Corporate Conversations
Corporate Conversations
Reviewed by G.A. “Andy” Marken
President
Marken Communications Inc
andy@markencom.com
Shel Holtz provided the public relations industry a valuable service several years ago with his excellent book Public Relations on the Net and he does a very good job of attempting to raise the quality of employee or internal communications with Corporate Conversations. The challenge is that there seems to be too much disconnect between management and the employee population.
Even in the best of times our experience has been that internal communications has often been misplaced in the organization as an activity that is managed by HR rather than public relations. As a result the activity has been limited (as the author points out) to the employee newsletter or publication that reported birthdays, babies, brides and intra-company sports.
What Holtz has attempted to do in his latest book is to raise the level of importance of internal or employee communications for any organization. He has done a very good job of raising the bar for professional communicators and the book is an excellent guide book for newcomers to the industry who need assistance and guidance in the fundamentals. These include program strategy and tactics, budgeting, communications tools and how they can be used for internal communications as well as program measurement and analysis.
The problem – not with the book – but with the subject is that we feel he is preaching to the choir. He has done a very good job of filling the pages with meaningful and immediately useable information and guidelines. It is filled with solid ideas on how to develop and execute a communications program focused on the most valuable and most overlooked of any organization’s publics – the employees.
Employee relations isn’t a public relations issue. It isn’t a human resources issue. It is a senior management issue. When times are good management has no problem with open communications with staff members up and down the organization. But when circumstances are less than positive, employees are often one of the lowest priorities.
Today with cross-organizational email communications and global access to internet-based news it is too easy for employees to get undiluted, timely information regarding the company’s management and growth activities. For example, less than an hour after Michael H. Jordan had been named chairman and CEO of EDS there was a new logo circulating throughout the company. The official blue corporate circle had been replaced with a basketball with EDS overprinted.
Whether it is an inside joke or the “quiet” discontinuance of product or “minor” staff cutbacks, the information can quickly find its way onto the screens of a company’s customers, prospects and competition.
Holtz has placed special emphasis on a very important area which may be the key to raising the importance of employee relations activities – continuous research, analysis and management feedback. By constantly and professionally seeking audience inputs and feedback it could be very possible for the public relations professional to raise the visibility and importance of a pro-active employee communications program.
Rather than use two theoretical firms as examples of good and bad examples of internal communications, we would have preferred to see Mr. Holtz use precise examples of specific companies/instances where programs were well planned and well executed as well as poorly planned and carried out. Granted the fictitious companies are undoubtedly an amalgamation of a number of different firms and situations but we believe the discussion would have been more credible had he used individual corporate examples. Even if the identity of the specific firm wasn’t revealed … “a large conglomerate headquartered in New Jersey” or “a global company with two plants in Arizona” we would have felt the examples were more credible.
For newcomers to the field it will be an excellent and valuable guide. To seasoned professionals the most valuable segments of the book will be his final chapter on measuring the value of internal communications and the appendices.
The key for each of us is to put a dollar value on internal communications. That has constantly been difficult to measure and support…especially when the firm’s stock price is below the low water mark and sales/profits are charted as a reverse hockey stick.
However, give Holtz’s Corporate Conversations a thorough read and you may discover the key to showing senior management how employees – their most valuable asset – might be worked with more effectively to reverse the trends.
Corporate Conversations - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Corporate Conversations – A Guide to Crafting Effective and Appropriate Internal Communications – by Shel Holtz; AMACOM, 1601 Broadway, NY, NY 10019, 212-903-8315, October 2003, Hardcover -- $27.95, 292 pps
Reviewed by G.A. “Andy” Marken
President
Marken Communications Inc
andy@markencom.com
Shel Holtz provided the public relations industry a valuable service several years ago with his excellent book Public Relations on the Net and he does a very good job of attempting to raise the quality of employee or internal communications with Corporate Conversations. The challenge is that there seems to be too much disconnect between management and the employee population.
Even in the best of times our experience has been that internal communications has often been misplaced in the organization as an activity that is managed by HR rather than public relations. As a result the activity has been limited (as the author points out) to the employee newsletter or publication that reported birthdays, babies, brides and intra-company sports.
What Holtz has attempted to do in his latest book is to raise the level of importance of internal or employee communications for any organization. He has done a very good job of raising the bar for professional communicators and the book is an excellent guide book for newcomers to the industry who need assistance and guidance in the fundamentals. These include program strategy and tactics, budgeting, communications tools and how they can be used for internal communications as well as program measurement and analysis.
The problem – not with the book – but with the subject is that we feel he is preaching to the choir. He has done a very good job of filling the pages with meaningful and immediately useable information and guidelines. It is filled with solid ideas on how to develop and execute a communications program focused on the most valuable and most overlooked of any organization’s publics – the employees.
Employee relations isn’t a public relations issue. It isn’t a human resources issue. It is a senior management issue. When times are good management has no problem with open communications with staff members up and down the organization. But when circumstances are less than positive, employees are often one of the lowest priorities.
Today with cross-organizational email communications and global access to internet-based news it is too easy for employees to get undiluted, timely information regarding the company’s management and growth activities. For example, less than an hour after Michael H. Jordan had been named chairman and CEO of EDS there was a new logo circulating throughout the company. The official blue corporate circle had been replaced with a basketball with EDS overprinted.
Whether it is an inside joke or the “quiet” discontinuance of product or “minor” staff cutbacks, the information can quickly find its way onto the screens of a company’s customers, prospects and competition.
Holtz has placed special emphasis on a very important area which may be the key to raising the importance of employee relations activities – continuous research, analysis and management feedback. By constantly and professionally seeking audience inputs and feedback it could be very possible for the public relations professional to raise the visibility and importance of a pro-active employee communications program.
Rather than use two theoretical firms as examples of good and bad examples of internal communications, we would have preferred to see Mr. Holtz use precise examples of specific companies/instances where programs were well planned and well executed as well as poorly planned and carried out. Granted the fictitious companies are undoubtedly an amalgamation of a number of different firms and situations but we believe the discussion would have been more credible had he used individual corporate examples. Even if the identity of the specific firm wasn’t revealed … “a large conglomerate headquartered in New Jersey” or “a global company with two plants in Arizona” we would have felt the examples were more credible.
For newcomers to the field it will be an excellent and valuable guide. To seasoned professionals the most valuable segments of the book will be his final chapter on measuring the value of internal communications and the appendices.
The key for each of us is to put a dollar value on internal communications. That has constantly been difficult to measure and support…especially when the firm’s stock price is below the low water mark and sales/profits are charted as a reverse hockey stick.
However, give Holtz’s Corporate Conversations a thorough read and you may discover the key to showing senior management how employees – their most valuable asset – might be worked with more effectively to reverse the trends.
Corporate Conversations - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Andy's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Networking Difference In A Decade Business Plan Sample Business Coaching Managing Generations How to Get a Life |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Marketing Blogs of 2009 | |
 |
Email The Reporters
Press Release Builder | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||