Communication Practices to Improve Employee Engagement

Carlo Westaway

Irrespective of the quality of their communication, world-class organisations always strive to improve their practices related to this topic. This is no exception at the Entyce Beverages Coffee and Creamer plant in Johannesburg, South Africa, a division of the AVI Group of Companies.

Carlo Westaway, the operations executive for the above plant is continuously working on initiatives to improve communication and improve engagement amongst the employees reporting to him.

Carlo fully subscribes to the fact that monthly multi-level meetings improve top-down, bottom-up and horizontal communication. After some very successful MDT1 multi-level meetings where team leaders presented their monthly mini-business results to the plant leadership and peers, Carlo identified at least two improvement opportunities related to multi-level meetings.

Opportunity 1: MDT2 Multi-Level Meetings
As leading by example is a key value for Carlo he also instituted a monthly multi-level meeting for the MDT2 teams at the plant. At this session, each Head of Department presents progress on key deliverables to his/her peers. The MDT1 and MDT2 multi-level meetings take place during successive weeks each month and the presentation agenda for each level of team is determined by the key opportunities and initiatives at the plant.

Opportunity 2: Team Leaders Presenting to Business Executives
Not only is the multi-level meeting an ideal opportunity to highlight progress and opportunities, it is also a perfect springboard to celebrate success and recognize good performance. Carlo has therefore given winning team leaders from the MDT1 multi-level meetings the opportunity to present their multi-level meeting presentation to the business directors during the monthly director’s visit to the plant. This has assisted Carlo to indicate to the directors the personal and team development practices achieved through MDW.

Another key drive at the plant to keep all employees informed of the latest news and information is a regular newsletter, covering various topics that is posted at various key positions on site as well as handed out to employees.

Below are contents from the Entyce Beverages Coffee and Creamer plant “Spill the Beans” Newsletter (Quarter 4, 2017). This edition gives specific attention to the MDW teams at the plant.