The brief: In 2010 Zurich South Africa was compelled to transform its business in order to build a strong platform from which it could achieve its future profitable growth aspirations. This would mean approximately 600 people being retrenched or retained to work in new areas. Corpcom was tasked to work with Zurich's communications team to communicate the retrenchment programme and the company's new strategy.
The approach: Corpcom advised the leadership team to keep all communications open and honest. Employees and all other stakeholders - particularly the brokers – were informed of the transformation process at all times to ensure the smooth transition of the business.
Regular communication between the CEO's office and employees formed the basis of the campaign. Zurich also hosted an event for all employees where every person was addressed on all the issues and had an opportunity to ask questions directly to the CEO.
Communication with the media was kept to a minimum by design, although press releases and Q & A's were ready at all times should there be a need for them.
The result: The transition period was relatively smooth and all stakeholders were engaged. Media coverage was well-managed and limited as planned, with only one negative article published in an industry magazine. The business suffered for a period of time while new people were retrained for the transformed business. The Claims Department was badly disrupted for a period of time, again not as a result of poor communication.
