The management of employee communication lies in a strange limbo between HR and PR; both struggling for clear, concise messaging but each with it’s own set of tactics. Waves of hiring and downsizing, the globalization of business, corporate re-engineering, buyouts and mergers, the informality social media has brought to the workplace – all have dramatically modified the ways we communicate with our employees. Gone are the days when the role of an internal PR person was relegated to using InDesign to layout newsletters, dropping a few paragraphs to a stagnant PDF press release or spending hours prepping the company president for an on-air interview. Our work is centered on providing strategic counsel in support of overarching business goals, creating tools to disseminate information quickly without disrupting the confidential importance of human resourcing and designing training techniques to better engage employees, who have the ability to talk to thousands of people in under 140 characters, with the company’s brand and it’s messaging.

What will the future of the communications professional look like, especially one who is rooted in digital? I believe further evolution rests in the strength of adaptability; we must each keep a watchful eye on emerging platforms and the ways information is distributed. Accordingly, following are key trends that will influence the work of those who lead the branding and communications of organizations:

• The further proliferation of technology – from Skyping to podcasting to mobile to microblogging – has already dramatically altered ways we communicate internally. Office gossip is spread via IM, not near a water cooler. Industry gossip is rampant on Twitter, while rival agencies can cherry pick from top talent just by connecting on LinkedIn. Communication is instantaneous, coming so quickly and in such volume that filtering what comes in and goes out is a task of gigantic proportion. We must learn to moderate without damaging the integrity of open discussion.

• While specialization will continue to be of value, the rampant accessibility of learning new skills in a DIY digital era will force today’s companies to seek out increasingly multi-disciplined communications professionals. Garnering the ability to write well for the web has become immensely important. Never has there been a time when we needed to hone their ability to be succinct and understand the importance of key words more than now. Twitter recently announced that more that 50 million tweets are sent per day; communications professionals need to learn to cut above the clutter and strive for originality.

• True globalization was effectively achieved with the massive outreach of social media, digital campaigns and the global economy. In fact, as I write this, Robert Gaafar is on a Skype conference call with France. Thus, we need to ensure that brand messaging and key executives truly mirror the population. This is an area where HR and PR teams need to work hand-in-hand. Sometimes that snarky, in-your-face corporate attitude is a great motivator but other times, it is culturally offensive. Your communications strategy must show personality while being sensitive to world events.

• Truly progressive companies will seek out ways to better reward their employees with positive encouragement through public forums. As Mike Germano once said “Personal tweets are the new autograph. A direct @ reply from an athlete makes a fan for life.” The same concept can be applied to employee communication. Showing gratitude, praise or inspiration for your employees on platforms that thousands of people see (Facebook pages, a Tumblr log, a YouTube video), will create loyalty and fandom within your own office. As all good executive teams know, your employees are your biggest asset. Keep them around by spotlighting their talents and letting them know you’re proud to have them on board.

• Business models will be reassessed to better include employees as key ambassadors of your brand. Companies like Zappos, Ben & Jerry’s and Google have done an outstanding job of teaching their employees how to speak about their product while simultaneously broadcasting what their culture represents. It is our job as communications professionals to be the liaison between the collective employee voice and the executive team, disseminating information in both directions in a professional manner.  That skill will seamlessly create a culture of mutual understanding and trust.

It will be the companies who can effectively balance the immense and rapid changes in communications with the existing need for open and honest employee relations who will succeed.

This article is copyright © 2012 

Photo Courtesy of The Bitten World.

You can thank the fact that today is National Pie Day for the witty subject line. But, it’s true. Pie is more than the filling and I doubt anyone can say that they eat pie for only the dry top layer. So, where am I going with this?

I’m linking social media and pie. Yes. It’s happening. Just like a pie, you need every ingredient to make it the best that it can be. The filling is what makes it, but you can’t leave out the crust or the
topping. In fact, to some people it’s not even a proper pie if you don’t put whip cream
on it. Same with a communications plan, you need all of the ingredients for it to work.

Social media is the filling. The really great stuff that you  remember because it’s not bland, usually has some exciting element or “taste” to it and has a unique flavor. But, without other ingredients like traditional PR outreach, advertising and brand defense—you don’t have the full picture or in this case the full piece of the “pie.”

John Brandon from NetworkWorld  wrote a great article questioning social media’s impact-particularly around the Obama campaign and it’s use of social media. He notes that while popular sites like Facebook, YouTube, etc… all of a lot of power—they’re not the end all of communication. Did it help the Obama campaign? TOTALLY. Was it the only reason? NO.

Social media needs to be part of the equation to help the overall plan. I have yet to see a campaign only done with social media. Those recommending that plan of action are not thinking correctly and it won’t work. Other elements need to be considered to ensure a result that benefits your brand.

John says, “For those trying to use social networks to actually influence thinking,
you have to remember that most people are only paying attention to them
in a sideways glance. None of these systems are game changers. Say you’re a PR firm trying to
get your product noticed. Social media helps. What actually gets the
product noticed, though, is old fashioned advertising, word of mouth,
and favorable reviews. It also has to be a good product.”

Part of this is true as you need to drive word of mouth, reviews, etc. to the actual social media part of the campaign, but in some cases the social media element of the campaign ARE those things. Posting something through Twitter is word of mouth marketing across the campaign to drive back to a Facebook application or a live stream interview with a top executive.

The important thing to take away here is that social media IS part of a bigger equation and an important one. As you do when baking a pie, you only use a certain amount of ingredients to result in a delicious dessert—think of it in the same way you plan your comms plan as well.

This article is copyright © 2012