Communication Audit Final Report

Contents
I. Executive Summary Page 1 II. Benchmark Comparisons Page 1 III. Statement of Purpose: Pages 2-3 A. Major Thrusts B. Limitations C. Client System D. Historical Background IV. Sampling Techniques and Formats of Data Collection: Page 4 V. Summary of Raw Data: Pages 5-7 A. Exploratory Interview B. Questionnaire C. Targeted Interview VI. Analytic Procedures: Page 7 VII. Conclusions: Pages 8-9 A. Internal Communication B. Communication Channels C. Communication Climate Recommendations: Pages 10-11 A. Internal Communication B. Communication Channels C. Communication Climate

VIII.

Communication Audit Report

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Executive Summary
1. Participation in the audit was representative of the bank. 25 employees (60%) returned their questionnaires and 8 employees (19%) participated in both exploratory and targeted interviews. 2. Employees were generally very satisfied with internal communication procedures but did identify areas that could use improvement. The biggest concern was communication between global offices. 3. Email is most active channel of communication, and face-to-face also remains active at the corporate office and at each of the branches. The creation/use of more channels is suggested. 4. The most common response to the communication climate indicated that the bank was very open and making strides to an improved communication climate.

Benchmarks Comparisons
Due to the newness of the bank, there has not been any previous communication audits performed. This audit teams suggested main goal would be to improve communication with global offices within the next 3 months. Also, improvement could be made in the timeliness of both procedural changes and information about community involvement.

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Statement of Purpose
Major Thrusts The team was primarily concerned with how the organizations internal communication operates and how the bank reflected its mission and vision as a genuine and straightforward community bank. Another focus was the banks communication about its policies and training for employees and how communication might impact the exchange of information about procedures. Lastly, the audit team wanted to explore the impact of physical proximity on effective communication since the bank has international, national, and regional locations. Limitations A limitation of this communication audit that should be noted is that all data collected is perceptual. The audit team is not affiliated with the organization, and in-depth, first-hand observational data was not available to its members. Instead, the team was dependent on the reactions of the banks employees concerning their satisfaction of organizational communication. Another restraint on our research was time, both of the audit team and the organization. Lower-hierarchical members, such as tellers and financial service representatives, were only represented by questionnaires, rather than exploratory and targeted interviews. Conducting interviews with tellers would have been time-consuming and taken away from the banks day-to-day operations. The team would like to emphasize that the results of this audit cannot be generalized and is designed to give the bank a snapshot of the internal communication processes within the timeframe of September - December of 2011. Client system The client system the audit team focused on included all employees of the bank from tellers and branch managers to corporate executives.

Communication Audit Report Historical Background

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The banks newness has not kept the company from growing in its reputation as a genuine, community bank. Opening in 2010, the mission of the bank is to offer customers a welcoming atmosphere where their financial needs can be met and personal relationships can grow. This reputation does not extend to only customers but to the community through the banks Next Chapter program which promotes education and volunteerism. The Florida division currently has 42 employees and five branches. These numbers are expected to increase as the bank expands further into the northwest Florida of the United States.

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Sampling Techniques
The audit team sought to include all key employees during its selection of interviewees, and the auditors used a representative sample. This sample included all willing vicepresidents and branch managers. The team attempted to interview over twenty-five percent of the banks employees but was not able to secure interviews with all invited participants. However, the audit team successfully completed exploratory and targeted interviews with nineteen percent of the banks employees. Lower-hierarchical members (tellers) were only represented by surveys, rather than exploratory and targeted interviews. This is because of the time restraints of the organization which was determined by the necessary staffing of its employees. The team observed a sixty percent return rate on the questionnaires.

Formats of Data Collection

The bank participating in the communication worked very closely with the audit team to ensure success. A bank vice-president sent out a memorandum to establish support for the communication audit at the very beginning of the process. This memorandum demonstrated the importance of the audit and encouraged employees to participate. Some bank employees also participated in exploratory interviews which helped create the questionnaire distributed to all employees. These exploratory interviews allowed the audit team to probe into the banks communication and gain insight into where there are strengths and weaknesses. After the analysis of the exploratory interviews, the audit team created a questionnaire which further probed into the communication aspects of the bank. The audit team strived to make the audit as accessible as possible. All employees (except those at the Pensacola branch) were given both an electronic and written version of the questionnaire to increase participation. The written version also included a link where employees could access the questionnaire from any computer. This way, employees could take the questionnaire at home if they felt uncomfortable doing so at work. Pensacola employees received an email with a link to complete the questionnaire. This link was accessible at work or anywhere that had internet access. After the completion of the questionnaires, the audit team carefully analyzed the data to discover trends and major communication strengths and weaknesses. The audit team created targeted interview guides once an analysis and summarization was complete. These targeted interviews permitted auditors to probe further into trends seen in quantitative data and explore some of the attitudes seen in the qualitative portions of the questionnaire. Conclusions and recommendations were derived from the exploratory interviews, questionnaires, and targeted interviews.

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Summary of Raw Data

The primary sources of data for the audit were (1) a first round of interviews with eight key employees, (2) a questionnaire that was available to employees in the bank, and (3) a second round of interviews with the same eight individuals. The first round of interviews was exploratory of the banks communication. The questionnaire was based on the Downs-Hazen Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire along with information obtained from the initial interviews. The questionnaire included both quantitative and qualitative portions. Finally, the second round of interviews was targeted on the trends that were observed in both the questionnaires and the initial interviews. Exploratory Interview The first round of interviews introduced the audit team to the communication patterns of the bank. Interviewees readily shared positive perceptions of the organization in regard to the tight-knit and open communication climate; cooperative interdepartmental communication within the Florida division of the bank; managements communication competence; and effectiveness of both formal and informal channels of communication. Along with the vastly positive feedback obtained, auditors also uncovered areas that may still develop further in the future of the newly-established bank. A difficulty repeatedly mentioned in the first round of interviews was communication with the offices in New York and Puerto Rico. Another challenge the interviewees faced was communication of community involvement and sponsorships in which the bank participates. These were the most mentioned topics from all eight initial interviews that indicated a need for improvement. Questionnaire The questionnaire unveiled similar positive attributes regarding communication within the organization. Quite significantly, the majority of respondents selected at least satisfied in almost every question asked in the quantitative sections of the questionnaire. The following are the most significant findings concerning communication that the organization is performing the most effectively: Supervisors were praised for their ability to listen, trust, and communicate to employees. Many respondents described the communication climate with words such as warm, open, and efficient. The open-door policy of the bank is clearly an important trait of the bank to its employees. Respondents were also pleased with the use of communication channels such as email, conference calls, and face-to-face.

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Communication between branches and with the corporate office is perceived as excellent by most respondents.

Although the questionnaire provided dominantly positive feedback, the following areas were recognized as those which are in need of the most improvement: The grapevine (or the informal sharing of information) The timeliness of procedural information Recognition of the efforts of employees Communication with the New York office Information received about sponsorships and donations involving the bank

Targeted Interview The targeted interviews uncovered much of the reasoning behind the questionnaire and initial interview responses. It also provided the auditors with solutions to communication dilemmas. When asked why a small number of employees were unsatisfied with the communication climate, interviewees provided insights such as there are legal restrictions that hinder the sharing of some information, and preemptive communication can be harmful to productivity. Using the marketing calendar on the intranet was a solution to the delayed information regarding community involvement. Other solutions suggested: to send weekly emails to update everyone on community outreach events and to provide a physical bulletin board at every branch location for tellers who do not have consistent access to email. Several participants mentioned that conference calls could be better structured if agendas were given before every call, and all employees were able to submit items to the agenda. The practice of taking minutes should be continued. Another solution would be to have a more regular schedule for branch conference calls (i.e. every Thursday at 9:30 a.m.). The issue of employee recognition was given solutions such as a score card system (which is already being developed), an online suggestion resource that could solicit anonymous feedback, and more frequent positive, public feedback to employees. Timeliness of information was explained to be caused partly by the New York offices refusal to give prompt communication regarding procedural changes. An interviewee mentioned that information from corporate conference calls will be more promptly disseminated through the Florida offices once the Human Resources intranet is finished.

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The grapevine was said to be a result of a lack of activity in formal communication channels, resulting in employees relying on informal channels.

Analytic Procedures
The analytic procedures the audit team employed were present in each of the three stages of data collection. After the exploratory interviews, the auditors reviewed the thorough interview summaries and structured a spreadsheet that easily identified the most prevalent themes of communication areas. These themes were then used to create specialized questions for the questionnaire and targeted interviews. The data that was generated by the electronic and written questionnaires were inputted into Qualtrics (an internet-based survey tool), and the averages, frequency distribution, standard deviation, and other statistical information were put into charts. The charts were used to create two kinds of graphs for each section of quantitative data frequency distribution and averages. The frequency distribution clearly displays the variability of responses to each question, and the averages provided a quick reference to the overall score of each question. The same procedures were used for the targeted interviews as the exploratory interviews. The targeted interviews were designed to provide rationale and solutions to areas in need of improvement found in the questionnaire data.

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Conclusions
Throughout the audit three areas seemed to be the most prevalent topics of concern: Internal Communication Communication Channels Communication Climate

Internal Communication Overall, this banks internal communication is its strongest communication aspect especially at the regional level. Employees feel that communication at the branches and with the Florida corporate office is open and flows well. However, the banks employees do have concerns with communications between the banks locations in New York and Puerto Rico. One employee had this to say about internal communication: Communication is great within the Florida area, but communication between other areas such as Puerto Rico and New York are lacking. While the communication climate will be addressed further on in the report, it is important to recognize that employees are mostly very satisfied with the communication relationships with supervisors and other employees. A specific example of poor communication with the New York offices is evident in the timeliness with regards to procedural changes. Many employees, especially at the branch level, feel that procedural changes occur too quickly. It was noted that the procedural changes are typically very clear and concise. The audit teams research discovered that many changes came from the offices in New York and were not controlled by anyone in the Florida division. Community involvement and volunteerism are very important to the bank. This is evident through the information on the banks website and other promotional material. The bank prides itself on the community events and sponsorships it is involved in. The employees also enjoy working for an organization that gives back and invests in its community. However, employees would like to receive information about the banks community involvement in a more timely fashion. One employee said this: Sometimes, we are not informed about special events we are involved in until customers bring it to our attention. Similar comments were observed throughout the audit. In conclusion, the bank has very strong internal communication. Employees often recognized that the bank is still new and report that communication has been consistently improving.

Communication Audit Report Communication Channels

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Based on the data generated by the audit, email is the best way to communicate within the organization to most members. However, some members still want to have more face-to-face communication in order to increase organizational morale. Conference calls between branches are well-structured. However, multiple respondents indicated that conference calls hosted by the New York division could be made more effective if agendas and minutes were more consistent and thorough. The special events calendar that is available on the intranet is not being used as much as is it should. The idea of a company newsletter and bulletin boards in each location were received well in the questionnaires and interviews. Communication Climate After reviewing the data, it was found that the banks overall communication climate was viewed as open, relaxed, and positive by the vast majority of the employees. Many of the interviewees mentioned openness, feeling comfortable, and that the bank felt like family. These perceptions of the banks communication climate are crucial in terms of securing long-term commitment from employees, and the banks warm, receptive climate is a prime contributor to this commonly-held view. On the corporate level, team-building techniques such as the bell-ringing by the company president (and the proposed scorecard) contribute to the employees feelings of inclusion and commitment. Though overwhelmingly positive, there was a small segment of the data that revealed a negative perception of the climate. Some workers mentioned being unsure of policies and procedures partly because they received them last minute. Corporate-level employees explained this was largely due to the New York region not communicating policies and procedures changes until the last minute, with the expectation that they will be put into effect the next day.

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Recommendations
Internal Communication One suggestion to improve internal communication at this bank would be to share the results of this communication audit with the offices in New York and Puerto Rico. Those divisions of the bank may not understand their exact impact on the Florida division. Another recommendation would be to have the management from Florida, New York, and Puerto Rico, develop communication guidelines between locations. That way, procedures are clear for communicating between offices. Some employees even feel that the employees in New York and Puerto Rico are culturally different from those employees in Florida and indicated that a culture clash may be the reason for the miscommunication. Once communication guidelines are established, the bank should consider offering a diversity/cultural training to all employees. Training like this could provide all employees with a better understanding of their colleagues in other locations and would even be applicable to the diverse employees located in the Florida division. Employees would also prefer more timely information about the banks community involvement and donations. The audit team suggests that the marketing calendar be kept completely up to date and an email sent whenever events are added to this calendar. Furthermore, branch managers may want to cover this information in their weekly huddle meetings. There is also a suggestion of a newsletter later on in the report and adding community events to that a newsletter is also advised. Once stronger communication regarding community involvement is established, employee morale and participation should increase. Employees indicated that they might have participated in events if they could have planned accordingly. Communication Channels Email, face-to-face, and telephone should continue to be the most used channels of communication. Questionnaire and interview respondents indicated that these methods of communication were the most effective. The bank may explore implementing a better structure to receive information from New York. At times, there is information that is being communicated too late to be implemented, or worse, not communicated at all. A timeline could be a useful tool in presenting a guideline for when new information about procedural changes must be sent to the Florida division. The important information that is kept on the intranet (like the calendar, or procedural guidelines) should be reinforced either by training or by making sure everyone will use these resources. Employees will then be better informed and perform based on procedures guidelines, instead on relying on other co-workers information, which might not be accurate.

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Finally, bulletin boards and newsletters are great ways to communicate better with the rest of the employees. They advertise the upcoming events that the company will be participating in and any company accomplishments. Communication Climate Though the community bank is new, continued emphasis on its open-door policy and continued maintenance of its relaxed atmosphere will secure higher employee satisfaction which will positively impact workers productivity and commitment to the bank. It is recommended that branch managers should try to solicit feedback from the tellers (on a weekly basis if possible) to continue the trend of openness within the organization. Though the weekly huddle meetings are a convenient time to do this, it would be helpful to also randomly (and casually) seek out feedback from individuals during the course of the workday. Perhaps a goal of one or two employees per week is reasonable. In addition, an increased use of team-building tools, such as the bell-ringing, could be implemented on the branch levels as well, since the frontline workers are often in the most need of encouragement and inclusion. It would be up to the discretion of branch managers to determine the way the bell would be used to encourage workers. It is also recommended that the bank looks for other creative ways (similar to the bell) to help branch employees continue to feel involved and part of a cohesive team. Instead of verifying information formally (such as using the policies and procedures desktop link provided on all employees computers) it is possible some employees reliance on informal channels of communication, i.e. the grapevine, may be contributing to misinformation. Management providing employees with a brief training (possibly role-playing) on how to access and apply the electronic policies and procedures and verifying information with the respective bank managers can reemphasize the importance of relying on formal communication tools. Lastly, since the breakdown in communication between New York and Florida trickles down and could negatively impact employee satisfaction, it would be prudent to set up a virtual meeting with Puerto Rico and New York to resolve these persistent communication issues.