Winners 2018

Best internal communications campaign

Winner
Purpose, humanity, openness, together
A campaign that put our new values into action
Ministry of Justice

In July 2017, the Ministry of Justice launched its first ever campaign across its department and all its agencies as it launched a new set of values. It followed a year of turmoil for the Ministry, during which it had experienced significant organisational change, its administrative budget being halved and three Secretaries of State. The values – purpose, humanity, openness and together – were designed to unify the organisation and build pride among its 69,000 employees, a critical factor in achieving its organisational objectives.

The internal communications team had three objectives. It wanted 70 per cent of staff to be aware of and understand the new values within the first year, a five percentage point increase in staff agreeing that the actions of senior managers are consistent with its values and a two percentage point rise in the number of people feeling proud of working for the Ministry of Justice.

The campaign adopted the theme of the values.

  • Purpose: audiences were segmented by agency, sub-groups of senior leaders acted as influencer and staff engagement champions, while the wider staff were determined by local grade mix.
  • Humanity: the strategy centred around inclusivity, with a focus on staff voice. Insights from an organisation-wide staff consultation were used to define the values. All communications used personal, real-life stories to bring the values to life.
  • Openness: a multi-channel campaign, using high impact visuals featuring a new values brand, was deployed.
  • Together: prior to the launch of the Ministry of Justice’s new values, every agency had its own distinct values and culture. The campaign had to overcome internal resistance to create one group set, but used senior management to reinforce the message drawing on staff stories. Recognition and reward incentive schemes were used to embed values into day-to-day practices.

From the outset, this was a campaign that would involved all grades of staff and ensure their voices and opinions were heard. More than 7,500 staff helped to define and create the values.

A series of 11 blogs by senior leaders on the Intranet, which is the second most trusted channel within the organisation, discussed living the values. The campaign also harnessed the power of storytelling, by using emotionally changed stories of 16 staff living the values every day. These were shared on a ‘Wall of Fame’, displayed on interactive televisions within the Ministry of Justice’s headquarters, on posters and as weekly Intranet case studies. Employees talked about their work, and what was their favourite aspect, themselves and their career, including their background. The judges described these as ‘touching, using strong photography’.

Interactive thank you cards were also created, allowing staff to thank colleagues for living their values: more than 18,500 were sent. A new channel Let’s Talk About was also launched, with a monthly topic for team discussions and a feedback loop to senior management.

More than 55,000 employees viewed the content of the campaign online. From a standing start, 88 per cent of employees at the Ministry of Justice’s headquarters say they are aware of the values while 70 per cent of all staff agree they are living them.

The number of people feeling proud of working for the organisation rose four percentage points to 56 per cent while half – up seven percentage points – of all employees believe that senior leaders’ actions are consistent wit the organisation’s values.

‘This was a highly coordinated and effective campaign, with very little budget, said the judges. ‘It had good touch stones, clear objectives and hit – or exceeded – all its targets.’