BeeSocial #4 - Kyle Lewis (Holcim)

From the Shop Floor to the Top Floor: Reaching every level with internal

communications

Kyle LewisCommunication Manager Europe

Holcim

Content

● Introduction to Holcim● Types of Communications Used● Employees● Challenges● Solution?● Progress Report● Questions / Discussion

Holcim● Swiss-based global building materials and

aggregates company founded in 1912

● As of 2014, Holcim does business in more than 70 different countries and employs 71,000 people. The company is the market leader in cement production in Australia, Azerbaijan, India, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Latin America.

● Cement, aggregates, and concrete are an essential part of the built environment in nearly every place worldwide. Without them most iconic architecture would be unthinkable – be it residential, commercial or infrastructure. In their different product variations they are used in a plethora of different kinds of projects ranging from affordable housing, to roads and railways, bridges, tunnels or high-rise towers.

Holcim uses a broad array of internal communications channels...

● Intranet

● Notice boards

● Electronic newsletters

● Emails

● Face-to-face meetings

● Townhall meetings

● Small group discussions

● Team events

● Conference calls

● Internal social media platform

● In-house magazine

Many different types of employees work for Holcim...

● Holcim Central Europe (Switzerland, South Germany, Italy, & Haut-Rhin): o three languageso four countrieso one regiono roughly 2,500 employees

● Employees work ino Officeso Cement, Aggregate, RMX plantso Quarrieso Truckso Construction sites

Having many different types of employees creates challenges for communications...

● Not all channels reach all employeeso digital channels o notice boardso material distributed on siteo material sent homeo meeting

● Different employees have very different access to information

● Employees feel attached to their location

● How to provide the same basic information to all employees “right to know”

What have we done to meet these challenges and find a solution?

● Multiple channels

● Constant solicitation and use of feedback from employees

● Innovative solutionso Beekeeper (Holcim CE Talk)o April 30, 2015 (soft) Launcho 2,000 users pre-loaded into the

systemo strategic groups given “sneak peak”

before launch

What is the status so far? Next Steps?● Key Challenges:

○ Feature expectations○ Promotion without

suffocation / alienation○ Relevant content○ Management / Merger○ Grow user base / app

usage

● Month 1 progress impressive:o Roughly 25% of employees have used CE Talko Goal of 50% in 6 monthso Posts from all departments and management levelso Regular posts from different departments

Health and Safety Marketing HR Communications Sales Production

● Next steps:o Study data to target growth areaso Incorporate feedbacko Add more users!

Questions / Comments?