The phrase has become a mantra among PR and marketing mavens: Your employees are your brand’s best ambassadors.
Regardless of the size or the company, employees need to feel that they are integral to the brand’s success. That’s why internal communication is so vital, albeit tricky, to ensuring a relatively smooth operation.
In communicating with employees the onus is increasingly on PR reps to clearly state the goals and objectives of the company. Indeed, another mantra would serve PR reps well when they communicate within the four walls: What’s in it for me? Let’s face it, that’s what most employees think when they get an email from corporate.
Having a “Call to Action” can help to assuage any questions and/or concerns that employees might have when they get wind of the latest correspondence from in-house.
PR News’ Digital PR Guidebook, Vol. 5 features a Call to Action checklist for internal communications, compliments of Lisa Nicole Chen, who manages employee engagement communications at the Electronic Systems division of ITT Exelis.
The checklist includes four bullet points:
1. What is the call to action? What do you want employees to do?
For example: Develop personal goals aligned to our three businesses goals for 2013.
2. What will enable the success of the call to action? What information do they need?
3. What could prevent a successful call to action? What objections or questions might employees have and what information is needed to overcome the challenge?
For example: We don’t have training/time to use the new time management system; if you are unfamiliar with the new system, we’ll be offering training demos in the cafeteria during all open hours.
4. What is the most appropriate channel for this call to action?
For example: Email blast and portal posting for remote sales employees; shift change messaging for manufacturing employees; Facebook or Twitter feed for employees and their family members.
To learn more about myriad trends in digital media and communications, check out PR News’ Digital PR Guidebook, Vol. 5.
Follow Matthew Schwartz: @mpsjourno1