CEO’s emails and videos restore faith in leadership

In February of 2015, Intermedix brought a new CEO on board for the first time in its 13-year history. As Joel Portice took the helm, Intermedix communicators saw an opportunity to foster stronger bonds between disengaged employees around the world and the organization’s leadership team. They repaired relations so well that Intermedix has won the “Best Executive Communications” category of Ragan’s 2015 Employee Communications Awards.

Here’s how bad things had gotten: The previous CEO’s approval rating in February 2015 was 45.7 percent. An employee satisfaction survey done at the same time revealed that less than half of employees approved of Intermedix’s executive communications.

Something new had to be done. Intermedix communicators resolved to:

• Shoot an intro video interview with the new CEO and distribute it company-wide in his first week.
• Create the “CEO Friday Email” to announce big company changes and activities.
• Create a “CEO Corner” on the intranet to store CEO Friday Emails for year-round access.

Six months later, in August 2015, a new employee survey showed that:

• 88 percent of employees felt the CEO Friday Emails connected them more firmly to Intermedix. 
• 50 percent of all employees felt “very connected.” 38 percent felt “connected.” 
• The above results were 30 percent higher than the Intermedix communicators’ goal.
• The new CEO’s approval rating reached 93 percent in October, more than 100 percent higher than February’s rating.
• The new CEO’s approval rating in January 2016 was 70 percent, 15 percent higher than the goal.

Congratulations on this superb improvement in executive communications go to Lisa Osborne, Intermedix communications team leader, Maria Emerson, VP of marketing, and CEO Joel Portice.