EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNICATIONandand COMMUNITY COMMUNITY

RELATIONSRELATIONS

CONTENT

• Introduction• Employee communication• Concept of organizational culture• Importance of employee communication• Media for employee communication• Community relations• Importance and process• Specific functions of community relations

EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNICATION

Introduction

• Employee communication help employee to be well informed about their organization, encourage to express view to management

““Employees are asset to Employees are asset to organization”organization”

COMMUNITY RELATIONS, A PR FUNCTION

Planned, active and continuing participation with and within a community to maintain and enhance its environment to the benefit of both the organization and the community.

• Organizational culture are employees collective perceptions of: – Policies, Structure, Leadership, Standards, Values,

Rule

• Authoritarian cultures - centralized decision-making with the CEO and a few top-level managers

• Participative cultures - feature the common value of teamwork

Concept of organizational culture

• Public relations contribute to a productive workplace culture in that: – Establishes organizational policy based on a goal-

oriented approach– Helps in designing and implementing organizational

change programs – Provides an expertise in employee communication

• The best workplace culture should provide feelings of: – Confidence, Openness, Candor, Satisfaction,

Involvement, Pride, Supportiveness

Concept of organizational culture

Importance Of Employee Communication

• PR practitioners’ duties in employee communication include: – Promoting understanding and awareness of

company goals– Interpreting management and personnel policies– Fulfilling employee information needs– Providing channels for two-way communication– Encouraging favorable attitudes and increased

productivity

Importance of employee communication

• Research shows employee interest focuses on…– Organizational plans for the future– Job advancement opportunities– Job-related “how to” information– Productivity improvement– Personnel policies and procedures– How the organization is doing vs. competitors– How individual jobs fit into the organization

Media For Employee Communication

• In order to promote a positive organizational culture, PR practitioners use the following internal media:

– Publications– Videos

– Television– Intranets

– Email– News releases

MEDIA FOR EMPLOYEE MEDIA FOR EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNICATIONUnion communications:

•Company-union relationships are adversarial in nature, governed by statutes and regulations.•Those laws and regulations limit organizational behaviors and communicator messages.•Keep in mind why employees may unionize to pursue their goals and interests•Work toward resolving issues with unions and establishing an effective continuing institutional relationship

Content of employee media:•There must be a balance between the information employees want and what they need.•Typically, an employee program contains: – 50 % about the organization– 20 % about employees – benefits, etc.– 20 % relevant non-company information about

competitors, the community, etc.– 10 % personals and trivia

MEDIA FOR EMPLOYEE MEDIA FOR EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNICATION

• Principle of employee relations:– Employees must be told first– Must tell the bad news with the good.– Must be timely with info– Must inform employees on subjects they think are

important– Use media employees trust

• Preferred topics of interest include: – Plans for the future– Productivity improvements– Personnel policies and practices

MEDIA FOR EMPLOYEE MEDIA FOR EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONCOMMUNICATION

Community relationsCommunity relations

OrganizationOrganization

CommunityCommunityCitizensCitizens

InfrastructureInfrastructure

FacilitiesFacilities

CustomersCustomersEmployeesEmployees

UtilitiesUtilitiesTransportationTransportation

OfficesOffices SchoolsSchools

Inter-dependence: Organizations and Communities

COMMUNITY RELATIONSCOMMUNITY RELATIONS

COMMUNITY RELATIONSCOMMUNITY RELATIONS

• The need for community relations:– Inter-dependence

makes community relationships very important

– Communities and organizations must work together and share many of the same resources to assure economic prosperity for both.

• Kodak., as part of their community affairs programs, contributes money to local orchestras and science centers in the Rochester, NY area. – They also sponsor

community events and provide grants to charities.

• Objectives:– Inform the community about the organization.– Obtain legislation favorable to operating within the

community.– Determine community attitudes and expectations.– Support community activities.– Assist local economy

Importance & Process

Importance & Process

• Tips for effective community relations:– Know the community.– Develop a community relations

policy.– Harmonize organizational practice

with community needs.– Cooperate with local

organizations.– Make appropriate donations to

community groups– Patronize local businesses.

Specific Functions Of Community Relations

• Ideally, communities relations will: – Create something that didn’t exist before or revive

an old program.– Solve a community problem.– Broaden the scope of a community service.– Share equipment, facilities, and expertise.– Reconstituting, Repairing, and “Dressing Up”– Tutor, counsel or train citizens to help others.– Activate others

Create something needed that didn’t exist before

• Intel is using spare processing power of personal computers to fight cancer in a Philanthropic Peer-to-Peer program in hopes of reducing the time new drugs can get on the market.

Solve a Community Problem

• An major oil company turned An major oil company turned its facilities and land over to a its facilities and land over to a small town in Kansas without small town in Kansas without cost when it closed its cost when it closed its business there to make an business there to make an industrial park and to help industrial park and to help solve the resultant solve the resultant unemployment problem.unemployment problem.

• Marriott Hotels often provide day care facilities for its employees use so it can provide employment for those who couldn’t afford to work otherwise.

Broaden the Scope of Broaden the Scope of Community ServiceCommunity Service

Sharing Sharing Facilities & Facilities & ExpertiseExpertise• The American Bar

Association provides free legal services for the poor and elderly who typically would not be able to afford legal help otherwise.

Reconstituting, Repairing, & Dressing Up

• Helps communities with rebuilding or re-invigorating a community area.

• Lowe’s has continually supported Habitat for Humanity and it’s efforts to construct homes for those in need.

Tutor, Counsel, or

Teach Others• Many Many

corporations corporations encourage their encourage their employees to employees to tutor in their tutor in their area of area of expertise or to expertise or to guest lecture at guest lecture at schools or schools or collegescolleges

Activating Others

• St. Jude’s Research Hospital has worked with corporations such as FedEx to host a PGA golf tournament to provide thousands of dollars for cancer research.

Specific Functions of Specific Functions of Community RelationsCommunity Relations• Major areas of corporate philanthropic Major areas of corporate philanthropic

support include: support include:

– Educational OpportunitiesEducational Opportunities– HealthcareHealthcare– Human ServicesHuman Services– Arts and Culture Arts and Culture

• Challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility – Issues are not static – they change over time– Priorities vary among publics – Know Your Public!– Problems are complex – Difficulty satisfying the public’s expectations – the

public may expect more than your organization can reasonably ensure

Specific Functions of Specific Functions of Community RelationsCommunity Relations

• Factors involved in effective corporate philanthropy programs: – Do No Harm– Communicate with Partnerships– Target Contributions to Specific Areas– Contributions must be in line with Corporate Policies– Plan within a specific budget– Communicate plan to all parties– Do Follow-Up after campaign– Money may not be only item needed, i.e. volunteers

Specific Functions of Specific Functions of Community RelationsCommunity Relations

• Trends that make corporate giving more effective:– More corporations are giving money to problems

they think are significant and want to help fix.– Venture Philanthropy – corporations give money

to nonprofits who follow solid business practices– Cause-Related Marketing – A corporation ties it’s

product with a cause.

Specific Functions of Specific Functions of Community RelationsCommunity Relations

Benefits of Cause-Related Marketing •Increase Sales of a Corporations Product•Enhances the Reputation of the Corporation•Benefits the Charity and the Partners involved

Specific Functions of Specific Functions of Community RelationsCommunity Relations

In Summary

• Community relations programs are based on a few fundamental principles:– The community is vital to the organization.– Community relations programs should serve the

interests of the organization and the community.– Programs should be conceived and managed to

provide benefits to all parties.