Employee Relations With a Hint of Succession Planning

Communicating with employees is a concept that has been gaining popularity of late. Every organization makes it a point to communicate effectively to its customers and build lasting relationships with them. But what it doesn’t realize is that it is equally important to communicate with its employees the same way. 

Employees are the face of any organization and if they do not respect the organization they work for, forget about the other publics respecting it. 

When there is something of significance happening in a company, like a leadership change, it is always prudent to keep all employees in the loop. It is better if they get to know what’s going on from the official organization channels, rather from the news.

Let's assume that the CEO of your organization is stepping down and you want to send out an internal newsletter or email to your loyal employees informing them about it. Here are five things that could possibly assist you when you’re considering sharing that information.

• ·      When you send out your message during a leadership change, make sure you give them all the information needed. Never leave questions unanswered. 

• ·      Make sure you name the interim CEO when you make the announcement. There is nothing worse than not having a person leading the group.

• ·      Assure them of the organization’s stability and that you have got everything under control. Share with them your plans of finding the next CEO. Make them believe that you are on top of your game.

• ·      When there is a succession change, the employees tend to speculate a lot about the future. The rumor mill would be abuzz. Office gossip cannot be contained and the only thing you can do to make it better is equipping them with the right information. 

• ·      Though hierarchy is essential in an organization. Do not integrate them in your communication channels. Treat all employees the same. 

When employees are informed and given due importance, they tend to identify more with the organization and become all the more dedicated. As PR professionals, do not ever underestimate the power of employees, as they are one of the key stakeholders in every organization.

Remember! Start communicating internally before you jump outside! 

Want To Get Some Media Attention? Well, Here's How!

We rely on news websites and the antiquated concept of newspapers to get our daily dose of current events. Everyday we take in the things that journalists deem appropriate or “news worthy” without questioning their decision.

As a PR practitioner or as any person vying for some media attention, there is a list of elements that your story should have in order to get the limelight. I crosschecked my list with the top news websites and found that there was indeed a trend being followed. So here are some things that would get you some news value!

Prominence – It’s all about who’s who

Proximity – How close are we to the incident

Impact – How much does it affect us?

Timeliness – No one likes stale news

Conflict – We all love a good fight

Human Interest – If it can reach out to your emotions

As PR professionals, we HAVE to collaborate with not just one but many media outlets. Public relations and journalism go hand in hand. And contrary to popular belief, PR professionals can have good relationships with journalists. As much as I hate to admit it, we need them as much as they need us!

So here are a few tips to keep in mind when you deal with them:

• When you approach journalists to run your story, check if it has an element that would make it newsworthy.
• Always take time to draft individual mails to journalists instead of just sending out a single email to a bunch of them.
• Give them clear-cut facts. As much as you would like to decorate your writing with quips and anecdotes, refrain from doing so.
• Never question them on the way they choose to say your story. As long as the facts are accurate, let them say what they want how they want.

Always remember that to be in the news, you must have something that make journalists want to cover your story. Make things more interesting and news worthy, and you will have all the attention you need.

So, what according to you should one do to get good media coverage? 

A Great Idea is All You Need!

Don’t want to checkout from your comfy hotel room? No problem! Art Series Hotel Group has a solution you cannot resist.

Brian Keenan from Ketchum used this case as an example during his presentation on campaigns, and it just stuck with me. The Australian luxury hotel chain came up with a simple yet brilliant campaign that increased its customer base by manifold.

Instead of booting its guests out, it let them stay in the hotel until the next guest arrived. It gave its customers something other hotels did not and earned their gratitude in the form of free publicity.

Here is a video that was put together that described their awesome campaign. And trust me, it is worth watching.

            

The campaign was very well executed. The idea behind it was so simple but it resonated amazingly well with the public. Who would have thought that such a simple idea would result in more than 300 percent return on investment?

From this campaign and Keenan’s presentation, I learnt that a great idea is all it takes to make a difference. And for the idea to be impactful, it needs to have certain attributes.

  It should,

• ·      Have a purpose
• ·      Be simple
• ·      Make sense to your audience
• ·      Appeal to your heart and mind
• ·      Be relevant
• ·      Achieve the goal of your business

And if you have got that squared away, you are all set to roll out your campaign.

Remember, it’s all about the idea!