tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89680083350995480802011-08-01T17:39:36.854+01:00Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-25623891315535511552010-06-19T14:03:00.000+01:002010-06-19T14:03:34.495+01:00

It's been over six month since my last post here, so now seems a good time for an update.  It was not so much a lack of interest in blogging as a feeling that my activity at work was not something I should write about publicly at the time.  All communicators doubtless understand the need for discretion and to observe the requirement to keep certain business matters confidential.  If we don't

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-66368792192199604052010-01-08T17:26:00.001Z2010-01-08T17:42:07.462Z

Hello again! I hope you had a Happy New Year and that 2010 brings you success and satisfaction. Whenever I'm writing a business communication I always ensure at least two people proofread the copy. That's for internal use. When copy is being used in a customer communication or for sales/marketing purposes you would think the company sending it would make doubly sure there are no errors. The

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-22911815093692830482009-12-25T08:00:00.000Z2009-12-25T12:44:53.391Z

Wishing you the joy of Christmas and hoping this special time is blessed with peace, health and happiness for you, your family and your loved ones.

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-32534670154506305992009-12-22T11:12:00.010Z2009-12-22T13:17:41.292Z

So says Steve Jones, a vice president at Broadcast International, who was author of Monday's Today's Tip in the online version of Business Week magazine. Jones says that in business: "If you’re not communicating effectively, often the margin of error increases and effectiveness and success suffer." I doubt I will find many communicators who disagree with that analysis. He explains what he sees as

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-44077560134829829012009-12-20T13:22:00.003Z2009-12-20T13:24:36.032Z

Recent posts on other blogs, notably those of Liam Fitzpatrick and Jennifer Bull, show that people are still thinking about possible internal communication application of social media tools. Social media can be very useful in some organisations. For example, blogs and Twitter, to name but two tools, provide the opportunity for people to tell the author what they think about his/her musings, thus

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-16619287797447696082009-12-08T13:00:00.000Z2009-12-08T13:02:02.629Z

When it comes to employee engagement a question I have heard asked more than once is: "what do we want our engagement to achieve?". Because engagement seems to mean a variety of different things to different people, I came around to accepting the question has some merit - even though I believed the people asking it were approaching the rationale and need for communication from the wrong angle.

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-62879915450719556022009-12-07T13:13:00.001Z2009-12-07T13:14:11.737Z

The always excellent Liam Fitzpatrick has an insightful post on his blog today about the merits of communicating strategy to employees. This comment really hit the nail on the head: So my suggestion for communicating strategy? Stop it and get on with introducing the boss to their people and concentrate on explaining what people have to do next week. Of course you have to paint a vision and

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-24605896329160592772009-11-10T13:51:00.001Z2009-11-10T13:55:22.196Z

For the last month blogging and tweeting has been pushed aside so I could throw myself into the task of finding a new comms role.  Despite contracting as a freelance for the last couple of years I came across a few permanent roles that were of interest to me. After attending the multi-stage interviews, one company's position in particular stood out.  It is a role developing the internal

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-45466617534837465562009-10-02T14:06:00.001+01:002009-10-02T14:10:17.935+01:00

Today's edition of The Times reports that the London Evening Standard will soon become a free newspaper. The story contains quotes from Alexander Lebedev, the majority owner and chairman of Evening Standard Ltd, and the paper's editor, Geordie Greig. The article is quite detailed in its coverage of the plan and the reasons for it. However, has the Standard let down its employees by failing to

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-66329599197153031742009-10-02T11:09:00.005+01:002009-10-02T11:33:57.667+01:00

People Management magazine carries a story about an extraordinary claim, by a co-author of a government commissioned review, that better employee engagement at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) could have prevented the near-collapse of the bank. The substance of the intervention risks making the role of the internal communicator or employee engagement manager more difficult in the future. The

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-33815128495291956382009-09-23T12:12:00.000+01:002009-09-23T12:12:48.493+01:00

It was interesting to read in HR Magazine that a company has reduced its staff turnover from 75% to 1% in just 30 months, due to a focused engagement and recognition policy. It was curious however to learn that the company is actually an engagement consultancy, O.C. Tanner. Quite how an engagement consultancy experienced a 75% turnover of staff, even through mergers and acquisitions, is a mystery

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-55715536396274580012009-09-09T16:22:00.005+01:002009-12-08T13:00:13.066Z

That's the finding of a national survey in the US reported on Reuters. And it's one that will be familiar to many internal communicators who see messages through the line frequently break down at the line manager level. According to the national telephone survey of 420 employed adults with supervisors: Only half of America's employees (50%) agree that their supervisors give them the information

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-15163657468944558972009-09-08T13:02:00.000+01:002009-09-08T13:02:38.897+01:00

Here is an example of frustrating writing that I stumbled across because the topic happened to be internal communication. After being hooked by a strong title, "Internal communication saves time and money" and ploughing through a fairly uninspiring example of the consequences of not communicating effectively, I arrived at the author's conclusion, where the words "internal communication" were used

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-22551548981974654322009-09-07T10:16:00.003+01:002009-09-07T11:39:36.160+01:00

We've all heard politicians and sociologists talk about social inclusion in recent years. It's succeeded in shifting the focus of politicians and agencies on problems in society that need to be resolved. So isn't it time that internal communications professionals started to promote the concept of 'engagement inclusion' to generate a focus on problems in the business world that could be addressed

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-36199728570100779392009-09-02T09:25:00.001+01:002009-09-07T11:39:58.817+01:00

Executives and managers in Brisbane are being invited to attend a business breakfast where they will be told how to engage and reward their people in tough times. We need to see lots more of these sessions in the UK where thought leaders in communications and employee engagement can explain why employee engagement matters - especially in a challenging market environment. Perhaps in the UK the

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-81925499519836367342009-08-29T11:18:00.000+01:002009-08-29T11:18:27.218+01:00

Recently I took the opportunity to visit an organisation and find out more about their internal communication and employee engagement. I was presented with the findings of the most recent employee survey conducted by a reputable polling company - and the results were very interesting. The headline elements of the survey revealed the staff like working for the organisation and believe their work

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-83255847524005650722009-08-25T10:21:00.000+01:002009-08-25T10:21:20.378+01:00

When something controversial or unsettling happens in an organisation an understandable response is that people ask pointed questions about it.  Good internal comms professionals would counsel the leadership to engage with their people to explain why 'it' happened, what the leadership thinks about it and what actions they might take. Successful engagement is grounded in openness and transparency

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8968008335099548080.post-24293403638833139952009-08-24T15:52:00.002+01:002009-08-24T15:57:46.567+01:00

My name is Tony and I'm an internal communicator.  There, I've admitted it to myself and to you, dear reader.  Cue warm applause, murmurs of approval, pats on the back and perhaps a personal sense of relief.  After all, identifying your specialism is half the battle, isn't it?  The other half as I see it is defining exactly what an internal communicator is and explaining why the job is important.

Tonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09297453511295248033noreply@blogger.com0