New Communications Research Archive

New Edelman Study Examins Use and Effectiveness of Internal Communications Channels

Many complements to Jeffrey Treem and his colleagues in the Change and Employee Engagement practice of the public relations company, Edelman for releasing the third annual study of "New Frontiers in Employee Communications". This year’s study focused solely on Industry leading organizations. It’s a great report. There’s something for everyone that’s interested in how blogs, podcasts and wikies are used and perceived by leading communicators from the Fortune 500 companies and global organizations.

The 32 page PDF is loaded with graphical charts. A few of the key findings are

"Nearly One-Third of Large Companies are Blogging, More Than One-Third Podcasting"

"Sixty-four percent of corporate communicators are not sure if their companies track employee blog activity"

I particularly appreciate the What is Holding you Back section that starts on page 23 titled, Obstacles to online tools – debunking the myths. The authors list ten “myths” (listed below) and provide rational counter arguments to each.

What is Holding you Back Myth Busters

1.    Inadequate resources (time and/or money)
2.    Disconnected employees
3.    Resistance to change
4.    Desire to control communication/fear of unknown
5.    Not convinced of benefits
6.    Perceived lack of IT capabilities
7.    Culture not accepting
8.    Senior management won ’t allow it
9.    Legal /governance/regulation issues
10.   Would require too much training

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Posted by Stephen Turcotte on January 18, 2007 11:18 AM | | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)