🛠️ Michael Maney: Head of Internal Communications, The Home Depot
The Importance of Business Partnership, Centers of Excellence and Analytics
In This Edition
📝 The importance of business partnership with communications
🏛️ How Centers of Excellence (COEs) can bring together knowledge
📈 The power of analytics to understand what drives employee engagement
About Michael
Michael Maney is the head of internal communications for The Home Depot. A seasoned communications and employee experience leader, he has guided the internal communications strategies and teams for several other Fortune 100 companies including Disney, Target, and Amazon’s Whole Foods Market.
Michael serves as chair of the Board of Trustees for Scholarship America, one of Forbes' Top 100 U.S. Charities for 2022. He also serves as a member of the Board of Visitors for his alma mater Berry College, and on the Leadership Communication Council for the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
What sparked your passion for working in your field?
I started out in politics in Atlanta immediately after graduate school, but quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit. A friend further along in his career suggested I consider a move to LA or New York, where there were more opportunities to start a career in communications. So I set out to LA in search of my professional passion. I was very fortunate to get a freelance role at Disney. It was supposed to be a two-week gig but turned into a nine-year career!
While working in corporate communications for Disney’s TV division, I had a chance to explore the employee-facing side by writing for the company’s newsletter, Disney Newsreel. Not long after, when the company integrated the HR and corporate communications teams, I transitioned fully into the internal comms space.
I found my true calling for internal communications about a year later at a Ted Talk-style event Disney hosted on the Upper West Side of New York for ABC employees. This wasn’t too long after the merger of Disney and Cap Cities/ABC and there was still tension between the two cultures. At the event afterparty, an employee shared it was the first time in 10 years she felt the company had cared for her. That was the moment I realized the power that internal communications can have on engagement, connection, and confidence.
As you look back, what is one project you are proud of leading over the years?
When I left LA, I moved to Minneapolis to work at Target. I was recruited by Dustee Jenkins, the Chief Communications Officer at the time. She was incredible to work for as a leader.
It was a pivotal time for the company — they had just exited Canada and were transforming Target into the retail experience it is today. In this role, I focused heavily on change management, working alongside Learning and Development, Talent Management and Enterprise Strategy to build a plan that would help leaders and Team Members understand, adopt and champion new ways of working. It was a months-long campaign that ultimately repositioned Target as a purpose-driven brand and 21st-century retailer.
What are some key internal communications lessons you’ve learned over the years and how does it apply to the work you’re leading now?
At Target, I learned the importance of business partnership as a critical element of communications. Like HR business partners, we served as strategic consultants to our senior leaders, building communications and engagement strategies to help drive greater understanding and confidence among their teams.
At Whole Foods Market, I learned about Centers of Excellence (COEs) and how they can bring together knowledge and expertise to tackle critical business challenges and drive employee engagement.
COEs are more prevalent in areas like Learning and Development, Talent Management and Organizational Development, but the model also works well for Internal Communications. Through a COE, you can bring together your talent to better collaborate, share expertise and ultimately scale to meet the needs and complexities of your company.
There’s a natural tendency to work in silos, but if these COEs work collaboratively toward unified goals you can move the needle on the employee experience.
What internal communications best practice should everyone keep top of mind?
At Whole Foods Market, I had the opportunity to also lead Talent Insights and Analytics. In that role, I gained a deeper understanding of what drives employee engagement. Because of that experience, I better understand and lean into data as a key input for decision-making.
I think most internal communicators would agree that data is one of our biggest challenges. Often there is limited data or we don’t have sufficient analysis to be able to draw conclusions or make recommendations. As internal communicators, the relationship with your employee insights and analytics team, or data-centric agency partner, is key. One of the best investments I made in professional development was taking a people data and analytics course. This has helped me better understand the uniqueness of different types of talent and the best ways to engage with them.
What other skills are needed for success in your field?
You must have strong storytelling chops to start, as well as the ability to distill complex information into simple narratives that anyone can understand. As you progress in your role, it’s increasingly important that you be able to build impactful, easy-to-understand strategies.
Target taught me a great deal about communication strategy — understanding the problem you’re looking to solve, what levers you need to pull (messaging, timing, audience, etc.) to achieve the goal, and how you’re going to know if you’re successful.
What sparked your interest in retail employee communications?
I’m often asked why Target, Whole Foods Market and The Home Depot. I gravitate towards these roles because it’s a fun challenge to engage different types of associates — those working the frontlines in stores and warehouses, driving trucks, supporting customers in call centers, or working across offices. Retail is also a dynamic business, which means each day is often different and exciting.
How do you continue your professional learning journey?
After 20 years of working at different companies, the most important path to success is building a network of individuals to lean on. I reach out to peers when I’m trying to solve a problem and want to learn how they’ve approached it in the past.
I’m also part of a great professional group, The Darden Leadership Communications Council. Formed by Steve Soltis, the former head of Executive Communications at Coca-Cola and UPS, we get together once a year at the University of Virginia. The council’s mission is to support the UVA MBA program’s focus on communication as a core leadership skill. The group advises the program on big topics that companies are facing from a communications perspective. It’s also a great way to connect and learn from peers who are facing similar communications challenges.
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