Impromptu speaking in business settings can be the most important and influential verbal communication you will ever undertake. This applies in face-to-face and virtual discussions; and internally as well as externally. However, I have seen people botch this too often. They either don't prepare sufficiently for the meeting (especially internally), or they may not speak up. It is all-too-easy to fall into the trap of thinking the agenda doesn't involve you directly, but the ...
Read moreEmployee safety needs to be taken seriously, whether your organization employs a handful of people or is the workplace for dozens (or even hundreds) of professionals. "No business strategy can be effective if it doesn’t embed employee health, safety, and well-being into its DNA. You’ve made a foundational promise to your workers to take care of them," the authors of a 2020 Strategy + Business article remind us. Let us also remember that good ...
Read moreWhy is employee engagement important? Why push for stronger employee engagement? Well, a whole range of benefits are generated from treating employee engagement as a priority, even the most important organizational priority. Some of the most important benefits are listed below, as discussed in an 2018 article by Quantum Workplace. Every benefit is backed up by research referred in the article: Increased employee safety Better employee health Happier employees Greater employee satisfaction Better home ...
Read moreOne important factor to consider in your corporate culture is the range of unwritten or unspoken aspects of the culture – your organization’s ‘unwritten ground rules.’ These are the behaviors and routines followed by many employees which may or may not line up with their employer's business 'values.' Unwritten ground rules (UGRs) explain why many corporate vision, mission and values statements, policies and procedures don’t necessarily produce the desired result. Actions speak louder than ...
Read moreThe latest and largest meta-analysis study by consultants from Gallup Inc., the world's biggest analytics and advisory firm, found highly engaged business units and teams achieved consistent high performance across countries, industries, organizations, and teams. (A meta-analysis is a study of many studies. "This research method provides a more precise estimate of the influence of team engagement on performance outcomes than any one study can capture," Gallup consultants state.) When comparing top-quartile engagement (in ...
Read moreAs communicators we all know how important top leaders are for delivering key strategic messages to employees. However, middle managers are just as important for achieving results through strategic communication with their direct reports. For instance, in my most recent corporate job (which wasn’t specifically PR), the head honcho made various pronouncements, but local managers were never effectively briefed or equipped to carry those messages through to their staff. Thus those messages never properly ...
Read moreMany PR managers find it difficult to understand management issues beyond the level of communication concerns. However, to be fully accepted by top management, you need to think like a manager, understand management issues from management’s perspective, talk like a manager (not use PR jargon) and to figuratively put yourself in the shoes of operational managers in looking at their problems. Above all, you are proactive and assertive, prepared to insist that PR should ...
Read morePositive psychology experts are finding that the frequency of small, positive acts is crucial in business and personal relationships. Psychologist John Gottman, author of several books on relationships, pioneered research on marriage, which suggested there is a ‘magic ratio’ of 5 to 1 in the effectiveness of positive and negative interactions. Prof. Gottman (photo at right) found that marriages are more likely to succeed when the couple’s interactions are near a 5 to 1 ...
Read moreBad timing is the single biggest reason journalists reject media pitches. A total of 25% of journalists participating in the
Your organization’s employer brand is a major reason why new employees join rather than going to another employer. Astute employers
Effective teams are the key to the success of every organization. The right teams of professionals give organizations a higher
Join 5,000+ subscribers to our free newsletter, Cutting Edge PR Connections, and get awesome communication tips and articles delivered monthly direct to your inbox. PLUS a $10 voucher to my Amazon paperback books, which normally sell for $19.95 each.