Jim Grieve, assistant deputy minister at the Ontario Ministry of Education, has been named IABC/Toronto’s 2012 Communicator of the Year.
“Our judges were impressed by Jim’s personal touch and passionate advocacy for the future of children,” said IABC/Toronto president Linda Andross said in a press release. “His commitment to gathering their input and delivering warm and authentic messaging in person says a lot about his character in this age of electronic communication.”
In particular, IABC/Toronto praised Grieve’s handling of the rollout of full-day kindergarten across Ontario in a time of economic hardship and turbulence in the province: “Using the power of face-to-face communication, Jim built the support, trust and relationships needed to convince stakeholders, parents and educators of the program’s benefits.”
“This award is a huge, huge honour,” Grieve told Marketing. “It represents all that I believe in – the methodology of going face to face.”
For Grieve, a personal touch is the key to good communication. His secret, he said, is having “the ability to do a lot more listening than talking, and then responding authentically.”
But he was quick to point out the importance of his team and his expectation that they buy into his philosophy. While he makes sure to spend time building relationships in schools and childcare centres at least once a week, he expects his staff to do the same.
“This is the team’s award,” he said. “We built the team one person at a time.” And this team, the Ministry’s Early Learning Division, scored very well in a recent employee engagement survey, with a 96% response rate.
IABC/Toronto gives the Communicator of the Year award annually to a Greater Toronto Area communicator who “demonstrates exceptional leadership, management and communications skills.” The winner is chosen by a panel of four past IABC/Toronto presidents from a pool of communicators nominated by their peers.
According to Janet Comeau, chair of the judging panel, “Jim possesses those special qualities we look for in our Communicator of the Year winners. He believes in the power of communication and works with his team to be as strategic as possible in delivering his message and achieving outcomes.”
Grieve will be presented with his award in a ceremony on March 7.
