Productive collaboration is a key driver for not only successful business results but innovation. Kimberly-Clark (K-C) wanted to create a new collaborative experience for its people that would transcend organizational and geographic silos. It wanted to hear K-C employees’ thoughts and ideas on what the company could do to accelerate culture change and take its business to the next level. And so, in partnership with IBM, K-C created a collaborative experience for its people called “The “One K-C Jam.”
The name, “jam,” comes from its musical origins, where a group of musicians would come together to make music and “jam.” The sound of multiple instruments playing together is much more beautiful than any one person who plays alone. Similarly, the thoughts of one person can become much more productive when shared and combined with the thoughts of others in the form of a conversation. In this case, a “jam” is an online conversation in which employees and leaders can share and discuss their ideas about topics that matter to them to ultimately help their business deliver better results.
“One K-C Jam” elements include:
- Chat rooms
- Discussion forums facilitated by leaders
- Quick polls
- Real-time data and trending
This results in thousands of valuable comments and suggestions that will transform Kimberly-Clark’s culture and move its business forward.
The objectives of the “One K-C Jam” are to:
- Identify culture gaps and generate employee involvement in closing those gaps (highlight and showcase success stories).
- Act as a qualitative survey to gather feedback that shapes K-C’s strategy (discover the root causes behind barriers to change, understanding not just the “what” but also the “why”).
- Collect insights to help prioritize initiatives (understand the impact of current initiatives and find areas of opportunity).
Results
In the October 2012 “One K-C Jam,” K-C had strong engagement and participation across 66 countries with close to 12,000 salaried and hourly employees contributing 22,000-plus posts. Participants spent an average of 3.5 hours in the Jam, and there were 5,647 unique posters (48 percent of all participants). Compared to the industry average (20 to 25 percent) and IBM’s internal average (40 to 45 percent), K-C exceeded all expectations.
Of more than 22,000 total posts, nearly 6,000 were solution oriented. These were culled into six specific themes with ideas, best practices, tools, and resources that are being shared throughout a 2013 communication series to drive local empowerment and accountability. Seventeen product ideas were generated and shared with the appropriate business units. Multiple grassroots change initiatives also have been identified thus far based on Jam input, e.g., the creation of “Mothers’ Rooms” in Neenah, WI; Roswell, GA; and Seoul, Korea; as well as a new travel policy that incentivizes traveling in economy vs. business class.
Moreover, there are multiple enterprise initiatives in play, e.g., “Jam Conversation Guides” that provide questions and tools/resources linked to each of the six themes to all team leaders; an updated flexible work arrangement policy; and an updated dress code policy that empowers employees to dress for the job they do.
