Why key messages delivered on video remove the risk of 'word of mouth'

31 May 2007

Midland Mainline is nearing the end of its franchise and the Department for Transport have announced that they will become part of a new bigger East Midlands Franchise. The National Express Group plc, owners of the current passenger rail franchise Midland Mainline, are bidding for this new East Midlands Franchise along with other companies. The preferred bidder will be announced in July 2007 with the new franchise starting in November.

As you can imagine, these circumstances produce concern and anxiety within the workforce. It was the challenge of Anna Statham to communicate what this change meant to the people working within Midland Mainline.

Anna’s first step was to organise a conference which delivered the key messages about the changes to the managers employed by Midland Mainline. Recognising the need to cascade information down throughout the organisation, Anna requested that the conference was videoed.

Anna, Internal Communications Manager for the train operating company said:

"Having a video of the key points made at the conference enabled us to deliver a 'single voice' to all our employees on the changes within the organisation. We didn't want to rely on 'word of mouth' as people's perceptions can often cloud the key messages.”

Anna went on to say: "We were very pleased with the outcome and we feel that the video of the conference enabled all of our employees to access the facts. It would be very difficult for an organisation the size of Midland Mainline to have a conference where all employees could be present - videoing the conference was the next best thing in order to put people at ease and let them know what's happening."

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