You can't ignore it – change is a constant and communicating well during change can make a real difference to the success of any change initiative. We focus on helping organisations to reduce the rumour mill and have:

• A clear, well thought-out communications strategy and plan – you can clearly see the objective before you start
• A vision that can be shared with employees, giving real transparency to the process
• An ongoing process to stop any vacuum in communications and reduce the impact of the rumour mill
• The right tools for the job – whether it's newsletters, events, branding, toolkits or training
• The appropriate leadership approach through cascade advice, strategic communications and training

Getting the contract mobilisation or transition right is one of the most important stages of a contract. This phase lays the foundations for a consistent, stable and efficient service, and gives the customer the confidence that their outsourcing partners have the situation fully under control.

We can help to ensure that communications plays an important role in the mobilisation and transition programme, by:

• developing tailored communications strategies that take account of contract-specific stakeholders, including customers, employees and supply chain partners
• minimising loss of productivity by painting a clear picture of the contract strategy for employees and showing how they contribute to it
• Improving employee, customer and supply chain engagement in the overall programme by creating understanding and aligning expectations
• helping HR teams to communicate key issues around TUPE transfer
• enhancing customer trust and confidence by maintaining consistent communications at key milestones throughout the programme

Case Study - Find out how Twist worked with PriDE, an Interserve/SEC joint venture to develop effective
communication during mobilisation. Click here to download the full case study (Adobe PDF - 309Kb)

For anyone who has been through the process of a merger or an acquisition, it can be a painful, personal and dramatic process. Bringing two sets of employees together – sometimes from very different organisations and cultures and often during ongoing negotiation - can be a complex process. Rumour mills work overtime, good employees may decide to jump ship and management teams face the real challenge of creating a new culture for the merged business. All while maintaining productivity levels and 'business as usual'.

Research studies show that the influence of internal communication in this process is high – keeping positive conversations going in an organisation during a large-scale transformation is a tricky process. We work with management and HR teams to develop appropriate communications throughout the key merger or acquisition phases:

• The strategy definition even before the partner company has been identified
• The negotiation phase
• Pre-merger preparation
• The merger announcement
• The key 100 days of integration following the merger
• Measuring progress and continuing to build on the strategy
• Building the culture and brand of the new organisation

Introducing a new brand and culture is usually associated with building a new direction for the business. This inevitable means a change in the business – be that in one or many areas including the logo, strategy, technologies, systems, organisation structure amongst others. But to really change the culture of the organization, it's about the people.

We work with teams to develop the right culture in their business and facilitate the changes in people that will help to deliver the new strategy. We help to:

• Create the brand identity and develop the values that make the brand come alive
• Engage the leadership team in the brand and culture – the key to success
• Develop tools and initiatives that help to communicate the change and positively engage employees in the process
• Work with teams to empower employees to help design the change and shape their own working environments
• Measure progress – continuously – to understand progress and success