LOCAL believes that a company’s people are its greatest asset – they make real transformation possible. In today’s dynamic business landscape, effective internal communication is essential to reaching your people, driving awareness of new ideas, and realizing your transformation goals.
According to a 2019 study by BCG and McKinsey, upwards of 70% of transformations fail. What’s surprising is that 66% of the time, this failure is a result of poor communication (Gartner).
This is where LOCAL’s Go-To-People Plan comes into play. It incorporates everything we know about crafting global, consumer-grade campaigns, pointed inside to leaders, managers, and employees.
What is the Go-To-People Plan?
At its essence, the Go-To-People Plan is a single plan that includes communications, activation tactics, change readiness, and training along an integrated timeline to maximize reach. Think of it as an actionable roadmap detailing how each piece of content will unfold to your various audiences at key times. It’s our go-to tool when you're launching the change.
Go-To-People Plans focus on several key elements: Objectives, Story, Journey, Key Messages, Tactics, Channels, Change Network, Timing, and Metrics. Each element is intentionally crafted to support the overall goal of seamless internal communication and effective change management.
Investing in a Go-To-People Plan demonstrates your commitment to your most valuable asset — your people. It brings consumer-grade marketing into change management, ensuring you earn their attention.
Do I need a Go-To-People Plan?
Whether you’ve recently planned an organizational transformation or you’re in the process of building for change, the Go-To-People Plan is our go-to tool when your Launching the change.
If you’re asking yourself these questions, a Go-To-People Plan can help:
How am I going to reach 100% of my employees with this change?
Where and when can I engage my employees to drive awareness and education?
How will I get people excited about this change?
What content is needed to support awareness and adoption?
Building the Go-To-People Plan
A solid Go-To-People Plan ensures every aspect of communication is covered. Here’s a breakdown of how we develop a plan that takes your people from awareness to adoption:
Objective: We begin by clearly defining what the plan aims to achieve. This could be the successful adoption of new technology, process change, or any other organizational transformation.
Story: The story forms the core narrative that drives all staff-facing messages — it is our rallying cry. It connects the change initiative to the organization’s mission, vision, and values, making it relatable and compelling. The messaging should be informed by an insights-gathering phase, ensuring we’ve captured what your people care about most.
Journey: We identify key content pillars that structure how we connect with our audience. The pillars reflect the journey we want people to take as they move from awareness to adoption.
Key Messages: We create our priority messages for each audience, ensuring that messages are tailored and relevant to each group within the organization.
Tactics: We outline the specific tactics and assets needed to reach and engage employees at all levels. When identifying the most effective tactics, we work to meet staff where they already are.
Channels: We determine the best channels, often utilizing a multi-channel approach to reach people, such as emails, intranet, video messages, and town halls. The selection is based on employee preferences and communication habits.
Change Network: We identify key stakeholders who will support the change, including existing champions within the organization or those identified in the insights-gathering phase who can carry the message forward.
Timing: We create a sequential timeline of events and communications. This timeline ensures that messages are delivered at the right moments, aligning with key milestones.
Metrics: We establish metrics to track the communication plan’s success. These include employee engagement levels, feedback, and the overall impact of the change initiative.
What is the Impact?
Turning Uncertainty into Enthusiasm — By focusing on the journey from awareness to adoption, your employees are not just informed, but fully committed to the changes ahead.
Improved Employee Engagement — Engaged employees are more productive and committed to the organization’s success. Our plan ensures that employees feel heard and valued, fostering a positive work environment.
Boosted Morale and Retention — Well-informed employees are more satisfied and less likely to leave the organization. This not only enhances productivity but also reduces turnover rates, cutting recruitment and training costs.
Effective Change Management — Change is a constant in any organization, and change is hard. This structured communication strategy helps your people manage transitions smoothly, reducing resistance and increasing adoption rates.
Clear Alignment and Unification — Consistent and clear communication ensures all employees are aligned with the organization’s goals and objectives. By aligning communication efforts to guide employees from awareness to adoption, we create a unified direction and purpose across the organization.
Data-Driven Decisions — The feedback loop integrated into the Go-To-People Plan provides valuable insights into employees’ sentiments and engagement levels. This data informs future communication strategies, making them more effective.
Case Study: Driving adoption for Workday inside a Global CPG
LOCAL worked with a global consumer packaged goods company to launch Workday to its 60K+ employees in 200 countries.
We started by understanding how the change would impact different employee segments, including middle managers — the “pressurized middle” responsible for delivering results while driving change within their teams.
To break through the corporate noise, LOCAL employed a strategy borrowed from Uber and developed “Workday Week.” This tightly sequenced, multi-channel launch began moving people from awareness to adoption in just five days. The content started with why Workday was chosen and why we needed to implement the new technology now. This was backed by immediate calls to action to log in and update their profiles, especially direct deposit info.
The result was an 80% adoption rate in the first two weeks, and a reduction in Help Desk calls. Companies that are successful in the first wave of a digital transformation report much greater success in scaling those capabilities to create broader, more sustainable change.
“Local Industries jumped right in, asked the right questions, and got to the business advancing ideas, innovations, and creative content quickly. They think broadly versus just what you thought you hired them for.”
— Senior Director, Human Resources
Ready to get started?
If you’re unsure where to begin, LOCAL is here to help. We can customize a strategy that works for your unique change and company culture. If you’d like to learn more about LOCAL and the Storymap, Let’s Talk.
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