The largest merger in industrial history demanded an employee and leader engagement strategy that would produce a measurable ROI  over the course of a two-year journey. Strategies for engaging 35,000 employees and 9,000 leaders during radical change yielded measurable results – not just communications results, but business performance improvement. This included driving employee and leader engagement, impacting voluntary attrition rates below historical norms, and enabling the business to deliver significantly increased operating performance  (+23% EPS) improvement.

A sweeping, integrated communications effort  included the introduction of 9 new internal channels and tools for internal stakeholders, the creation of unique training experiences and content in a dedicated leaders portal, and conversion of all internal digital channels into two-way media.

Innovative, relevant content — delivered through a continuous feedback loop — drove CEO  global town halls attendance up by over 500%; and an internal Merger Moment series of digital print and video content garnered 264,000 internal impressions in a few short weeks leading up to the transaction close –a 650% increase over other articles in that channel, with a 1,500% click-through rate.

Communications metrics were aligned with employee organizational health and engagement measurement efforts, yielding a clear correlation between communications programming and improved engagement. Results included significant improvements during the pre-merger period with employee confidence in the future state, belief in leadership communications transparency and company pride.