CALMweb: Improving Employee Communication

By Ron Kawalilak

Director, Strategic Development and Corporate Affairs

September 1999

SITUATION ANALYSIS

The Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) is an agency with several integrated and sometimes controversial responsibilities. We manage, on behalf of the people of Western Australia, lands and waters for their renewable resources, for the recreation and tourism they can support, and for the conservation of the native wildlife, both plant and animal, which they sustain.

Because CALM can achieve success in this job only if it has the goodwill, cooperation and support of the wider community, and this is most likely to occur with the help of an informed, dedicated and productive workforce, CALM is committed to timely, open and two-way communication with employees on subjects important to them and to the Department. The thrust of this is aimed at increasing a sense of shared corporate values through communication.

A great deal has already been achieved with an employee communications program involving regular face-to-face briefings and other feedback mechanisms between management and staff, internal news releases to provide all employees with information before or simultaneous with its release to the news media, with employee publications, lunchtime seminars, social events, and a bulletin board communications program.

In the 1990s, knowledge is the primary basis of value-adding for most organizations, including CALM. One of the main challenges we face, as we perform the tasks allocated to us by government and try to meet or exceed community expectations, is to find ways to continuously capture, develop, utilise and leverage knowledge to provide better service to the community. It is our belief that everyone in CALM, to do their jobs properly, must be able to tap into CALM’s entire intellectual capital, not just the limited circle of employees with whom most staff have day-to-day contact.

CALM has undergone a great deal of change over several years, with restructuring into business units and flattening of organization structure to provide more effective community service.

In this time of change, and with the resultant stresses on all employees, the specific need or opportunity we had to address was to provide the means for CALM staff to find and use knowledge in ways which improve productivity and save money, speed up projects and enhance quality, facilitate two-way and multi-directional communication, and simplify workflows within the Department.

With the expansion of a reliable computer network to most CALM offices, with a wide range of data bases and computerised information resources already available within the Department, with ample evidence that people like technology that they can access and manipulate at their convenience, and with widespread recognition within CALM of the success of the Department’s internet site NatureBase, creation of an intranet site was a logical way to address this opportunity.

OBJECTIVES

Our goal was to create, launch and market an employee communications program that was rational, flexible, informative and responsive at all employees. Our specific objectives were:

• To provide all CALM employees with timely and easy access to information that allows them to do their jobs effectively and more productively;
• To present the information in an easy-to-understand format;
• To create a dynamic and interactive communications program that engages and involves employees;
• To develop a communications tool that would reduce the volume, cost, and occurrence of out-of-date printed materials in CALM; and
• To foster interaction and teamwork between all employees in CALM.

AUDIENCES

CALM employs 1 300 staff and about 175 contractors, in a wide range of roles, including managers, wildlife officers, research scientists, recreation planners, national park rangers, accountants, tree planters, firefighters, and many more. CALM is extensively regionalised and operates out of 41 significant locations and 22 one-two person sites (mainly national parks).

Our intended audience was, simply, all 1 300 CALM staff and those contractors working on-site. While only 986 of CALM staff have their own computers, and most of the remainder work outdoors most of the time, we wanted our program to be available and useful to all. CALM’s workforce in the late 1990s is diverse, dispersed and decentralized.

RESEARCH

A variety of research was conducted before the development of the communications program, and is continuing as part of the ongoing development of CALMweb as well as the evaluation of its effectiveness.

Available case study material on change communication and intranet programs of a similar nature was reviewed to provide an insight into strategies that have been used by other practitioners, the solutions used to produce a workable program, and the problems to avoid.

As part of CALM’s annual audit of its communications program, the communications process, structure and activities within CALM were examined to identify opportunities for improvements.

Discussions with regular web users and informal meetings (often for broader purposes) were conducted with a wide variety of CALM staff. This was used to identify subjects important to CALM staff, approaches to presenting that information, and a complete list of current and practical sources of information for the program.

The experience of a number of website developers in Perth was canvassed to get further insights into how to develop an intranet site.

Feedback mechanisms were established as part of CALMweb so that, once it was operational, users of the site could tell us what they liked, didn’t like, and wanted to see on the site.

A website monitoring software program was set up on CALMweb to provide us with ongoing information on the number of hits and users, what pages were most requested, the average time spent on each page, a summary of activity by day of the week and by hour of the day, and more. This information allows us to tailor ongoing development of CALMweb to meet the needs of CALM staff.

STRATEGIES

The strategies developed in support of our objectives were:

• Conduct the necessary and ongoing research (see above) which would assist us in determining what we needed to do, how we should go about it, and whether, in the end, we achieved our aims;
• Obtain the services of a suitable web consultancy to assist CALM with design and development of an intranet site;
• Develop informative, web-friendly information materials, aiming for an integration of content, design and technology, with clean design, enjoyable writing, and interesting facts, information and services;
• Empower the intended audience to participate in content design and ongoing development of the site through a "virtual unit" of web authors from the different Divisions, Branches and Regions of CALM;
• Conduct ongoing monitoring of the latest web trends and technology and investigate ways in which new technologies can be used to meet program objectives and enhance the site; and
• Use various means and media – including all existing and credible CALM communications vehicles – to create excitement about and to market the program within CALM.

IMPLEMENTATION

The different implementation activities for this program included the following:

• A variety of research, as noted, was conducted before the development of the program, and is continuing as part of the ongoing development of CALMweb and the evaluation of its effectiveness.
• A communications plan was prepared and CALM’s CEO, Dr Syd Shea, was enlisted to provide top management buy-in. As is the case for all of CALM’s communication programs, the communication objectives for this program were directly linked to the business objectives of the Department, and this helped in securing widespread support in CALM. The program did not require "selling" as such to senior management as Ron Kawalilak is a member of CALM’s Corporate Executive and it is his job to provide organization communications that secure awareness, understanding, acceptance and support for CALM, inside and outside the organization, not simply communicate messages. However, support for the program was greater that it might have been for two reasons:

• Special attention was paid to ensuring that the CEO, who is an early adopter of new technology, was fully aware of and enthusiastic about the possibilities for transformational culture change and performance improvement offered by CALMweb. His enthusiasm for the project helped secure cooperation from all the top management team within CALM, and he spoke about the program at several staff presentations, publicly stamping his seal of approval on the project for all staff.
• Creation of a CALMweb Authors’ Group (see below) provided the means for no-extra cost development and maintenance of the site, and for grassroots ownership of this medium for employee communication through local control and production of content by CALM’s various Divisions, Branches and Regions.

• A "virtual unit" of web authors (see above) from different Divisions, Branches and Regions of CALM was created to contribute to the development of the program and provide widespread and local ownership of CALMweb and its contents throughout the Department. We encourage the intended audience of CALMweb to participate in content design and ongoing development of the site.
• The CALMweb Authors’ Group has grown, as of July 1999, to 41, and is led by David Gough. The group meets face-to-face infrequently, but is in contact on a daily basis through a variety of online facilities – including e-mail and a threaded discussion group on CALMweb - and the telephone. This group, with members from all Divisions and key units within CALM, actively seeks new ways of solving communication problems and responding to opportunities in their areas through the use of CALMweb. Developments underway include low bandwidth on-line conferencing, a daily desktop news feed using push technology, and streaming video of seminars and other events.
• A virtual toolbox of resources (including page templates, graphics, links to directories and shareware tools, training, online support, guidelines and policies, etc.) was created for web authors to make their job easier and to maintain content and design standards for CALMweb.
• Because our research showed that what staff wanted most was easy access to the latest version of policy documents, forms, manuals, etc., all CALMweb users are provided with the free Adobe Acrobat Viewer, which pugs-in to Netscape Navigator, CALM’s standard browser of choice. This allows policies, forms, manuals, etc. to be available on CALMweb as downloadable and printable documents that appear exactly the same as in their original form,
• We use various media – including existing CALM communications vehicles, such as the employee newspaper CALM NEWS, CALM’s lunchtime seminar series, and staff meetings throughout the State – to create excitement about and market the program within CALM.

BUDGET

Total budget for the creation and ongoing development of this program between February 1998 and June 1999 was $15 000. We spent $12 750. This included the cost of software and hardware used to develop CALMweb and the services of the web consultancy Dow Digital. This does not include the cost of CALM staff involvement – no extra staff were hired – or the cost of computer infrastructure within CALM, which exists for other purposes.

EVALUATION AND RESULTS

While the site is still young, and is obviously a perpetual work in progress, it already meets all the objectives we set for it.

• By July 1999, 855 or 87% of a possible 946 personal computers and their users in CALM had been connected to CALMweb, either via CALM’s wide area network, or through secure encrypted access via the internet. The 131 computers that were not connected as of July were either in remote locations with poor or no access to the internet, or were old machines that needed to be upgraded before their users could connect effectively to CALMweb.
• By July 1999, 39 of 41 significant CALM office locations were fully connected to CALMweb. The remaining offices (Broome and Denham), and several of the one-two person sites (mainly national parks), are provided with monthly updates of CALMweb on CD-ROM.
• Access to CALMweb for field staff, who do not have their own computer, is being provided at several locations, and planned for others, via PCs/kiosks set up for the purpose at their work centre, muster location or lunch room. By December 1999, all CALM staff will have access to CALMweb.
• By July 1999, CALMweb was averaging 504 unique users per day, each downloading an average of 5.8 pages of documents. This means that – even at the current usage, which is growing rapidly, and assuming 251 work days in a year – 734 000 pages of documents will be downloaded by CALM staff in a year.
• E-mail messages from staff are supportive and complementary, and we’ve have more constructive suggestions and ideas for this program than for any other employee communications program we’ve undertaken in CALM.
• CALMweb is providing staff with information that was previously unavailable to them and, therefore, contributing to technology transfer and the development of new knowledge within CALM. It is also providing a way to rationalise previously duplicated and transient information (taking care of the questions "Which is the correct version – and who owns it?"). Staff feedback is that CALMweb is giving more people access to critical information quickly, it is enhancing the individual’s ability to make better decisions quickly, and it is facilitating better communication, teamwork and the rapid generation of new ideas throughout CALM.
• CALMweb has a clean fresh look and the information domains are clearly labelled so users can easily determine what’s there and determine where they want to go. Overall page design makes it easy to go from any page to anywhere in the site. Many users comment on the simplicity and useability of the site’s navigation.
• The site is designed with newness and freshness in mind and, with the involvement of staff from throughout CALM, new content is added daily. CALMweb is currently being used for document management, group scheduling, directories, access to databases, threaded discussion groups, bulleting boards, up-to-the-minute access to the latest media releases from CALM, an electronic employee newspaper, access to useful internet resources, and more.
• Many CALM forms, manuals and other documents are now available ONLY on CALMweb, resulting in a saving in printing costs estimated in 1998/99 to be more than $16 000/year.
• There are many examples of CALMweb being used for effective interaction and collaborative communication among CALM staff (eg. CALMweb Authors’ Forum under Let’s Talk, and Regional Managers using CALMweb to plan inter-regional meetings and travel itineraries for staff). Examples where it has changed the way business is done within CALM include the following: (1) business activities such as in-house reporting and budgeting are conducted via CALMweb; (2) new online communities within CALM, such as the web authors’ group, have developed and broken down some of the previously existing barriers to sharing corporate information and knowledge; and (3) CALMweb has been used to shorten a 5-day residency workshop on fire management to 3-days by providing online information and training for participants prior to the residency workshop.

PROJECT RESPONSIBILITIES

Ron Kawalilak, CALM’s Director of Strategic Development and Corporate Affairs, is responsible for CALM’s knowledge and change management programs, public relations activities, media and customer relations, employee communications and advertising. He developed the communications plan for CALMweb and led the team that developed the site. David Gough wrote or edited much of the original content for the site and continues to develop new features for CALMweb as leader of CALM’s web authors’ group, while Steve Grasso is responsible for turning good ideas on interactive features into reality.