Rachel Salabes CCTP 745 May 4, 2010 Discovery Communications: A closer look at the internal and external communications of an international organization Introduction Discovery Communications is a multifaceted, worldwide corporation, with multiple locations and over 4,000 employees. Overall, it has international reach as the world's number one nonfiction media company. Wi th a company of this size, it is important to help employees feel connected to one ano ther, as well as to the organization itself. With technology constantly evolving, employees have many choices as to what communication mediums to use to communicate with one another, as well as which Discovery resources to use on a daily basis. Discovery uses multiple platforms in order to connect to employees, including a Discovery portal, newsletters, and community events. In addition, Discovery Communications has created a strong online presence. Its website is informative and interactive, and the organization is present on a variety of influential social networks, including T witter and Facebook. Discovery often encourages employees to participate in its social networking p romotion efforts; therefore, employees' perspectives on engaging in social media for work purposes will be examined. Through the analysis of employee interviews, it is hoped to gain a better understanding of the following topics: How employees cho ose to interact internally, if the company is effectively engaging with employees, as well as allowing employees to connect to each o ther, and finally ifthe organization is effectively motivating employees to become involved in social media efforts. 1
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Internal Communications – Choice of Communication Medium
Because of Discovery's size and international reach, internal communication technologies
within the organization are essential. The organization has thousands of employees, as well as
several locations and multiple departments. Therefore, it is important to understand how
employees choose to communicate with one another and which technologies employees find to
be the most effective
Email was used the most frequently out of all the communication mediums; however, the
reasons for this choice varied among each employee. For example, when considering what form
of communication to choose, Brice's bases his choice on the thought of interruption. Out of all
the options, including instant messaging, telephone, and face-to-face, he finds email to be the
least intrusive. According to Brice:
I use email first because it will not interrupt a person while they are working. If I want tomeet face to face, I do not want to go directly to a person's desk and bother them if theyare busy. Instant messages also interrupt me when I am working. They pop up out of nowhere while I am in the middle of a research project. Emails can be answered by
recipients when they have finished what ever work they may be handling at that time.
Therefore, Brice chooses email because it is not as rich or personal as other mediums, such as
face-to-face. Through email, he has the option of not being overly present to the recipient. The
other three employees interviewed, Philip, Jane and Jeanna, also use email the most frequently.
Each of them mentioned that email is chosen when they are not familiar with who they are
communicating with. In Philip's interview, he said, “If I feel comfortable enough with someone
then I will communicate with them personally, but if not, I usually 'hide' through email and
interact with them that way.”
Once again, email is ultimately chosen because of its place on the richness scale. It is not
considered as rich as telephone and face to face, because of it's limited ability to convey personal
cues and subtleties; however, it acceptably serves its purpose of conveying a message and its
ability to reduce ambiguity on certain issues (Schmitz and Fulk 488). Due to it's leaner qualities,
email can serve as a “mask” from people that employees are not comfortable with.
According to Schmitz and Fulk (1991), the richest medium is face-to-face. This is
followed by telephone, electronic mail, personal written text, formal written text, and formal
numeric data (488). However, it appears that in this day in age, some people now choose email
over telephone for complex issues, while others still find phone and face-to-face to be the best
forms to explain in-depth problems, as well as reduce equivocality. For example, Jane finds
email to be the best way to explain complex issues, saying:
“I definitely use email the most, because it's a catch all type of communication. For example, I can email when there are attachments to forward, or I want a hardcopy torefer to in the future...If there are web links involved or I'm sending over a lot of information, whether for social or for a work context, I will send an email.”
While coding the interviews, it was evident that various aspects of the dual capacity model were
present in the media choices of each employee, including consideration of the receiver, message
content, and purpose. Once again referring to Jane's interview:
“...my communication choices will tend to reflect the purpose of the message beingconveyed and the content of the actual message. If it’s a quick question with a quick answer and I am familiar with the person I am contacting, I will tend to shoot them aninstant message.”
In addition to familiarity with the receiver, employees also consider their past interactive
history with who they are trying to reach. For example, Philip Riley explained that his choice is
often dependant upon which means he finds to be the most effective when contacting a
colleague, providing this example, “I have coworkers that are best connected through IM and so
used the portal varied. For example, Brice does not consider the portal a useful platform to
connect with other employees; however, he was unaware or unsure of many of the portal's
interactive sections. When asked if the portal was an effective resource for interacting with other
coworkers, he replied:
I think it is a good place to read about other departments and see what it going on. I canread updates on corporate projects and strategies, but I do not find it to be a placewhere I can make connections with co workers. There are resources to connect withother employees, but I do not keep up with them. The links are not obvious enough and Ihave to search for the link. I am often too busy to check it out, but I think there is a"craigs list" type network on the portal. Again, I am not sure exactly how to get to it..Iwould have to look around for the link.
The other employees interviewed were aware of the interactive sections; however, they
admitted that overall they do not use the portal to its full advantage. For example, even though
Jane generally browses the classifieds once a week, she says she has not connected to other
employees as much as she could, explaining, “I've seen postings for people to join sports
leagues, or for recommendations for good places to eat in the area and the like, but I have never
personally taken advantage of those opportunities.” Similarly, Jeanna used the classifieds section
a great deal when she first started at Discovery; however, she currently uses it much less. Philip
Riley provided several interesting insights into the effectiveness of the Discovery portal. He is
aware of that the portal is a terrific resource, using it mostly to check his benefits and rewards, as
well as to occasionally browse courses and other educational opportunities. Initially, when
describing his portal use, he said “I usually glance at it daily but do little more than that.” Philip
also pointed out that he has not really made any connections with employees through the space.
When asked if the portal should be improved to provide a better space for employees to interact,
After thinking about this more thoroughly, I have connected with employees onoccasion. Generally it is because of a news flash about an event or person and that hasled to email correspondence. In this respect I think the Portal accomplishes what it setsout to do - to inform the Discovery community about recent events and personalaccomplishments as well as connecting each employee to the many facets of the
corporation itself. Additionally, I was looking at "connecting" to employees as a two-waycommunication but that isn't always the case. After some thought - connection can take place even one-sided. The Portal has connected me to the rest of the company even if they haven't been connected to me in turn.
Even further, the portal also provides opportunities for employees to learn about each
other. For example, employee accomplishments will often be highlighted, usually accompanied
by an interview with that employee allowing others to learn more about them. As Philip pointed
out, this occasionally leads to email correspondence between employees. The portal section “On
The Move” lets employees know when someone has been promoted, switched to a different
department, or has moved to a new Discovery location.
Based off of these responses, it appears that the organization is effectively providing
spaces and opportunities for employees to connect to one another, as well as to the organization
itself, even if employees do not take full advantage of these opportunities. The Discovery portal
is a prime example of fulfilling membership negotiation; however self-structuring is also present.
All of these separate sections essentially work together to help employees learn about each other,
but also to feel a connection to the organization by knowing that they always have an internal
resource where they can learn what is happening within the company. The simple sharing of
information, such as one employee who has changed departments, lets employees know that the
organization cares about making this information available. Therefore, through these
communication platforms and resources, Discovery employees become aware of the values of
the company and what the organization considers to be important. Ultimately, this is essential for
They definitely like to get out there and get involved. They get involved by offering some
sort of assistance, basically, I think they get involved by offering monetary assistance to
give you the extra nudge to do something you already wanted to do. For example, with
Haiti, they matched employee donations. For Christmas they gave each employee $25 to
donate to a charity of their choosing. For my event, they "sponsored" me by covering
my participation fee and making a donation.
Through this interview, it was evident that Discovery places a great deal of emphasis on their
role within society, both on a local and national level. Jane mentioned that Discovery has a
yearly event called Discover Your Impact Day, where every employee worldwide is asked to
participate in planned volunteer events regardless of their role in the organization. According to
Jane:
It's heavily advertised - there are those sort of opaque cling on stickers on every bathroom mirror and on doors and windows in the building. They feature LAND,WATER, or PEOPLE, the three "genres" of volunteer work we will be doing. There arealso these little signs propped up on tables in the common areas. It's on the homepage for Discovery, and finally, we've gotten a ton of emails. It's a really important initiative andyou can tell every single manager has been heavily encouraged to encourage the peoplehe/she supervises, because each level of management has sent out emails about it.
Clearly, Discovery takes their positioning in the community very seriously, and resorts to
a variety of measures in order to get employees from around the world involved. While Discover
Your Impact Day is on an international scale, Discovery also tries to maintain a presence in the
local community by encouraging and sponsoring employees to participate in local fundraising
and awareness activities. As Jane mentioned, Discovery sponsored her event which involved
participating in a local dodgeball tournament in order to raise money for diabetes research.
While newsletters such as assisting with Haiti relief efforts are considered important, not
everyone takes the time to read each and every one. For example, both Brice and Philip typically
read the title of the newsletter, then delete them immediately. Philip implied this was a result of
the company being overly present, saying “I do think they send out too many. Once a week
would be enough in my opinion, however since it is a constantly moving company, news doesn't
come nicely packaged for Monday mornings...In my opinion, fewer update emails would spark
more of an interest to me.” Proving that sometimes less is more, Philip brought up the example
of his department newsletter:
Our footage source department sends out a newsletter about once a quarter. Surprisingmyself, I read that one - for two reasons. It comes rarely, so I feel that it isn't a largeexpense of my time to look through it. Also, the newsletter is visually appealing andnicely formatted. It is more like looking at a well constructed webpage than a newspaper.If there is one thing that I have learned in television, it is that things need to pop in order
to catch someone's attention. I have found that this is a good point in almost all areas -including a newsletter. Even with little interest or time, information that pops (bothvisually and linguistically -if that's a word) has a much better chance of getting amessage across than information that is little more than typeface.
Through the newsletters, once again employees become aware of the company's values. Philip
further explained, “I do have a lot of respect for the PR department because they include all of
the newsletter topics in the subject line. They realize that people are very busy and that people
receive enough work related emails that may be more of a priority to the recipient than the
Discovery updates.”
While various employees have differing opinions on the newsletters, it is evident that
Discovery is putting a great amount of effort into communicating and forming a relationship with
its employees. Overall activity coordination is a flow that occurs as the result of these combined
efforts. Jane has said that Discovery has successfully found a way to promote a positive
employee culture. Therefore, the constant information flow about fellow coworkers and the
organization itself helps employees to feel that they are working within one large social unit
think it should be an organic process where the employees promote the programming because they want to. If an email blast came out that said to update my facebook about anew show, and the topic of the show is something I don't enjoy I won't want to post it.
Jane expressed a similar point of view; indicating that she does not promote shows when
a newsletter asks her to. Instead, she prefers to promote programs on her own terms. For
example, last year Dave Salmoni brought a lion to Discovery Headquarters in order to spread the
word about his new show. Jane took pictures of this event and posted them on her Facebook
page, mentioning the name of the show in the photo's caption. She also enjoys promoting shows
through ways that do not involve social media, such as by bringing friends to events and
screenings.
Jeanna and Philip are on the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to social media.
Jeanna did not have strong feelings about social media overall, she said that she simply does not
promote Discovery programming. Philip had specific reasoning for his non-participation. When
asked why he does not join in social media efforts, he explained:
The reason is because I don't want to. I don't like to jump on fad bandwagons which iswhy my experience with Twitter is close to nil. If something prompts me to do anythingon Twitter I'm going to ignore it. Additionally, I see Facebook as a social network that Iam part of in my spare time. I prefer not to clog it with notices and groups that I don'twhole-heartedly support. I would prefer it to be a place that I go to connect with myfriends and see what they are up to in their lives. Show or business pages on Facebook are the electronic equivalent of trinkets, in my book.
With a company that has such strong online presence, as well as employees that overall
feel connected to the organization, it is interesting that they do not feel motivated to promote
programming. This could potentially be a result of the varying attitudes toward social media
present within the organization. It is clear that social networking is a desire of the company since
it is often requested through employee newsletters; therefore, the organization should examine
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Fulk, J. (1993).“Social construction of communication technology.” Academy of Management Journal 36: 921-950.
McPhee, Robert and Zaug, Pamela (2009). The communicative constitution of organizations: Aframework for explanation. In Putnam, L. and Nicotera, A. Building Theories of
Organization: The Consitutive Role of Communication. (pp. 21-48).
Schmitz, J. & Fulk, J. (1991).Organizational colleagues, media richness, and electronic mail: Atest of the social influence model. Communication Research, 18, pp. 487-523.
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Media richness “If I have an in depth project I willmake a phone call, and possiblyfollow up with an email to share anyadditional info.” - Brice Dean
Presence “As mentioned earlier, if I feelcomfortable enough with someonethen I will communicate with them personally, but if not, I usually "hide"through email and interact with themthat way” - Philip Riley
Consideration of receiver “I use email if I don't know the
person.” - Jeanna Finamore
Consideration of message “If there are web links involved or
I'm sending over a lot of information,
whether for social or for a work
context, I will send an email.” - Jane
Jetabut
Internal Communications/
Portal & Newsletters Use
and Effectiveness
Employees connecting to
eachother
“I've been to several of the eventsover the past year or so [due to thenewsletters]– it’s a fun opportunity toget out of the office for a workishreason and to just hang out with co-workers.” - Jane Jetabut
Employees connecting to
organization
“...I think the Portal accomplisheswhat it sets out to do - to inform theDiscovery community about recentevents and personalaccomplishments as well asconnecting each employee to themany facets of the corporationitself.” - Philip Riley
Organization connecting to
employees
“Our footage source departmentsends out a newsletter about once aquarter. Surprising myself, I read thatone - for two reasons. It comesrarely, so I feel that it isn't a largeexpense of my time to look through
it. Also, the newsletter is visuallyappealing and nicely formatted.” -Philip Riley
Organization connecting tocommunity
“...probably the best example though,is DISCOVER YOUR IMPACT day.every single employee worldwide isasked to participate in planned
volunteer events on friday june 11th,regardless of your role in theorganization.” - Jane Jetabut
Reasons for Participation or
Non-participation in Social
Media Promotion
Do not want to be forced “As much as I love our programs,and do tell my friends about them, Iwould not like to feel obligated to do
so. I have promoted certain showsthat I am proud of, or think myfriends would enjoy.”- Brice Dean
For spare time “Additionally, I see Facebook as asocial network that I am part of inmy spare time. I prefer not to clog itwith notices and groups that I don'twhole-heartedly support. I would prefer it to be a place that I go toconnect with my friends and seewhat they are up to in their lives.” -Philip Riley
Own methods “I definitely don't…but I sometimes promote in other ways. For example,