Grand Illusion:

1. Grand Illusion: Has Wells Fargo’s communications team been fooling itself? Michael Bares, University of St. Thomas Presented 5-15-2008 Michael R. Bares BCOM610 presentation 12-6-2006

2. Who are the communicators? • Reputation management. • Former reporters and PR agency veterans. • Unique thinking.

3. The challenge The company’s communication professionals must understand management to better defend and improve Wells Fargo’s reputation among key stakeholders.

4. Managers/communicators disconnected? • Anecdotes show disconnection • Research objectives: • To discover if groups agree about roles and value of communications. • To offer recommendations for bridging gaps.

5. Research question Do communicators and Wells Fargo managers share an aligned perception of the communications function?

6. About Wells Fargo • FORTUNE 50 financial-services company • 169,000 employees • 80+ business groups • $39.4 billion revenue (2007)

7. What we wanted to know • What communication tasks do managers think are important. • Do communicators accurately perceive what managers think. • Determine alignment. • Measure variance.

8. How we found out • Two 15-question surveys - Survey 1 – 93 communicators, 67 responses (72%) - Survey 2 – 197 managers, 117 responses (59%) • Surveys measure two perspectives .

9. Communicator tasks analyzed • Suggesting news stories to reporters • Writing news releases • Responding to news reporters • Media training managers • Speech writing • Reporting on news coverage • Offering communication coaching to managers • Managing internal communications

10. First question Managers asked: Of the work my communicator does, I rank the following tasks as: Communicators asked: Of the work I do, I believe managers rank the following tasks as:

11. Managers Of the work my communicator does, I rank the following tasks as Important or Very important

12. Communicators Of the work I do, I believe managers rank the following tasks as Important or Very important

13. Managers vs. Communicators Ranking tasks as Important or Very important

14. Second question Managers asked: For each business week, I’d prefer that my communicator spend this much time on tasks. Communicators asked: How I spent my time during the last business week on these tasks.

15. Managers Each business week, I’d prefer if my communicator would spend 5+ hours on:

16. Communicators Tasks I spent 5+ hours on during the past five business days:

17. Managers vs. Communicators Tasks communicators spent 5+ hours on vs. manager preference

18. Manager attitudes • 84% of managers agree or strongly agree that communicators contribute to business lines’ financial success. • 62% of managers believe their communicator understands their business line. • 43% of managers regularly meet with their communicators.

19. Research question Do communicators and Wells Fargo managers share an aligned perception of the communications function? Not always.

20. Key findings • Managers see it this way: • Most important tasks are (in order) writing news releases, responding to reporters and internal communications. • Communicators see it this way: • Believe managers’ most important tasks are (in order) internal communications, responding to reporters, writing news releases. • Tension: • Degree of communicators underestimate value managers place on the tasks.

21. Key findings • Managers see it this way: • Spend your time on (in order): internal communications, responding to reporters, writing news releases, suggesting stories. • Communicators see it this way: • Spending their time on (in order): internal communications, responding to reporters, offering advice, writing news releases. • Tension: • Degree of time difference.

22. Recommendations • Communicators need to: • Meet regularly with their managers. • Align their tasks to match manager needs. • Better educate managers about their work. • Develop methods for communicators to regularly report on tasks to managers.

23. Questions?