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Valentina
Paul Holmes:
Paul Holmes: "There ought to be much greater integration of employee comms with all other communication functions in business (I think PR should be pretty much in charge of everything: the world would be a much better place if PR people had more responsibility generally!) ... HR are good at managing just employees, Finance - just investors, Marketing - just customers, but companies should start dealing with people in the whole - to recognize they are NOT JUST EMPLOYEES, but also customers, shareholders, and members of the community, and PR is the only unit that understand all of those stakeholder groups and know how to communicate with them. Sharing info with employees is about GIVING UP CONTROL - let them tell a story in a slightly different way, put out their own spin on it... Modern communication is about other people (bloggers, journalists, housewives, employees) telling your story and you can't control that - PR people are best prepared and used to giving up control... the trend towards greater institutional transparency is a very good thing - the more we know about corporations/organizations that have a large impact on our life, the better it is - this allows informed consent when it comes to purchasing decisions... Higher transparency guarantees better governance."
Paul Holmes - World Comms Forum, Davos, 2012 youtube.com
Paul Holmes, founder and CEO of The Holmes Report (http://www.holmesreport.com/), sharing insight on internal/employee comms in corporate organizations, with emphasis on the huge role of PR, and providing opinion on the issue of privacy (medical data, for instance, should be non-disclosed, according to him, otherwise this might lead to discrimin...
Tyler G., Shannondoah D. and 2 others like this
You, Tyler G., Shannondoah D. and 2 others like this
5 comments
Keith
Keith S. • Noble words, well said. Rupert Murdoch might argue against transparency and companies giving up control though!
My problem with this is that the transparency must come from the *absolute* top, not a level or two down. So unless the CEO is a subscriber to this method, we're always going to get the same problems where they pay lip service to the theory, whilst battling the needs of shareholders etc. It will become a veneer of respectability over an otherwise unchanged and well-established practice of business.
Patrice
Patrice T. • Well said Paul. The world would be a much better place if PR people had more responsiblity (and authority) generally.
Deon
Deon B. • The employee relations interface is no longerr a HR responsibility. It is the domain of Stakeholder Reputation Management. Engaging the Employee Stakeholder has become key.
You should take a look at the work done by David Zinger and the Employee Engagement Network.
I have run workshops on this - "Strategic Employee Stakeholder Engagement”
This is what I uncovered in my research and now cover in the workshop - look at the systemic interaction. During this two day workshop‚ I cover
•Why Engagement is not just a buzzword - it is about capturing the Hearts, Minds and Hands of Employees whilst they work for you
•What is the secret of engagement and becoming an Employer of choice
•How to strategically engage the employee stakeholder to build brand awareness and reputation
•How to design, implement & drive an effective engagement strategy, using tools such as stakeholder management, communication, Social Media, liberated HR and OD practices & engagement techniques
•Practical steps on how to impact relationships with the internal stakeholder in a favourable manner
•What it takes to become an admired & preferred employer
Tyler
Tyler G. • Couldn't agree more. Integrated communications is where we are today; we no longer control the conversation, but we are best positioned to influence and shape the dialogue.
Keith
Keith S. • Pop Quiz: Would you say that the majority or the minority of employee comms practitioners and PR experts practice total transparency in their own business dealings? If it's the minority, isn't there a 'cobbler's children's shoes' mentality at play?