Employee Communications: Survey Shows Workers Doubt Corporate Ethics
Despite all the attention to ethics in this decade, a new study shows that American employees don't put much stock in their employers' business mores. And with the growth in PR, it would be wise to benchmark what your employees think about your firm.
More than 40 percent of 1,694 employees surveyed said they are aware of theft, discrimination, sexual harassment, lying, falsifying records, conflicts of interest and theft, according to Walker Information. The Indianapolis-based company measures and manages stakeholder relationships for blue-chip businesses.
Additional conclusions of the "National Benchmark Study on Business Ethics":
- 19 percent of respondents report that sexual harassment is the number one problem;
- 57 percent of government employees have witnessed ethical violations at work;
- 83 percent of employees say their company has an ethics code, but only 65 percent said it has been communicated to them and only 45 percent said leaders "practice what they preach"; and
- In descending order, these are the top 10 problem areas: harassment, lying on reports, conflicts of interest, stealing, lying to bosses, discrimination, abusing drugs/alcohol, improper accounting practices, violating environmental laws or regulations and gifts/entertainment in violation of policies. (Walker Information, 317/843-3939)
On the Cyber Front: Web Site Objectives Not Being Met, Says Marketers
Just half of nearly 800 national marketers believe their companies' Web goals are being met. And the key to success hinges partly on keeping internal control not relying on external consultants to manage content, a new report shows.
In tandem with the New York chapter of the American Marketing Association, the University of Albany, State University of New York, sent surveys to 2,535 corporate marketers in February to track this medium's impact on the marketing mix. While more than half agree or strongly agree that their online objectives are being reached, 11.6 percent disagreed (38.2 percent were neutral).
But the study also indicates that achieving goals can be tied to some commonplace business tangibles. Most respondents believe they could better achieve goals with these two primary components: A link to sales; and a reduction in costs of traditional marketing expenses. Other key findings:
- Despite what might seem like an obvious connection, how long a site has been up, a brand's market share or the strength of a brand off-line do not influence brand building and Web design;
- Successful Web sites generally are handled in-house, with sites that have budgets over $250,000 becoming more transactional; and
- More than 84 percent expect a jump in their budgets, with 20 percent being the average increase. (University at Albany, 518/442-4910)
On the Cyber Front: Women On the Web:Specialists, Not Generalists
A new study shows that if your business handles PR for specialized site that are home- and lifestyle-oriented URLs, most of your traffic is women and your content must be appropriately tweaked. PR can be a leader in those efforts.
Statistics compiled by the International Data Corporation, Framingham, Mass., indicate that 63 percent of visitors to special communications sites are female and 60 percent to home and living domains are women.
You might want to consider hosting some focus groups with existing and target female customers if your communications strategies have been an afterthought, not a priority in this realm. (IDC, 508/935-4764)