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With companies becoming increasingly keen to create and promote their green credentials, changing people’s towards sustainability and CSR is an important challenge for corporate communicators. Not sure where to start? Then help is at hand in the form of a free guide explaining ways to approach green communications, which includes a great employee engagement case study for Jaguar Land Rover.
Download Green Communications guide >
Melitta
The latest global survey from Melcrum, Key Benchmark Data for Communicators 2009, has revealed that in the light of the recession, every area of internal communications is being re-examined. Here are some of the survey’s headlines and what they mean for IC professionals:
Budget cuts – almost half of respondents (46%) said they will be spending less on consultants in the next 12 months. External advisors will therefore need to “re-evaluate what they offer and become more focused”. For those working in-house, budget cuts will mean less opportunities to move position and engage employees on a grand scale – but will be a chance for savvy communicators to gain respect by getting creative working closely with leaders and to make a difference.
Strategy change – 47% of respondents stated that cutbacks have led to fundamental change in their communication strategy. The main focus for internal communicators today appears to be on rebuilding trust and giving employees the answers they need. This is good news as it puts IC in the limelight, but it is demanding work that often needs to be done with fewer resources. Now more than ever, IC professionals need to prove their worth to gain the resources they need.
Change in Channels – 45% of respondents predicted a reduction in print communications in the coming year, with many seeing the Internet as a more cost effective and engaging alternative, due to its ability to spread messages to the right audiences with simplicity, immediacy and transparency.
Priority skills - Most respondents indicated that over the next 12 months, the most important skills will be: ‘managing change communication’ (43.2%), ’supporting senior leadership communication’ (37.9%), and ‘measuring the effectiveness of internal communication’ (27.6%). In terms of leadership communications, ‘coaching managers to communicate’ came out as the top priority (52.5%), closely followed by ’strategic planning’ (51%) and ‘how to assess communication effectiveness’ (49.3%).
More about the survey and its findings >
Melitta
The key to effective internal communications that will support and drive positive change is a thorough understanding of your brand and your people. This demands that you uncover the ownable truths about your organisation – the genuine, inspiring and truly representative truths that define and unite your people and brand.
In a recently launched white paper, design, branding and communications consultancy Small Back Room, provide communication practitioners with the tools to do just this.
In this paper, Small Back Room explain how to uncover these ownable truths and used them to build or enhance a brand from the inside out, helping you to generate a platform for clear, direct and effective communications that will drive positive change.
The paper also looks at the relationships between brands, strategy, internal communications and change – and their impact on internal communications and includes a ‘change scenario assessment tool’ so that you can evaluate exactly where your organisation is in the change cycle and then plan your management of change from there.
Small Back Room has made the paper available for download by GCN members >
Melitta
Recent research, aimed at discovering how internal communication works in global organisations, has revealed just what global best practice looks like today.
The study, headed by HSBC and supported by brand and communication consultancy Uffindell West, looked at: the purpose of internal communications, strategy development, new and emerging trends, the use of technology, measurement and many other aspects of internal communications for a comprehensive view of what works and how the communication discipline is evolving.
Read a summary of the research findings in Melcrum’s Strategic Communications Management magazine. Download the article >
Melitta
Communicating across multiple cultures is always a hot topic, particularly for those working in such a multicultural environment as Switzerland.
It was no surprise then, that when the question of communication differences between UK and US English arose last week on Melcrum’s Communication Network, it sparked a hot debate and a flood of phrases, terms, anecdotes and words of wisdom all relating to language and its correct usage.
Many of the network’s members also pointed out that it’s not just geography that can cause confusion in the workplace, stressing the ongoing need to stamp out business jargon and speak in basic terms to avoid unnecessary ambiguity in all corporate communications.
Following the popularity of this subject, you can now find a summary of the debate and its recommendations on the Melcrum Blog >
Melitta
The Financial Times recently published an article looking at internal newsletters and magazines and how they are being used within organisations during a downturn.
The conclusion is that corporate literature of this kind remains alive and well. And, while many firms are moving their newsletters online to cut costs and integrate dynamic technology into their communications, the printed magazine remains a staple for many others – helping them spread the Corporate word to disparate and remote teams.
The article also highlighted some of the current challenges for corporate communications:
- Giving an honest view without being overly downbeat or optimistic
- Remaining credible and relevant
- Presenting information in a way that matches staff reading habits
- Concentrating on real people and the extraordinary things they do
Melitta
Intranets have the opportunity to play a front line role in corporate efforts to combat global warming. That is according to the Intranet Benchmarking Forum’s (IBF) latest brieifing paper: ‘The green intranet’.
The document provides organisations with 10 tips for using the intranet to combat climate change and build environmental practices. It draws on real-life examples from organisations including: IBM, Aviva, BT, Highways Agency, Nokia, Yahoo! and Sun Microsystems.
Here are the IBF’s 10 tips in summary:
- Automate administrative processes
- Use web meetings to cut travel
- Convert travellers into online collaborators
- Use the intranet to enable telecommuting
- Enable car pooling
- Make more efficient use of office space to enable reductions in real estate
- Migrate printed documents online
- Engage employees in greening the organisation
- Provide environmental performance data
- Provide visibility of employees’ availability and whereabouts
Melitta
Wikipedia is one of the World’s most important sources of information online, accounting for 8% of global internet traffic with around 60 million unique visitors a month. As such, it can play an important role in managing a company’s public perception and reputation – but recent research has revealed that firms are failing to actively manage these challenges and capitalise on the available opportunities.
The study by Lundquist, an international strategic communications consultancy, looks at how Italian companies are featured on Wikipedia and forms part of its research series examining how companies are taking advantage of new trends in web communications.
The study found that, despite having dedicated Wikipedia articles, information on most major Italian companies is generally limited, scoring on average just 8.4 out of a possible 18 points for completeness. One reason could be that companies have been scared off engaging with online communities following a variety of scandals involving corporate manipulation of Wikipedia articles.
Effective public relations with online communities has had proven success, however. Fiat, for example, has achieved high viewing figures for its corporate information on Wikipedia as a result of engaging directly with the site’s editors.
“The most important thing for companies is to realise that Wikipedia can boost their international profile,” said Joakim Lundquist, founding partner of Lundquist Srl.
Tips from the report include:
- Respect the Wikipedia community and understand how the site works
- Only edit the verifiable facts in your article, such as no. of employees.
- Make copy-right free images and media available for Wikipedia
- Use discussion pages to interact with Wikipedia editors and express opinions
- Monitor your Wikipedia article for updates and vandalism.
For more about the study and its findings, download the Executive summary >
Melitta
