Posts Tagged ‘employee communication’
Monday, January 14th, 2013
In the movie “Wanderlust,” a TV reporter is covering a groundbreaking. Alan Alda’s character, speaking through a bullhorn, asks her to stay to report the real story of a land dispute. She declines, citing time constraints.
Jennifer Aniston’s character asks the reporter, “You want a news story?” and then takes off her top. The reporter returns to cover the story. Other men and women also start taking off their shirts. Aniston’s character and her friends later watch the news, smiling in pride at the coverage they generated.
Would going topless really grab an otherwise uninterested media? Absolutely. TV newsrooms like few things better than to blur out something. I even recall an example of a newsroom obscuring out something that, in my opinion, did not need blurring, making the content more interesting and mysterious.
But going topless brings risks and questions:
- How would taking off shirts affect your brand? Would going topless to obtain news coverage be worth breaking with a brand which otherwise promotes people wearing clothing?
- Would your spokespeople be able to speak smoothly to the media and keep on key messages without wearing a top?
- Would your representatives speak passionately or allow the adrenaline rush to drastically change their tones?
- How would a business ensure the stunt did not backfire? It’s one thing for glamous Hollywood actors to pretend to protest in the nude. Would you be ready to see real life co-workers take on this task?
- Would the company itelf take its own photos to post on social media?
- How about citizen journalists covering the event who decide to post video without blurring it?
- And how would a business handle employee communications, ensuring everyone understands the strategy and can come forward with concerns?
The movies can inspire us and reflect reality more than we wish to acknowledge. But before trying topless, consider how the concept fits into the overall communications plan. Most likely, the end will bring more than simply rolling credits.
Tags: alan alda, citizen journalists, communications plan, employee communication, employee communications, Hollywood, hollywood actors, jennifer aniston, journalist, journalists, media, Media Relations, news story, newsroom, newsrooms, PR, reporter, Social Media, tv news, tv newsroom, tv newsrooms, tv reporter, video
Posted in Media Relations, Public Relations | No Comments »
Thursday, September 13th, 2012
The way your department welcomes or “onboards” new hires can set the course for the employee in many ways – including engagement. In larger organizations, it’s not uncommon for employees to get swept up in the sea of their own area once company orientation is over. Many companies are so focused on terms like “customer experience.” What about the “employee experience” or “new hire experience”?
It’s not uncommon for a new hire’s team to welcome that person – and whoosh! They are swept in by the silo’s strong tide, rarely wading out into the rest of the division’s waters. If you work in a large division made up of many small departments, how can you enhance the new employee experience? How can you make it a consistent experience that reflects what your division is all about?
- Take the new hire on a “tour” of the division. It’s always good to feel welcome when people take time out of their busy schedules to step away from their desks and say hello.
- Create a mini new hire curriculum. This can include fact sheet handouts or brief presentations for each department within your division.
- Post relevant educational materials (fact sheets, glossary of key terms, FAQ) on the intranet, Yammer or other internal social media sites used by your division.
- Arrange time with the division leader. Many senior execs make a point to sit down with new hires and get to know them a bit more. But many execs don’t and that’s a missed opportunity to build a connection as well as help the new hire understand their role in the bigger picture.
- Create an itinerary of meet and greets with other key business partners around the company. This can help set the course for business relationships by giving your new hires a chance to chat with people outside the division before they cross paths with each other in a future meeting.
Tags: communication, employee communication, engagement, new hire experience, new hire onboarding, new hire orientation
Posted in HR Communications, Internal Communications | No Comments »
Thursday, August 16th, 2012
I was born and raised in Miami and was a Dolphins season ticket holder. I’ve rooted for them since sitting in my Grandpa’s house in the early 1980s and watching their classic overtime, playoff loss to the San Diego Chargers.
So I’ve been discussing a lot recently the events surrounding former Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson, formerly known as Chad Ochocinco. Chad was arrested after a domestic incident involving his wife. The Dolphins then ended his contract with the team. HBO’s Hard Knocks, a football documentary-style show following the Dolphins during this season’s training camp, aired video of the meeting when the head coach notified Chad he would no longer be a part of the team. The coach says his decision was not based alone on the incident with his wife. The coach considered other factors.
This episode raises questions about more than football. Public Relations: Are sports teams cracking down on what they perceive as unprofessional behavior? Media Relations: How transparent was the Dolphins coach about his decision when addressing the media? Employee Communications: How did the coach (boss) handle his one-on-one meeting with Chad Johnson (employee)? Social Media: What about the debate of those applauding the Dolphins versus those feeling the team should have waited for more facts abut the case to surface?
Via Twitter, I asked a Dolphins reporter, columnist and blogger for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel about the Dolphins releasing Chad Johnson after being arrested. My question: “Do u think some veteran players are too willing to forgive in order to win?”
His response: ”Locker room is a brotherhood. Chad was family.”
I asked fans around the league how they think the Dolphins handled the Chad Johnson situation. All these fans are in the communications industry or current or former members of the media.
Patriots fan: ”I’m fine with this. In no other workplace would this even be a question.”
Jets fan: ”Maybe a bit quick to release him. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? However, I’m glad that teams are getting fed up with these millionaire athletes acting like children. They need to learn that their actions have consequences.”
Bills fan: ”They never should of brought him in in the first place.”
Bears fan: ”If he had caught 85 passes last year instead of 15, would he have been cut?”
Bears fan: “The guy has never been arrested before right? No history of this? If he is exonerated, did the Dolphins jump the gun?”
Bears fan: “Obviously I don’t know the details, but if it is true, totally appropriate. If you send Vick away for violence against dogs, should have less tolerance for violence against women.”
Cardinals fan: ”I think it would be a whole different ballgame, pardon the pun, if we were talking about 1st string Johnson 5 years ago, not OchoCinco of today.”
Lions fan: ”I think he’s used up any goodwill he had … if he had any. Good move.”
Tags: Communications, communications consultant, communications industry, employee communication, employee communications, hbo, media, Media Relations, miami dolphins, PR, Public Relations, reporter, Social Media, South Florida, sun sentinel, Twitter
Posted in Internal Communications, Media Relations, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments »
Monday, May 14th, 2012
Since leaving college, I’ve thought it odd when bosses feel upset, betrayed or irritated when a good employee decides to take a job somewhere else. I hope if I were an employer, I would thank employees for their contributions and congratulate them on a new position they believe would improve their quality of life.
But I continue to hear stories of employees leaving on uncomfortable terms. I’m not referring to shouting matches. I’m speaking of snarky remarks and ungrateful comments that ensure boss and employee won’t be later sharing Facebook posts.
Employees share these stories. And when awkward goodbyes become a trend, an employer gets a reputation. Some bosses feel no matter how many disgruntled players leave, they’ll simply draft suitable replacements. But I believe one disgruntled good player after another can’t continue to leave without some sort of eventual impact on the bottom line.
Too often many companies seem to forget their employees are customers and brand enthusiasts. The way employers handle a farewell could mean they either keep or lose these key stakeholders.
Our recommendation is for employers to at least try to be the bigger person and be remembered as someone who sent a worker off with a great farewell. Send out a positive memo to the staff. For excellent employees, throw a party or farewell lunch. Don’t allow the disagreements at the end of someone’s stay stain another good relationship. Being nasty at the end could bring negative effects lasting a lot longer than the employee’s last walk out the door.
Tags: boss, brand enthusiasts, communication, Communications, Employee, employee communication, employee communications, employer, Facebook, PR
Posted in HR Communications, Internal Communications | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
When I joined The Flip Side, I imagined shooting video to promote businesses externally. Loren then opened my eyes to The Flip Side of the story: Companies also should use video to better communicate internally. I quickly recognized the value of internal video. In the corporate world, I witnessed countless examples of poor communication between management and employees. Managers couldn’t think outside of sliding memos into mailboxes. And they often composed the memos as if they were drill sergeants with a pen in hand instead of a weapon.
We share our videos on online, but you won’t watch many of them. Companies hire us to shoot internal video, for example, to improve communication with young employees who don’t always take time to read group emails. Businesses ask us to shoot high-quality video to inspire staff to take part in company programs. Some companies want video of employee testimonials sharing a new internal approach to achieving success.
Here are several ways to use video to enhance your intranet, improve employee communications and share your corporate story with your chief advocates: your staff. Remember: Videos should be interesting, entertaining, engaging, lively, well-produced and easy to find.
- Company directives
- Compliance and regulatory issues
- Training
- Boosting morale
- Highlighting specific employees and departments
- Encouraging employees to volunteer
- Company events
- Company meetings
- Sales kick-off meetings
- CEO speeches
- Video newsletters
- Company values
- Benefits and compensation
- How-to videos
- Attracting investors
Tags: Benefits, ceo, communication, company values, compensation, employee communication, employee communications, employee testimonials, intranet, management, morale, news, PR, speech, speeches, video
Posted in HR Communications, Internal Communications, Video | No Comments »
Thursday, March 29th, 2012
Companies often spend so much time focusing on getting the attention of the media, they often ignore the value of sharing the news with their most important stakeholders: employees. As brand ambassadors of a company, employees represent a huge opportunity to spread the word about new products, services and other company news.
Employees shouldn’t have to find out about company information from an external source or by watching and reading the news. They should hear the news first from the company. This builds trust and sends employees a message that the company sees them as a valued stakeholder who should be armed with important information.
The carefully crafted news release and media pitch should have an “equal and opposite” pitch for employees. Big budgets are often allocated toward PR campaigns that don’t always guarantee results while few resources are allocated toward employee communications that have a proven direct and positive influence on the bottom line.
The external communications folks working on the PR campaigns, press releases and pitches should partner with the employee communications folks. Here’s how:
- Integrate. PR plans should have an employee communications component. How do they fit together?
- Educate. What do employees need to know about the news topic? How does it fit into the big picture? How does it relate to employees? If they interact with customers, what key messages should they have in their hip pockets?
- Collaborate. Ask employees for newsworthy or creative ideas related to the PR campaign.
- Elaborate. Make news and PR efforts a regular part of department meetings and conversations. These are great opportunities to arm leaders with information to share with employees as well as for show and tell. Send links to TV news stories to leaders to show at their team meetings. Share articles on the intranet or in the employee newsletter. This is also a great way to spark conversations and perhaps even more newsworthy ideas.
Tags: Arizona, communication, employee communication, employee communications, employee newsletter, integrated communications, intranet, media, media pitch, news, news release, Phoenix, pitches, PR, pr campaign, pr campaigns, pr efforts, press, press release, Scottsdale, tv news
Posted in HR Communications, Internal Communications | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
Anatomy of an Effective Message
Sometimes in our quest to get a message out quickly, we lose site of some of the key elements of what makes that message meaningful to its intended audience. It’s easy to get in that “Just the facts, ma’am” mode without taking a holistic look at the overall message. That got me thinking about the anatomy of an effective message. Like human anatomy, a message has many layers that are all interconnected to one another and should connect back to the heart of your organization. The skeletal frame of the message is the who, what, where, when, why and how. Answering those questions is key. But there’s more to an effective message than that. Here is a checklist you can use with some key questions to ask yourself when you write a message.
- Function: Is the goal to inform, persuade, take action?
- Clarity: Will the message make sense to the target audience? Is it vague? Might it be read another way? Did you remove jargon?
- Flow: Is it logical? Do all of your points relate to one another?
- Connectivity: How does the message relate to the big picture? How does it relate to the company’s vision, strategic priorities, employees’ jobs?
- Vitality: Did you bring the message to life through examples, stories or visuals to resonate with employees?
- Purity: Is there too much information? Did you stray from the key points? Anything you can eliminate?
- Voice: Does the tone “speak” to your intended audience using the voice of your brand?
- Checkup: Did someone representing the intended audience review before you send it out?
Tags: Arizona communications consulting, communication, company messages, content, employee communication, employee communications, jargon, target audience, The Flip Side Communications
Posted in Internal Communications | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
When companies have a new product, they often spend a lot of time testing those products before they roll them out, especially when it comes to software and websites providing a service. They want to make sure everything functions properly and the end-user experience is the best possible one. So why not take the same approach with your communications – before you send them out?
You likely have some kind of review process for the materials you create. Your boss, your boss’ boss, your internal client, legal. What about your “end-user”? Whether you’re communicating a new company program or marketing a new product, someone from your target audience can provide invaluable feedback before they see the final email or the shiny new brochure along with everyone else. If you work in retail, for example, that target audience person can be a store manager, district manager or front-line associate. If you work in health care, that target audience reviewer can be a doctor, nurse, HR administrator or patient. If you are working on a marketing brochure, reach out to your network and find someone you know that fits the customer profile.
Giving your target audience a sneak peak of the product and how you plan to market and communicate it can save you a lot of time, energy and money. Because he or she is not as close to the project as you are, your target audience tester will think of questions you might not have thought about. He or she will hopefully be up front and let you know if something is unclear or sounds too salesy and not authentic enough.
Does your review process allow for testing your communications with target audience members? What works for you?
Tags: Arizona communication consulting, Arizona public relations, Arizona public relations agency, Arizona small business marketing, communication, content, employee communication, Internal Communications, marketing a new product, marketing strategy, personalized communications, Phoenix communications agency, Phoenix marketing firms, PR, public relations agencies, Scottsdale communication consulting, Scottsdale marketing agency, small business communication, small business marketing strategy, target audience, writing
Posted in Internal Communications, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments »
Monday, August 30th, 2010
A company makes a major change to its daily business operations but doesn’t let its employees know about it ahead of time. What does not saying anything actually say to employees? Lots. It tells employees they are not important enough to “bother” with – just shut up and do your job! Management’s let-them-eat-cake attitude acts like a proverbial guillotine, cutting off any sense of trust from employees. Talk about disengagement.
With management hiding behind the corporate curtain like the Great Oz, employees speculate about what the change means to them. How does it impact their jobs? What does this mean for the company’s future? This only churns the company rumor windmill with gusto. Questions meet vague responses. Or, better yet – a shrug and the ole’ standby: “It’s corporate’s decision.” This is a company that sets its cruise control to adequacy and apathy and its weak communications style will always play second fiddle to rumors.
On the flip side, there’s the company with an open and honest communications policy. Facing layoffs affecting every department, the challenge: when to communicate? Do it from the outset without yet knowing which employees will lose their jobs or wait to communicate – springing the news on employees on D Day? The decision: Honor the open and honest communications policy by communicating early and letting employees know this is coming. Why? It’s the right thing to do. Maybe some employees plan on making major purchases like a house or a car. Knowing this information would be invaluable to their decision-making.
Does announcing the news early cause some panic and rumors? Sure. In fact, this is the argument some people might have against letting employees know about the layoffs in advance. Communicating early gives the company the chance to stay ahead of the rumor mill and explain the why before too much noise filters out what’s important.
When companies sit on big news without letting employees know, it hurts credibility. It can have a negative domino effect on all future announcements requiring employee buy-in. Employees who have been scorned, stunned or outraged from past actions and lack of communication will raise their eyebrows with skepticism at whatever the company line happens to be.
So, does your company have major news or changes coming down the pike?
- Communicate early.
- Communicate often.
- Communicate consistently – before the rumor windmill spins out of control.
- Refresh and continue. Communications shouldn’t stop once the change happens. Get feedback on how messages were received. If necessary, fine-tune your message based on that feedback and continue.
Subscribe via email to our blog, join us on Facebook & follow us on Twitter.
Tags: Arizona communication consulting, change communications, employee communication, employee communications, Internal Communications, layoff communications, Phoenix communication consulting, rumor mill, Scottsdale communication consulting
Posted in Internal Communications | No Comments »
