Improving communications for a more connected organisation

Brooke is an international charity that protects and improves the lives of horses, donkeys and mules which give people in the developing world the opportunity to work their way out of poverty. Brooke has 114 UK employees, all based in London (but predominantly WFH currently) and 600 overseas based in 13 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

With a number of change programmes underway, designed to modernise and enhance efficiency across the organisation, Chris Wainwright (CEO) was keen to build a more connected organisation to maximise opportunities for improvement. Whilst a number of channels were in place to facilitate communication, Chris recognised that the lack of a managed IC infrastructure was holding them back.

We worked with Chris to enable him to gain a clear picture of the effectiveness of the channels, communication tools and practices currently in use, and an understanding of any gaps that might exist, as well as developing an understanding of the communication needs and preferences of different audiences amongst the organisation.

We conducted participative workshops at Brooke’s first all staff event, since the pandemic in their London offices, and together with a series of 1:1 interviews and an online questionnaire we were able to: identify and evaluate current channels including purpose, access, tone of voice and usage; evaluate charity messaging reach and resonance; explore communication capability, culture and behaviours; provide opportunities for leaders, managers and colleagues to contribute their views and preferences for the future; establish baselines for future monitoring and evaluation; develop recommendations for change.

The outputs of our research will help bring a more consistent, targeted and relevant approach to communications at Brooke going forwards.

“Working with HarknessKennett has enabled us to shine a light on how we communicate with each other at Brooke and has given us a framework to move forward with. Their tailored approach has meant that we have been able to listen to colleagues across the organisation and develop our understanding about what is important to them.”
Chris Wainwright, CEO