10-1 copyright © 2011 pearson education, inc. publishing as prentice hall


In the early 21st century, American workers grew increasingly unhappy with their jobs.

Major corporations laid off thousands of workers as the U.S. economy sputtered.


Public relations practitioners working in employee relations face tough communications challenges.

Consider a recent survey: Less than 50% of employees said they

were satisfied with their jobs. The least satisfied were the newest

entrants to the workforce. Less than 39% of workers under age 25

said they were satisfied with their jobs.


Employee communications must be candid, clear and credible.

In these uncertain times, public relations professionals must create communications that are: effective believable persuasive


In the 21st century, 60% of corporate CEOs spend more time communicating with employees.

Companies that communicate effectively with workers financially outperform those that don’t by up to 57%.

The value of intellectual capital has increased. Employees are the most important assets in the organization.


There is no single “employee public.”

An employee public comprises numerous subgroups, each with different interests and concerns.

Smart organizations tailor messages and media to reach each specific subgroup.


In general, today’s employees are:

Younger Increasingly female More diverse More ambitious and career-oriented Less complacent Less loyal to the company

What does this demand in terms of communication?


Management must ask hard questions about how it communicates with staff:

1. Is management able to communicate effectively with employees?

2. Is communication trusted, and does it relay appropriate information to employees?

3. Has management communicated its commitment to its employees and to fostering a rewarding work environment?


Any organization concerned about getting through to employees must offer them:

RespectHonest feedbackRecognitionA voiceEncouragement

Respect: employees must be respected for their worth as individuals and their value as workers. They must be treated with respect and not as interchangeable commodities

Honest Feedback: by talking to workers about their strengths and weaknesses, employers help employees know where they stand. Some managers incorrectly assume that avoiding negative feedback will be helpful


Recognition: employees feel successful when management recognizes their contributions. It’s the duty of public relations professional to suggest mechanisms by which deserving employees will be honored

Voice: in the era of blogs, talk radio and cable talk shows, almost everyone wants their voice to be heard in decision making. This growing activist communications, phenomenon must be considered by PR professionals seeking to win internal goodwill for management 10-11Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall

Encouragement: study after study reveals that money and benefits motivate employees up to a point, but that “ something else” is generally necessary. That something else is encouragement. Workers need to be encouraged. Communications programs that provide encouragement generally produce results. What kinds of qualities distinguish the communication efforts at a better place to work??



According to Milton Moskowitz. An organization also must offer employees:

A willingness to express dissent Visibility and proximity of upper

management Priority of internal to external

communication Attention to clarity A friendly tone A sense of humor

1. Willingness to express dissent: employees want to be able to “ feedback” to management their opinions and even dissent. They want access to management. They want critical letters to appear in internal publications. They want management to pay attention


2. Visibility and proximity of upper management: enlightened companies try to level rank distinctions, eliminating such status reminders as executive cafeterias and executive gymnasiums. They act against hierarchical separation.


3. Priority of internal to external communication: the worst thing to happen to any organization is for employees to learn critical information about a company on a blog. Smart organizations release pertinent information to employees first and consider internal communication primary.


4. Attention to clarity: how many employees regularly read benefits booklets? The answer should be many! Because of the importance of benefit program to the entire staff, but most employees never do so. Good companies write such booklets with an emphasis on clarity as opposed to legalities- to be readable for a general audience rather than for human resources specialists


5. Friendly tone: the best companies “ give a sense of family” in all that they communicate. On high-tech company makes everyone wear a name tag with the first name in big block letters

6. Sense of Humor: people are worried about keeping their jobs. Corporate life for many is grim. It puts people in straitjackets , so they cant wait to get out at the end of the day!!



For employees, it all comes down to one simple word:

Credibility.

Employees want: managers to level with them. facts, not wishful thinking. the truth, especially in person. to know how they’re doing.

Research indicates that trust in organizations would increase if management:

1.Communicate earlier and more frequently

2.Demonstrated trust in employees by sharing bad news as well as good news

3.Involved employees in the process by asking for their ideas and their opinions



Q: How can management build trust when employee morale is so brittle?

A: By creating communications that are:

StrategicHonestOpenConsistent

First all communication must be strategic: what strategic communication essentially boils down to is this: most employees want you to answer only two basic questions for them:

1.Where is this organization going?2.What is my role in helping us get

there?


2. All communication must be honest: the sad fact is that while most executives may pay lip service to candor and honesty in the end, too many turn out like the management

3. All communication must be open: this another way of saying that there must be feedback. The best communications are two way communications, that means that no matter how large the organization, employee must be solicited, listened to and most important acted upon


4. All communication must be consistent: once you have begun to communicate, you must keep it up. Maintain a regular, on-time, and predictable program of internal newsletters, employee forums, leadership meetings and reward celebrations.



Internal communication auditsThis is one of the best forms of research to lay

groundwork for employee communications. Ask:1. How do internal communications support the

mission of the organization?2. Do internal communications have

management’s support?3. Do internal communications justify the expense? 4. How responsive to employee needs and

concerns are internal communications?

Audits help determine staff attitudes about their jobs, the organization and its mission.


Online communications These are more immediate than earlier print

versions; they reach employees at their desks and are more likely to be read and acted upon.

Examples include blogs, podcasts and wikis.

To be effective, social media must:1. have a business purpose.2. be entertaining and informative3. be composed of riveting content.

Blogs : or technically web logs- are a type of frequently updated online journal. Blogs provide an easy way for employees to post opinions and views of the company on the internet. Blogging by senior management, a potentially useful device to reach the staff, is still not the rule among cautious CEOs but as noted earlier, is also a slowly growing phenomenon


Podcasts: in which audio or video monologue, interview or on-location content is broadcast online to employees

Wikis: a dynamic website to which any users can add pages, modify content and comment on existing content, is even less widespread than blogs internally. Wikis may be better suited than a blog for a smaller group and their ability provide instant interactive capabilities are unmatched.



The IntranetThis is like a specialized “Internet” just for

employees.

When designing a site, remember: to consider the culture. to set clear objectives and then let it evolve. to treat it as a journalistic enterprise. to market, market, market. to link to outside lives. that senior management must commit to it.

1. Consider the culture: if the organization is generally collaborative and collegial, it will have no trouble getting people to contribute information and materials to the intranet. But, if the organization is not one that ordinarily shares. A larger central staff maybe necessary to ensure that the intranet works


2. Set clear objectives and then let it evolve: just as in setting up a corporate website, intranets must be designed with clear goals in mind: to streamline goals are established, however, site creators ought to allow for growth and evolution as new intranet needs become apparent


3. Treat it as a journalistic enterprise: company news gets read by company workers, that’s a truism throughout all organizations. Employees must know what’s going on in the company and complain bitterly if they are n’t given advance notice of important developments. In this way the intranet can serve as a critical journalistic communications tool within the organization


4. Market, Market , market: the intranet needs to be “sold” within the company, publicize new features or changes in content. Weekly emails can be used to highlight noteworthy additions and updates. Just as with any other internal communications vehicles, the more exposure the site gets, the more frequently it will be used…


5. Link to outside lives: some CEOs may not recognize it, but employees have lives outside the corporation. An intranet site that recognize that simple fact can become quite popular. Links to classified ads, restaurant and movie reviews, and information on local concerts are ways to reinforce both the intranet’s value and the organization’s concern for its staff.


6. Senior management must commit: just like anything else in an organization, if the top executives is neither interested nor supportive, the idea will fail. Therefore, the perceived value of an organization’s intranet will increase dramatically if management actively supports and uses it



Print publications The advent of online internal communications

has been hard on print publications. Yet, print defenders argue that print still plays a key role.

Desktop publishing gives internal editors greater control of design, layout and illustrations.

Many entry-level public relations practitioners work on writing and editing employee newsletters.

Whether using conventional print or desktop publishing, an internal newsletter editor must consider the following steps:

1. Assigning stories: article assignments must focus on organizational strategies and management objectives. Job information- organizational changes, mergers, reasons behind decisions, and so on- should be stressed


2. Enforcing deadlines: employees respect a newsletter that comes out at a specific time. An editor, therefore, must assign and enforce rigid copy deadlines on contributors. Deadline slippage can’t be tolerated if the newsletter is to be respected


3. Assigning Photos: people like photographs. Because internal publications compete with glossy, high-tech newspapers and magazines and the internet, organizational photos cant be dull


4. Editing copy: an editor must be just that: a critic of sloppy writing, a student of forceful prose, a motivator to improve copy style. This is specially true now that the computer does at least part of the job for you. However, spell check isn’t foolproof, especially when It comes to context


5. Formatting copy: an editor, must make the final decision on the format of the newspaper. How long articles should run, where to put photos, how to crop artwork, what headlines should say and so on

6. Insuring on time publication: in publishing, timeliness is next to godliness, it’s the editor’s responsibility to ensure that no last minute glitches will interfere with online publication


7. Critiquing: after the fact, the editor’s job must continue. He or she must review the copy, photos, placement, content , philosophy and all the other elements to ensure that the next edition will be even better….



Bulletin boards Are of the most ancient of tactics. They have

made a comeback in recent years.

Boards are now being used to improve productivity, cut waste and reduce accidents on the job.

They are repackaged into a more lively and visual medium.

Be sure to keep your bulletin boards current. One person should be assigned this task.


The suggestion box:These can still work well.

Make sure that managers will read the suggestions and act on them.

Town hall meetings:Large gatherings of

employees and top management, where no subject is off limits. Open dialogue is the goal.


Internal video This can be highly effective. Consider the impact

of a 10-minute video of an executive announcing a new corporate policy — compared to print or audio.

Burger King, Miller Brewing Co., Ford and Southwest Airlines have all used internal video successfully.

Examine internal needs and plan thoughtfully. Finally, produce the best quality video possible.


Face-to-face communications Despite the social media revolution, the best

employee communications vehicle is face-to-face, preferably with a supervisor.

The majority of employees list supervisors as their preferred source of information.

The value of supervisor meetings lies in their substance, regularity and candor.


In many organizations, “the grapevine” dominates employee communications.

Public relations professionals must work to dispel rumors quickly and frankly.

Management can often use the grapevine to its advantage as an internal communications vehicle.


What type of employee communications are you familiar with?

What do you think the intent of the publication and/or communication was?

In your estimation, was it successful? Why or why not?


In the 21st century, organizations have no choice: They must build rapport with and morale among employees.

The best defense against the grapevine is a strong and candid employee communications system.

Effective employee communications requires openness and honesty from senior management.


“We can afford to lose money – even a lot of money. We cannot afford to lose reputation – even a shred of

reputation.”

— Warren BuffettCEO, Berkshire Hathaway

10-1 copyright © 2011 pearson education, inc. publishing as prentice hall

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