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Learn how to find stories and spread the word of your success today with these tips. On the one hand, SAS, a business software company, had sheep that grazed under the solar panels on its North Carolina campus, keeping the grass trim. On the other, it had employees it wanted to keep engaged. Put them together, and it came up with a "Name That Sheep" contest, in which staff got to vote on options such as Buttercup and Lilly. Contests—which can also be used to gather photos and stories—were just one of a basketful of ideas that emerged in a panel discussion on the power of corporate storytelling and other internal communications areas. The session was part of Ragan's Social Media for PR and Corporate Communications Conference at the Walt Disney World Resort....
The vultures have been circling Groupon founder and CEO Andrew Mason for a while now. Today, they swooped in. With the company trading around a quarter of its IPO price and its future cloudy at best, the board officially gave Mason the boot and announced a search or a new chief executive. Mason, meanwhile, is going to fat camp. Or so he says in an amazingly self-effacing and candid goodbye letter he tweeted out to Groupon's employees (Groupon PR also confirmed it was real. Can't be too careful.). "I was fired today," Mason writes. "If you're wondering why...you haven't been paying attention." The ex-CEO then precedes to graciously take responsibility for Groupon's recent travails, before wishing his former work force the best. Say what you will about the man's business acumen, at least he's self aware....
Even with Citigroup’s huge job cut plans announced Wednesday, Hewlett-Packard Co (NYSE:HPQ) remains the leader in corporate job cuts from U.S.-based companies in 2012, according to data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Back in May, the ailing Palo Alto, Calif.-based tech giant said it would cut 27,000 jobs to save up to $3.5 billion. H-P contributed to May being the peak month in 2012 for job-cut announcements with more than 61,000 and pointed to computer companies as one of the most vulnerable industries of the year. Shares of H-P are down more than 45% for the year....
...I’ve written before about the value of your employees, and the very smart Leon Noone has shared his thoughts on the value of looking after your employees by creating the right culture and expectations from the start, as well as continuing to live by them. Yet so many businesses miss this, and instead talk a good talk about customers while missing the walk when it comes to internal customers – your employees. They’re the folks that represent your brand in public; they’re the folks that determine the customer experience; they’re the folks that keep the wheels turning. The importance of having the right culture and making sure there’s a good fit on both sides – brand/employee and employee/brand – is evident, as highlighted in this article from Forbes...
The obstacles to being creative inside an organization are many, varied and tough to overcome … but it all starts with taming the approval process.
Writing for organizations is hard. Being creative inside organizations isn’t easy. Sometimes, it seems as if everything is set up to prevent us from creating the kind of content that people will actually read and pay attention to. A recent informal survey of communicators at one of my writing seminars revealed six common barriers that people face as they labor to create better content. In no particular order, here they are:...
Nearly half of all U.S. companies still ban workers from using social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn while on the job. However, the 100 Best Companies to Work For embrace social media, going so far as to allow their employees to represent their brand online, resolve customers issues, and create online content. Even highly regulated organizations like Mayo Clinic, Deloitte and USAA are able to reap the benefits of social media while many of their peers are still fretting over IT challenges, security concerns and productivity loss. If your organization isn't using social media for employee communication, here are 10 reasons to reconsider...
The director of the Nielsen Norman Group said the top 10 intranets of the year did more than just streamline and pretty up. They pulled people together. To have a top 10 intranet, you've got to think about more than just a website, Amy Schade, director at Nielsen Norman Group told the hosts of the Intranet Benchmarking Forum's monthly IBF Live program. "We're looking for what's usable, but also what's inspirational," she said. Schade said many of this year's winners made significant usability changes. For example, faceted searches—which enable users to search within categories rather than in one big chunk—were big this year. Making major changes to content was another thing the top 10 shared....
Electronics retailer Best Buy prides itself on its low prices and customer service. Unfortunately, that care didn’t extend to its employees with the closure of 15 stores and 900 employee layoffs in Canada. Like many consumers, I wasn’t surprised to see Best Buy and Future Shop store closures. Analysts expect Best Buy to close another 200 to 250 of its 1,056 US stores in 2013....
Often companies “roll out the new re-branding” to employees. and the marketing team then quickly puts a check mark in the done box and they’re on to the next. Often brand managers focus only on the communications deliverables and not the holistic reality of creating passionate brand ambassadors from within the company. B2B, midsized companies, and especially tech companies are notorious for this painful disconnect. Not many companies are deeper tech than Xilinx. They design and supply programmable electronic systems. For simplicity just think semiconductors. Yet, they are a well branded company, which is unusual for their industry....
... One of the things that I’ve been most interested in with regard to IBM’s social business journey is how effective they’ve been at activating their own employee base as well as their hundreds of thousands of customers worldwide. I think IBM is really, really smart in that it’s not about them. It’s not about how loud can they shout or how often can they talk at you, it’s about how can we get other people to be our megaphones for us. That’s why I’m so delighted to have on the show today Sandy Carter, who is the Vice President of Social Business Sales and Evangelism for a little company you may have heard of called IBM....
...Research indicates that engaged employees contribute to the long term success of organizations. There are many perspectives about the value and practice of employee engagement. This Myths and Realities Checklist can help sort fact from fiction....
Via Daniel Watson
Leaders have to be clear and consistent. As a leader, what do you want to accomplish? Do your employees know what needs to be done to reach that objective? Do they know how you expect them to behave? And — once they know the "what" and "how" — do you provide them with enough autonomy to get the job done in an effective and timely way? These are pragmatic business issues that all leaders encounter. Here are a few thoughts on how you can more effectively address these issues and reach your goals in an authentic and enduring way.
Collaboratively Develop The "What" And The "How" Before anything else, you engage stakeholders in a conversation about where you are, where you want to go, and how to get there. By seeking and valuing their perceptions, you increase their commitment, confidence, and the likelihood of getting traction when it is time to execute. This collective perspective helps define what needs to be done (the what) and the behaviors needed to deliver (the how)....
Infographic: Crummy bosses aren't just a pain; they're bad for business. But how bad? We've found the stats--and it's not pretty. [Powerful reasons bad bosses are bad for business ~ Jeff]
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The chain reportedly asked managers to categorize employees as "green," "yellow" or "red," for targeting layoffs. Communication experts say the system is flawed.... In January, 5,500 Penney in-store employees were laid off. Another 300 jobs were cut at its headquarters in Plano, Texas. This isn't the first case of a company's using traffic-light colors as code for an employee's status. In 2010, telecommunications company Everything Everywhere faced harsh criticism for indicating whether employees could be laid off or not with red and green visual aids given in informational packets. JC Penney isn't disclosing the light system to store employees, but communicators say this idea is just as bad....
Bringing telecommuters back into the office has never created such an uproar! Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s cuts to telecommuting, sparked catcalls from women’s groups, questions from academics, anonymous complaints from Yahoo employees and polarized opinions in the media and at office water coolers around the world. On CNN, four experts practically choked each other trying to advocate their polarized points of view on this story. It’s a fun clip to watch but it showed how strong and divided opinions are on the issue....
The research found that global best-in-class companies share four principal qualities in the way they communicate with their employees: - They have an employee-centric focus that drives communication strategy - They set benchmarks and goals that align with corporate goals - They measure performance and success toward goals, while tracking employee attitude - There is a deep-rooted desire to always improve communication with employees and build upon current success....
The demand for creativity from employees is rising in this age of rapid technological advancement.... Some of you may think that creativity is an inborn trait rather than something that can be learned and developed. This may be so, but without aconducive environment for creativity to be expressed, how can we expect to see ideas arising from creative employees? This is precisely what this article is about, to show you ways which you can adopt in the workplace to encourage employees to seek innovation in their work....
Like many communications professionals, I am sure I’m not alone in wondering what internal communication activities have been taking place at supermarket giant Tesco in the wake of the horsemeat story. What have they told store colleagues? Are the internal and external messages aligned? How are employees feeling about the headlines?
Organizational core values are a primary determinant of culture, employee satisfaction and business performance. This article addresses six core value topics that CEOs and business executives should know about. The Six Topics Below is the core value list: Core values are the building blocks of organizational culture.The process of defining, measuring, and improving core values can be an excellent vehicle for improving organizational culture.Core values provide a common language to address unacceptable behaviors in a less threatening way.Core values guide decisions and emphasize what is important to the business as the organization continues to change and improve.Core values influence business performance.If core values have not yet been established, a step-by-step process described in this article can be followed to discover them....
As much as the media felt that public relations was a barrier between the organization and the media, many employees felt the opposite was true. Public relations professionals were the barrier between employees and the media (and sometimes the organization), especially when they asked all media calls be diverted to their department. Otherwise, the only time public relations might be in contact was when the pro needed a briefed subject matter expert for an interview or someone to sign off on a quote. With some public relations professionals including social media within their sphere too, some people say the same thing about social media. Employees on social networks ought to refrain from writing, speaking, or talking about work. Really?...
Shel Holtz examines the challenge of communicating layoffs to employees and its impact on company reputation and other key audiences. the social media era makes it even more difficult to manage information..
...The research found that global best-in-class companies share four principal qualities in the way they communicate with their employees: - They have an employee-centric focus that drives communication strategy - They set benchmarks and goals that align with corporate goals - They measure performance and success toward goals, while tracking employee attitude - There is a deep-rooted desire to always improve communication with employees and build upon current success....
The profession and perception of internal communication (Internal Comms or IC) has undergone many changes over the years, moving from newsletter writers to trusted business advisers. Or at least that’s what we hope. Much work has been done, but there’s still a journey ahead. However, it’s the area of social media and its role for and in internal communications that is the current bump in the road for many. I’m going to look at 10 reasons why internal comms professionals should use social media and share some thoughts to help you make smart choices....
When Shane Atchison took the job of CEO at Possible Worldwide in April, he needed a way to get in sync with 1,100 people across 32 offices. ...How do you build a sense of community when you’ve got people from Poland and Budapest and Moscow connecting with people in Cincinnati or Seattle? “You can’t fly everyone around and say, let’s be friends," says Atchison....
The corporate intranet was okay for sharing templates and forms but terrible for sharing knowledge. Atchison figured he could kill both problems with a social network. Not Facebook, not LinkedIn, not Tumblr or National Field, but a brand new one, built specifically for them.... CoLab's Four Main Features The three main parts--library, people directory, and social--wound up becoming four, with the “social” component comprising two separate features. Now, the four main features of CoLab look like this: Pulse (a curated home page featuring internal posts and status updates)Perspectives (a full social feed of posts and status updates)People (a company directory complete with social profiles)Library (a knowledge sharing network)...
What could help a huge corporation like McGraw-Hill operate more efficiently, connect global offices, crowdsource ideas and develop products? Patrick Durando, senior director of global new media, prescribed a social intranet. It’s kind of like Facebook for an enterprise — but, Patrick warns, don’t tell your executives that.
Instead, tell them about the story of how one employee met with a client, figured out their biggest issue, essentially “tweeted” it internally and received 25 answers across all departments on his cab ride back to the office. Durando says that’s what a social intranet can do.
Durando shared how McGraw-Hill’s social intranet, Buzz, became a practical tool for collaboration in a presentation at SocialMedia.org‘s BlogWell conference in New York. Here are some takeaways from his presentation....
[Internal "Facebook" solution working for employees and outside too writes Andy Sernovitz ~ Jeff]
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Good storytelling ideas to help improve internal communications...