"Millennium Communications Models," by Kathy Baughman, President, HLB Communications.
Abstract
As we approach the new millennium, the role of the employee communicator is becoming more important and more challenging than ever. Corporate transformation initiatives and new working methods have created a need for on-demand, pull-oriented communications systems that don't exacerbate the problem of information overload. In this article, Kathy Baughman highlights the lessons that internal communicators should be learning from the emerging disciplines of knowledge management, predictive modeling and centric information organization as they develop Millennium Communications Models.
To obtain a reprint of this article, please contact Kevin Lynch at klynch@hlbcomm.com.
"Using Internal Communications to Jump-Start Your Company's Transformation
Initiative," by Steve Mulligan, Director of Internal Communications at Sears, Roebuck and Co., and Kathy Baughman, President of HLB Communications.
Abstract
The point at which most organizational transformation initiatives stall is during the transition from operationalization to staff ownership. Unsurprisingly, many employees find it difficult to let go of the old and embrace the new. As Sears, Roebuck and Co. prepares to make the leap from an operational orientation to an ownership culture, Steve Mulligan and Kathy Baughman give details of the
multifaceted internal communications strategy being implemented to ensure transformation success.
To obtain a reprint of this article, please contact Kevin Lynch at klynch@hlbcomm.com.
"Writing To Build Brand Voice," by Joan H. Walker, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications for Ameritech.
Abstract
Branding is an integrated function, says Ameritech communications executive Joan Walker. In this article, Ms. Walker recounts how her company searched to find its true "brand voice" and then, once discovering it, worked assiduously to ensure that key constituencies also clearly understood what Ameritech stands for.
To obtain a reprint of this article, please contact Kevin Lynch at klynch@hlbcomm.com.
See related HLB/Ameritech case study.
"Attacking Communications Overload: A Work in Progress" by Pamela Flores, Senior Consultant, HLB Communications.
Abstract
Fortune 1000 employees receive approximately 190 communications per day, according to Inc. Magazine, and they file and never use 80 percent of them. But what price does a company pay when it allows this clutter to reach employees in the first place
– in lost time and opportunity? And how can they ensure employees get the information they do need? When Sears, Roebuck and Co. learned that its store managers were being buried in messages, it embarked on an ambitious program to eliminate useless communications and improve remaining ones to ensure that
frontline staff receive quality information in a timely manner. Sears' commitment to reducing communications overload has gone far beyond a one-time fix, with the company establishing systems to monitor volume and reduce "overload creep." Far-reaching results range from enhancing the quality of work life at Sears to improving skills to enhancing store managers' ability to serve customers.
To obtain a reprint of this article, please contact Kevin Lynch at klynch@hlbcomm.com.
"Walk a Mile in Their Shoes" an article from The Ragan Report, the weekly survey of ideas and methods for communication executives.
Abstract
When Sears, Roebuck and Co. director of internal communications Steve Mulligan wanted to learn about the effectiveness of his team's communications materials, he went straight to the source. He sent his communications managers to the front lines -- to Sears stores across the country -- to work for one or two weeks. The experience gave these managers one-on-one feedback about which communications contributed to their work effectiveness, and which were simply keeping them from Sears' number-one objective: serving the customer.
To obtain a reprint of this article, please contact Kevin Lynch at klynch@hlbcomm.com.