We have also included the following external links which support many of the initiatives taken by MSS. Click on any of the links below to view them:

Internal Branding
View now

Internal Communications
View now

Strategic Communications
View now

Welcome to The Source

Strategic Communications

Movers Specialty Service, Inc. adopted a comprehensive “Strategic Communications” program in 2007 to implement best-practice corporate initiatives in internal employee communication, corporate cultural change, employee training and leadership development.   Strategic Communications is a reference to a change management initiative targeting employee training, company wide internal knowledge sharing, daily work interaction, employee empowerment and management / employee information sharing.  The goals of a comprehensive, well planned strategic communications approach are improved service to customers, measurable internal efficiency improvements, reduced turnover, reduced “learning-curve” for new hires, stronger employee commitment and buy-in to corporate change and instituting and meeting higher job performance standards and greater employee and management accountability.  Sounds like a tall order—and it is!  Here are the components and resulting actions encompassing MSS’s strategic communication program:

• Leadership Development: the 1st step to any major corporate change initiative is a shared vision and buy-in at the top of the organization.  In early 2007, all director-level and above executives at MSS were introduced to Strategic Communications via an in-house executive training seminar endorsed by the President and CEO and facilitated by the Vice President Human Resources.   Not just an executive training forum, this session was used to announce and outline a specific agenda of high-priority projects for the year (see below).

• Internal Infrastructure:  The best-made plans and corporate strategies usually fail, not because of bad ideas or poor leadership vision; but due to the inability of the company to execute the projects required to make the vision a reality.   It’s all in the implementation. Recognizing this up front, MSS invested in the right resources and tools required to execute on its strategic communications imperatives. These resources included proper staffing of dedicated internal expertise, establishment of web-based delivery tools (MSS Intranet) and building a fully-equipped computer-based training lab on-site at MSS. Additional staff resources in MSS Corporate Communications and HR functions and creation of a hands-on Training Committee provided the dedicated expertise required to make the vision a reality. 

• New Communication Forums:  2007 saw the establishment of five new internal communications forums at MSS:

• Town Meeting Hosted by the CEO
• MSS Intranet Announcements, Headlines and Resources
• Web-based “Question Box” and “Answer Box” employee suggestion and response system
• Web-based employee surveys
• Internal Company Branding

• MSS University: MSS University—like any college—offers a customized curriculum of adult-learning course offerings specific to company and job-related activity.  Think of it as a major when selecting courses to fulfill your college requirements.  MSS offers majors in Dispatching, Customer Service, Accounting Operations and Field Technical Know-How, and General MSS Business.  Core courses are also required of all employees / University participants, such as Welcome to MSS (new hire orientation), MSS Business Overview, MSS Service Offerings and MSS Tools of Trade.  Finally, MSS University offers minor optional courses ranging from advanced Microsoft Outlook training, to learning how to use benefit-provider web sites.