4. Universe of Learning: Internal & External Communications Benchmark Research Participants Participants in this benchmarking research included 39 Communications executives and managers at 33 leading companies from bio-pharmaceutical, healthcare and other industry segments.
5. Most Benchmark Partners Provided Insights for Both Internal & External Communications Most research participants work in leadership roles in the Communications function and thus were able to answer for both Internal and External Communications. Q2. Please note for which groups you are able to respond. (n=39) % of Companies % of Companies (n=33)
6. External Communications Favors Assigning Staff 100 % To Customer; Assigning on Fractional Basis Seen as Ineffective External Communications leaders across all industries rate two staffing approaches as the most effective: Assigning Staff 100% to a customer and centrally locating staff. Other staffing approaches produce mixed results, and assigning on a small fractional basis is discouraged. Q7. Customer-focus Tactics : Rate the effectiveness of different staffing approaches for serving internal customers. (n=26) Total Benchmark Class Analysis Note : “Total Effective”= sum of highly and somewhat effective. Green highlights effectiveness ratings that surpass a 55% aggregate scoring threshold. 36% 7% 29% 29% 18% 18% Shared Service: External Communications members serve multiple customers / business units on a fractional basis. 53% 8% 19% 19% 38% 15% Matrix-oriented Staff Specialist: Assign staff issue specialist to cover multiple customers, therapeutic areas or units. 61% 0% 4% 36% 36% 25% Issue-focused Staff Specialists: Assign staff 100% to an issue / topic 65% 0% 8% 27% 42% 23% Co-locate Staff With Customers: Placing staff on site with the customers/units they serve. 66% 0% 17% 17% 38% 28% Centrally Locate External Communications Staff: Locate staff at headquarters or a central location to build skills among the sub-group or function. 78% 4% 7% 11% 37% 41% Customer-focused Staff Specialists: Assign staff 100% to the customer or unit they serve Total Effective Highly Ineffective Somewhat Ineffective Neutral Somewhat Effective Highly Effective
7. External Communications Outsources 9% of WW Employees on Average To reduce costs, the pharma sector has gradually increased outsourcing levels for External Communications staff. The function’s global outsourced staff now ranges between 0-15% with a 9% average. Meanwhile, U.S.-based Ex Comm groups now outsource from 0-28% of staff with 19% the average. The higher U.S. outsourcing level seems logical considering high labor costs. 19. Internal FTE % Vs. Outsourced FTE's %: What percentage of your External Communication employees are internal or outsourced? (total sums to 100% For Each Geography) (n=17) Pharma Segment 27.5% 19.1% 0.0% Number of U.S. Based External Communication Employees - Outsourcer Employed % 100.0% 80.9% 72.5% Number of U.S. Based External Communication Employees - Company Employed % 15.0% 9.1% 0.0% All External Communication Employees Worldwide - Outsourcer Employed % 100.0% 90.9% 85.0% All External Communication Employees Worldwide - Company Employed % 75th Percentile Average 25th Percentile
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9. Pharma Internal Communications See Email, Intranet as Critical (n=12) Pharma Segment Q43. Services Impact: Rate the importance of various key Internal Communications-specific communication channels directed at your company's workforce. Internal Communications in pharma, like other industries, views email and intranet as critical communication tools for reaching employees. While more accepting of new technologies such as internal blogs and podcasts, pharma still has not embraced them as important tools, but that will change – albeit slowly – as comfort levels rise. 17% 8% 25% 50% 17% 0% Voicemail Announcements 17% 33% 17% 33% 17% 0% Company TV Station Broadcasts 17% 17% 25% 42% 8% 8% Podcasts Announcements 25% 8% 25% 42% 25% 0% Internal Blogs 27% 0% 9% 64% 27% 0% Other channels 58% 8% 17% 17% 17% 42% Town Hall Discussions 64% 9% 9% 18% 64% 0% Company Video Announcements 92% 0% 0% 8% 67% 25% Intranet Releases 92% 0% 0% 8% 50% 42% E-mail Announcements Total Importance No Value Not Very Important Neutral Important Highly Important
10. About Best Practices LLC Best Practices, LLC 6350 Quadrangle Drive, Suite 200, Chapel Hill, NC 27517 www.best-in-class.com [email_address] Telephone: 919-403-0251 Best Practices, LLC is a research and consulting firm that conducts work based on the simple yet profound principle that organizations can chart a course to superior economic performance by studying the best business practices, operating tactics and winning strategies of world-class companies.