Internal Communication

Following a report based on leaked internal Google documents about plans to launch a censored version of the search engine in China, some Google employees are less than impressed. The project (code named Dragonfly in confidential documents) was started in the spring of 2017 and had been confidential within the company, save for a small portion of Google’s large, multinational workforce, until this week.

A PR crisis often becomes a media feeding frenzy. When the crisis involves a media brand and a CEO, it’s a frenzy run amok. Media, like PR, usually abhors being the story. The sexual harassment allegations against CBS chief Les Moonves are far more than the story of a top media executive and his brand wishing to stay out of the news, though. Communicators will be watching closely to see how CBS talks about this crisis, although the network might not be allowed make all its own choices.

During the winter and summer holidays the PR department of a big pharma company sends employees a note about the company’s views on issues that might arise during conversations with friends and family at social gatherings. With… Continued

“First we eat, then we do everything else,” the preeminent American food writer M.F.K. Fisher once proclaimed. We can all agree that food is an important part of our lives. So when the CEO of… Continued

Employees of several companies, from Silicon Valley stalwarts like Amazon and Microsoft to professional services network Deloitte and its competitor McKinsey & Company, have publicly raised moral objections to the work that their companies conduct with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), which carries out border separations. The trend presents a question for internal communicators: How should brands respond when employees object to business partnerships on moral grounds?

Internal communications is hard. So is change. There may be few things more difficult for communicators than to explain changes to employees. We asked 13 PR pros for their best practices in handling this delicate form of communications.

In each edition of PR News we highlight takeaways from an article or articles as well as additions to the PR News Resource Center, which is available only to subscribers at https://www.prnewsonline.com/subscriber-resources/

It is unlikely we’ll read much about brand communicators working long hours as a spate of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) grips corporate America, particularly in media. Communicators will be tasked with explaining what a future merged company will mean to employees, which is the heavy lifting of M&As, argues Larry Parnell of George Washington University. While most M&As fail to provide shareholder value, strong internal communications can provide a foundation for mergers to succeed. Jason Meyer of APCO Worldwide provides best practices for communicating during times of change.

You could feel the tension rising in the air, knocking out the aroma of coffee beans and herbal tea. Nancy had ordered a decaf-caf skim latte and the barista seemingly got it wrong. She stormed… Continued

What is the best way for communicators to report up to the C-suite? For Nisha Morris, executive director for communication at Providence St. Joseph Health, the foundation for such work is based on communicators gaining the trust of the C-suite. She offers insights that have helped her and her team do so.