Company’s ‘divorce’ shifts funds from PR to employee engagement

The specific divorce she was talking about was the October 2011 split of ITT into three distinct companies. ITT’s water and defense divisions spun off into separate entities; the remaining company continued making its line of oil pumps, shock absorbers, seat actuators, brake pads, and more.

It was a big change, effectively making ITT an almost century-old startup, Siman said, which meant communicators had to come up with a transition plan that helped employees understand the new landscape.

“We really needed everyone to be facing in the same direction,” Siman said. “We started with the top of the company.”

In the nine months since the split, the plan seems to have worked. Most leaders at ITT say they know where the company is headed.

A new way

ITT employs 8,500 people in 130 locations, most of whom are highly technical and skilled laborers. For communicators, “that presents unique challenges,” Siman said.

Even so, Siman saw a real opportunity as the company was dividing into its separate parts, creating a business case to shift funds from external communications to employee engagement.

“We decided to work from the inside out,” she said.