Everyday PR

How many times have you heard the “our people are our most important asset” cliché?  If that’s true, are you sure your employees know that?  How do you know they know that?

Ice cream - an affordable way to show employees your appreciation.

With today’s high unemployment rates, fight for consumer dollars and fear of the unknown, how you treat your employees has a direct impact on how they treat your customers, and ultimately the bottom line.  Workplace expert and author Barbara Glanz says many managers think employees’ primary motivators are money and job security.  But when you ask employees, their top motivators are interesting work and appreciation.

Easy-to-implement morale boosters include:

• Start every meeting with three minutes of good news.
• Say good morning.
• Show interest. Employees have lives outside the workplace; ask questions, learn about them. You might have more in common than you realize.
• Show appreciation for sacrifices: Thank employees and their families when they’ve been working longer-than-usual hours.
• Let meetings be managed by junior staff for a change, not just senior staff.
• Give staffers some decision-making authority. If they make a mistake, at least they made a decision and can learn from it.
• Set the tone: Are you demonstrating your enthusiasm about the important work you and your team are doing? Lead by example.
• Summer Fridays – Close the office by 2 p.m.
• Suggestion boxes, but only if suggestions are heeded.
• Chair massages.
• Ice cream treats on the house

A great way to view an organization is to see how it treats its employees, both in good economic times and bad.  How are you doing?

I feel his pain.  That’s exactly what I thought when I heard Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s press secretary, address a group of reporters the day that Senator Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services.  The poor guy – Gibbs, not Daschle.  Having been on the firing line of reporters many times, I wouldn’t wish that pain on anybody.  The experience reflects poorly on the spokesperson and the one for whom she’s speaking.

If you don’t have the facts, spokespeople often have nothing to say.

Being a spokesperson of any organization is a lot easier said than done. And when the spokesperson and his boss aren’t in sync on facts and key points – even in non-controversial situations – it can be a free fall of credibility for everyone involved. The BFFs of those in the spotlight suddenly vanish.

Former President Ronald Reagan understood this. He included his spokesmen during briefings and meetings – anything in which the media could ask a question. The president’s relationship with spokesman Marlin Fitzwater was so close that Fitzwater could speak with confidence to the press on just about anything, including facts, figures and feelings. The same relationship existed between President George W. Bush and Ari Fleisher in the early 2000s. That’s the ideal.

If companies want consistency in their credibility, top executives must work with their spokespeople BEFORE the media ask questions. A five-minute conversation in the hallway between the CEO and the PR person can go a long way toward ensuring that key messages are accurately and confidently communicated. Considering today’s multiple means of communications, it’s a conversation that can and should take place every day.