Internal Communication

As part of our series of interviews with senior PR pros in new positions, we spoke recently with Emily Graham, FleishmanHillard’s first chief diversity & inclusion officer. During her 15-year career, Graham says she’s seen no evidence that PR has made strides toward diversity. Actions not words are needed now, she says.

Faced with a long-term crisis, a media landscape that transformed priorities seemingly overnight and budgets of many businesses frozen, PR pros need to adapt. Here are some strategies to use.

The adage that employees can be your best advocates is more apparent during the pandemic. How a company treats its employees has both internal and external implications, argues Meagan Meldrim of Finn Partners. She offers several ways to make employees your brand’s influencers.

It may seem like conversations on social media couldn’t possibly get more polarized. But in the face of a pandemic and plummeting economy, during an election year no less, brands continue to find themselves caught in the middle of hot-button issues, forced to choose sides on topics previously thought to be outside their wheelhouse. As they address the possibility of employees going rogue on social, communicators should find recourse in the law, internal policy and strategy.

A new survey from PRNEWS shows the industry upbeat about the future. In the survey of 200 PR pros last month, 88 percent told us PR and communication will come back as strong if not stronger after the pandemic. Still, there’s concern for the future and diversity & inclusion content is lacking in industry messaging.

As brand communicators and PR firms plan to reopen their offices, the burden on internal communicators to set expectations seems great. Here’s a quick look at some of the areas they’ll need to consider communicating as offices reopen.

Those helming brands in this environment face the most critical challenge of their careers – as they attempt to navigate from a business and a brand reputation perspective. Nowhere is that responsibility greater than in communication.

Communicators and the companies they represent are wrestling with what to communicate, if anything, about diversity and inclusion. In the end, the best response seems to be the authentic one, interviews with PR pros indicate.

As companies look at addressing their D&I issues, one place to start may be who should fill the shoes of those replaced. Particularly in media, no one can leave a prestigious editorial leadership position gaping for long, as news never stops. However, who and how you choose to replace can have a long-term impact on any organization.

Many employees have received or will receive statements from senior management detailing the company’s stance on supporting diversity and the Black Lives Matter protests. The PR community knows the power of communication and what words and messages represent. We look at how some companies and trade groups are shaping internal communication at this moment.