Internal events: Connecting employees and executives

Bringing together a company’s employees, dealers, or stakeholders with the top brass is an opportunity to tear down the walls between c-level leaders and the rank and file. Too often, though, sessions with a company’s execs result in a few canned Q&As, or worse... (pause)... deafening silence. Make the most of the brief time the staff has with c-level execs and it just might open up a real dialogue between the two. Five ways to bring the execs to the masses and start conversations:

1. Get Laid-back. At its year-end results meeting in January, beauty-products manufacturer KAO Brands decided that informality was key when bringing together 500 employees and KAO’s c-level execs. Instead of just having employees step up to a mic and ask questions of executives on a stage or behind a podium, the company created a talk-show format, with the executives seated on the same level as the employees and a moderator walking around to field questions. The moderator, a corporate vp, kept the conversation going and helped bridge the gap between employees and the head honchos. The approach produced an environment in which employees didn’t feel so separated from the executives.

2. Think Groups. Following a general session at its internal event, insurance provider XL Capital actually had its top executives lead breakout sessions with senior managers. Preceding sessions focused on topics including vision, value, brand, and strategy, and the breakouts addressed each topic and invited feedback from attendees. XL hoped that breaking the meetings into small-group sessions would lessen the intimidation factor and make participants feel more comfortable asking questions.

3. Get an Early Start. Knowing that employees might not be eager to stand up and ask questions in front of a room full of coworkers, KAO wanted to ensure there wouldn’t be any awkward silences during the meeting and that staffers’ concerns really would be addressed. So, before the meeting, the company asked attendees to fill out a brief online questionnaire that asked what questions they might have for execs.

4. Use the Web. For international meetings, a webcast provides a convenient and inexpensive option for meetings, and a forum for Q&As. Reuters recently used webcasts for a global meeting during which the ceo appeared online throughout the day to answer questions from employees in regional offices all over the world.

The webcasts allowed the ceo to personally communicate with employees across the globe, and provided a nonthreatening environment for employees.

5. Act on Feedback. The liveliest meeting will mean nothing to the internal network if they feel that their questions and concerns are not addressed by execs after the event.