The world is changing—becoming more competitive and digital—and businesses are adjusting to keep pace. But it takes more than a new corporate strategy or an internal town hall to engage and drive an entire organization, especially one that includes more than 40,000 associates in 106 countries. That’s where internal communications comes into play, and when measured against the best in the business, we’re proud to announce that our internal communications team comes out on top.
Nielsen’s 12-person internal communications team recently took top honors in the large team category in the 2017 CEB Internal Communications awards. In addition to having been selected from a group of leading global organizations, the Nielsen team’s win is especially rewarding given that those in the large team category must have at least 12 members to be eligible, proving that power and effectiveness aren’t always correlated with sheer staffing numbers.
“I am thrilled our team has brought this prestigious award to Nielsen,” said Laura Nelson, chief communications officer. “The team had to show that they excelled across a range of disciplines and regions, and they needed to exceed organizational expectations when it came to managing complex business dynamics and needs. I couldn’t be prouder of the team and this recognition that they most certainly deserve.”
While there are myriad examples to showcase the team’s prowess, agility and efficacy, the CEB recognized the team’s efforts across four key projects, which directly supported our business strategy and represented an overhaul of the company’s culture.
The team:
- Led a culture change when Nielsen shifted its corporate values to Connected, Open, Useful and Personal. From the unveiling at an internal town hall to photo filters for social media to one-pagers that guided local discussions, the team has ensured that the new values permeated work at Nielsen.
- Successfully supported our chief technology officer’s initiative to modernize internal tools by shifting to Google for Work. In less than six months, the team managed every aspect of the change communication process, including the enlisting of 2,500 Nielsen associates in 150 locations to serve as “Google Guides” to help other associates make the switch.
- Made Nielsen associates the owners, stewards and stars of Nielsen’s “Science Behind What’s Next” campaign, which launched the company’s refreshed brand identity in early 2017. In addition to helping select the associates featured in the video vignettes of the campaign, the team used the featured associates to inspire others to nominate colleagues to be the future faces of the campaign.
- Broadcasted the company’s annual leadership meeting live to all Nielsen associates for the first time, exhibiting the company’s new “Open and Connected” values. To make sure the event was “Useful and Personal,” the company hosted more than 80 simultaneous “Launch Day” follow-up events around the world.
