iClarify | Simplify | Engage

Giving employees a way to voice their thoughts, opinions and suggestions about the business has multiple impacts. Offering opportunities for employees to give feedback to the organization allow them to: Become more engaged as they feel someone is listening. Come up with creative solutions to operational problems. Share intelligence to which leaders are not exposed. Inform leaders of what employees are thinking and what their needs are. Ignoring employee input makes as much sense as ignoring customer input. If you’ve ever watched the CBS reality show UNDERCOVER BOSS, you’d know that until executives get their hands dirty, it’s difficult for them to run their business well. The show follows high-level corporate executives as they slip anonymously into the lowest level jobs within their companies to find out what their employees really think about their boss and the business. It’s tough for leaders to conduct an undercover boss operation in their own orga...

Can you overcome family riffs, marriage troubles, difficulties in school or financial troubles through communication? You can if you use sincerity and patience to develop trust. Reaching out to people in your life is the beginning of communicating to overcome difficulty. Calling or emailing a relative when least expected can have a powerful effect if the message and the action are fully sincere. “Jane, hi, I just thought I’d give you a call. I know it’s been a while but…” A conversation opener that is sincere opens a positive conversation. If you have a history of difficulty with your co-communicator, you may need to be patient. “What are you calling for?” Before you respond, think: Sincerity. Remove tone from your voice. Ignore the tone in his/her voice. Clear your messages of inflammatory words/phrases like: always, never, fault, blame, hate, stupid, ridiculous, etc… in other words, avoid saying things that can back people into an emotional corner where ...

A ring tone from your BlackBerry wakes you in the morning.  Before you drink coffee or get a shower, you’ve already checked your emails, tweeted your state of mind on Twitter, published your Facebook status, and you can’t wait to check your online chat to see if anyone replied to your late-night question. If this sounds familiar, the devices and social sites in your life have become your life. The idea of social networking was meant to draw you closer to people; instead it is drawing you into your hand-held device.  Staying in touch with friends is not easy in a busy world.  Sometimes you have time only to send a quick message.  Using the technology, you communicate, but how connected are you from a friendship standpoint?  You share many snippets of your life, thoughts and other distractions, but what do you get in return?  What emotional value are you getting when you receive a 140-character tweet from an acquaintance?  Do y...

One of the things I've noticed over the years about working in Communications is the lack of understanding of what it is we do. It goes from zero idea of what 'working in communications' means to 'but what is it really that you do?' I suppose over time I have had to learn what it all means, too. I recall asking the difference between communications and marketing in a communications class at University of Ottawa. I'm not sure I can recall the answer, but I do recall the indignation of my fellow students who could not believe I'd ever consider the two the same function. There is much variety in the profession, and there is even more interpretations. I have heard or overhead people refer to Communications as the following: marketing media relations (some people believe media relations to be writing press releases. some of those people actually work in communications, too.) public relations (some people have difficulty explaining the differences betwee...

There are two main kinds of Internal/Employee Communications: Strategic and Operational Organizations communicate for ongoing business operations but they also need to communicate big changes, important updates and new approaches. Organizations use strategic communications to communicate about: a new agenda--a new focus on digital platforms for communicating internally instead of paper memos a specific problem or issue to address--a need to tighten overtime rules to save money a new approach to the work they do--how they interact with customers  Example: Company Inc. has to communicate with employees about the need to tighten the rules on overtime activities during a tough period.  A strategy for this situation might recommend: emphasizing life-work balance as a priority, during this tough time encourage flexible work schedules, but urging employees not to work longer hours focus on the temporary nature of the adjustment remind employees that overtime...