Internal Communication

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Since “PR executive” is on the 2019 list of top 10 most stressful jobs, it’s important for communicators, and those who manage and employ them, to consider ways to overcome stress and other mental health issues. Creating an open culture is one tactic that may help mental health and improve communications results.

Is there ever a good time to break bad news? Perhaps not, but letting it sit for awhile is unlikely to make it more palatable. Part of the communicator’s job is communicating news that might anger employees. A group of PR pros offers tips and best practices on how to communicate difficult news.

This past Mother’s Day, The New York Times ran an opinion piece featuring several female athletes who are sponsored by Nike, focusing on the fact that Nike did not provide these athletes with paid maternity leave. The scandal reminds us that brand communicators should close the gap between what’s promoted and what’s practiced, and partner with legal teams to make sure that contractual language is consistent with brand values.

The media often points to examples of large brands failing to observe crisis-response best practices. The incident at the Topeka Zoo on Saturday (April 20) showed a small nonprofit conducting crisis PR at very high levels. The Zoo not only communicated quickly and transparently, it did so with sensitivity. Some large brands and organizations should take note.

On Tues., March 5, investment bank and financial services company Goldman Sachs Group Inc. announced that it would loosen up its stringent employee dress code. Announced via internal memo signed by Goldman executives including chief executive David Solomon, this new “firm wide flexible dress code” has been instituted due to “the changing nature of workplaces generally in favor of a more casual environment.” The memo also urged employees to dress in a manner consistent with their client’s expectations.

With March Madness permeating the zeitgeist in a few weeks, we asked some of the 2018 PR News Rising PR Stars to answer our roundtable questions this month. We asked, “What gets you mad about PR and communications?” And, “What can be done about it?” Their edited responses follow.

Kristin Thomas is the program manager for investment management company Vanguard’s employee advocacy efforts on social media, which, within a regulated industry, isn’t always the easiest task. Thomas, who is speaking at The Social Shake-Up May 6-8 in Atlanta, shares lessons learned from launching employee advocacy at Vanguard.

Last week Buzzfeed announced that it would lay off 15 percent of its staff—including 43 journalists in its news division, and the announcement hit newswires as a troubling bellwether for digital publishing. The company, which first rose to fame for its viral listicles before later earning legitimacy as a journalistic enterprise, was initially quiet about one detail that was blasted by negative news headlines, tweets, and a protest letter by 400 current and past employees: it would not pay out earned PTO as a part of its severance packages.

The bar is raised when a company prides itself on its open culture and encourages employee feedback. Google is discovering that corporate culture is a living creature that needs care and feeding. Some of the activities the company is alleged to have done seem to run counter to the image Google seeks to create.

There always will be a competitor who can woo your best talent with money. Yet businesses that use only monetary incentives to keep top talent can win that battle for a time, but, eventually, they will lose the war. 5WPR founder Ronn Torossian argues employees who share your company’s vision and values are far less likely to depart. Fortunately, communications is key.