How GoDaddy boosted trust in leadership 13 percent in six months

Not long ago, Kim Clark had an ambitious goal in a time of change at GoDaddy.

The world’s largest internet domain registrar company was growing rapidly, with offices in locations from its Arizona headquarters to India. It had handed over the reins to a new chief executive.

“Employees really wanted to be engaged and felt like they weren’t getting all the communication that they were looking for,” says Clark, who is internal communications director.

Her goal: Increase trust in leadership by 10 percent among the company’s 5,500 employees worldwide. The result: Within six months, GoDaddy exceeded that, boosting the figure by 13 percent.

So how did that happen? In an interview, Clark offered a look at the tactics she developed after spending two months listening to GoDaddy staffers at every level. Her goal was to “have the conversation as much as possible around things that we had in common, rather than looking at the things that we have not in common,” she says.

Here are a few of the ways she increased engagement:

1. Tell their stories.