Circle of Fellows

In the age of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, company reputations are constantly at risk. On episode 28 of “Circle of Fellows,” recorded on December 21,  four IABC Fellows explored the challenges of managing reputation in social media, the crucial role employees play as reputation ambassadors and the financial value of proactive reputation and risk management.

FIR host Shel Holtz moderated the panel featuring Lee Hornick, George McGrath, Barbara Puffer, and Cindy Schmieg. Watch the video replay here or listen to the podcast. (Subscribe to the podcast and you’ll never miss an episode!)

Note: Technical difficulties were rampant during the recording of this episode, but the audio problems are only intermittent and it’s still worth your while to watch or listen in.

Lee Hornick is the Chief Program Director of Business Communications Worldwide, a business conference and webinar development and sponsorship organization. He has produced worldwide conferences for the Conference Board, IABC, the American Marketing Association, and other organizations that focus on a variety of business issues and trends. Topics include: marketing, branding, corporate communication, change management, employee benefits communication, crisis and issues management, corporate image and reputation, and social media. Lee has worked with companies in every major industry sector, senior communication and marketing executives from Fortune 500 companies, and top business consultants. Lee has also written articles on corporate branding and reputation. He also served as a senior corporate communication executive with the J.C. Penney Company. Lee received the IABC Chairman Award, IABC Research Foundation Friends Award and is an IABC Fellow.

George McGrath is founder and managing principal of McGrath Business Communications, which helps clients build winning corporate reputations, promote their products and services, and advance their views on key issues. George brings more than 25 years in PR and public affairs to his firm. Over the course of his career, he has held senior management positions at leading strategic communications and integrated marketing agencies including Hill and Knowlton, Carl Byoir & Associates, and Brouillard Communications.

Barbara Puffer owns Puffer Public Relations Strategies, where she has served clients for nearly 20 years. Previously, she was Corporate Communications Manager at Barnes Group for 13 years; her communications management career spans 40 years, including work in banking, insurance, and telecommunications organizations. She has been an Associate Professor teaching communication studies at the University of Maryland University College since 2002.

Cindy Schmieg ABC, IABC Fellow is an award-winning strategic communicator. With 30+ years of corporate, agency, and consulting experience, Cindy now teaches online within the Communications Master Degree program at Southern New Hampshire. She has served in many IABC leadership roles and today serves as IABC 2018 Gold Quill Awards Chair.

The post Circle of Fellows #28: Reputation Management in the Social Media Era appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The trend toward the convergence of public relations and marketing is hard to ignore. Two separate studies — one from Nasdaq Corporate Solutions and the other from the USC Annenberg Center for Public Relations — both demonstrate that this convergence is more than just a casual observation. The Nasdaq study — the CCO Measurement Survey— concluded that Chief Communications Officers are likely to use marketing metrics to measure the performance of its non-marketing communications, including website traffic, search ranking, and sales/lead conversion.

Among in-house PR practitioners, according to the Annenberg study, earned media work is declining while owned media is on the rise, along with branded content and influencer marketing. Half of the respondents predicted that PR will be more aligned with marketing in five years while only 8% believe it will continue as a distinct and separate function. Eighty-two percent said that the “public relations” won’t accurately describe the work they will be doing by 2022; the term, they said, needs to be more broadly defined.

On Thursday, November 16, IABC Fellow Brad Whitworth moderated a panel with four of his Fellows colleagues — Priya Bates, Kellie Garrett, Tamara Gillis, and Jim Shaffer — to discuss the convergence trend and what it means for the practices of public relations, corporate communications, and employee communications. Watch the video replay here or listen to the podcast. (Subscribe to the podcast and you’ll never miss an episode!)

About the panel

Priya Bates is a senior communication executive who provides strategic internal communication counsel in order to ensure leaders, managers, and employees understand the strategy, believe in the vision, act in accordance with the values, and contribute to business results. She is president of Inner Strength Communications in Toronto and previously served as senior director of Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited.

Kellie Garrett, based in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, Kellie is a speaker, coach, and strategist, as well as an associate professor at Royal Roads Univesity. Before launching her own business, Kellie was Senior VP of Strategy, Knowledge, and Reputation for Farm Credit Canada.

Tamara Gillis, Ed.D., ABC, straddles the worlds of academia and communication practice. As a tenured professor at Elizabethtown College, she is preparing tomorrow’s corporate communicators. As an author and communications consultant, she continues to influence the practice of communications and change management. Dr. Gillis’s research interests have been recognized on the regional, national and international level by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, International Communication Association and IABC. Gillis was the first educator to serve as chairman of the IABC Research Foundation.

Jim Shaffer is a business advisor, leadership coach, author, and speaker. As leader of the Jim Shaffer Group, he helps organizations accelerate results through superior strategy execution. The Jim Shaffer Group creates hard business results by translating the business strategy to the people who need to implement it, aligning systems, processes, and culture to make the gains sustainable. Jim was an architect and leading practitioner of Towers Perrin’s (now Towers Willis Watson) change management consulting practice. He designed and produced the IABC Academy Course, “Managing Change Communication to Drive Results and Value.” Some of his change management clients have included: Abbott, ConAgra Foods, FedEx, IBM, ITT, Mayo Clinic, Medtronic, Owens Corning, Pfizer, Toyota.

The post Circle of Fellows #27: Converging Communication Disciplines appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

You have probably heard the statistic before: Research from McKinsey & Company found that only 30% of executives agreed that their change programs were completely or mostly successful. Corporate culture expert John Kotter estimates “more than 70% of needed change either fails to be launched, even though some people clearly see the need, fails to be completed even though some people exhaust themselves trying, or finishes over budget, late, and with initial aspirations unmet.”

Kotter later reported, “I have watched more than 100 companies…make fundamental changes in how business is conducted. A few of these corporate change efforts have been very successful. A few have been utter failures. Most fall somewhere in between, with a distinct tilt toward the lower end of the scale.”

While the 70% figure has its share of detractors, the simple fact is that a lot of companies undertake change and either achieve limited success or none at all.

Among the reasons change fails are several where communications can play a large role. A gap between what employees know and what they do, culture working against change (because, as Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”), hidden conflicts, and employee resistance are among the factors that can be addressed by effective communication in order to improve the odds of successful change.

October’s Circle of Fellows panel — an hour-long conversation among a group of IABC Fellows — explored the role of communications in change, how to prepare a workforce for change, how communicators can support leaders and employees undergoing the change process, and the changing nature of change itself in the modern workplace.

Links from this episode:

About the panel

Priya Bates is a senior communication executive who provides strategic internal communication counsel in order to ensure leaders, managers, and employees understand the strategy, believe in the vision, act in accordance to the values, and contribute to business results. She is president of Inner Strength Communications in Toronto, and previously served as senior director of Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited.

James E. Lukaszewski, America’s Crisis Guru ®, is a bestselling author, national speaker, and trusted strategic advisor to FPO and NPO business operators and leaders during crises, disasters, reputation attacks, contentiousness and when the boss’s future is at stake. Corporate Legal Times listed him as “one of 22 crisis counselors to have in your speed dial when all hell breaks loose.” For more than 30 years, he has confidentially guided hundreds of company leaders thru tough, touchy, sensitive situations. Lukaszewski’s strategies inspire constructive, ethical problem resolving management behavior. A powerful and inspirational speaker, he teaches executives and managers the lessons he has learned. A prolific author, he is quoted and interviewed often as one of the most recognizable leaders in his profession. Lukaszewski is on the web at www.e911.com.

Annette Martell, ABC, MC, Fellow, is a change & communication strategist. Annette focuses on helping executive decision-makers solve organizational & communication problems while building resilient & resourceful teams. When working with clients, Annette draws on her years in senior management, consulting & communication leadership roles from such sectors as financial services, retail, mining & associations. Annette is an IABC Fellow, IABC Master Communicator, former IABC world chair, certified in change management & an alumnus of Cornell’s Change Leadership program.

Jim Shaffer is a business advisor, leadership coach, author, and speaker. As leader of the Jim Shaffer Group, he helps organizations accelerate results through superior strategy execution. The Jim Shaffer Group creates hard business results by translating the business strategy to the people who need to implement it, aligning systems, processes, and culture to make the gains sustainable. Jim was an architect and leading practitioner of Towers Perrin’s (now Towers Willis Watson) change management consulting practice. He designed and produced the IABC Academy Course, “Managing Change Communication to Drive Results and Value.” Some of his change management clients have included: Abbott, ConAgra Foods, FedEx, IBM, ITT, Mayo Clinic, Medtronic, Owens Corning, Pfizer, Toyota.

The post Circle of Fellows #26: Communicating Change appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Different generations often have different skill sets. This episode of “Circle of Fellows”  will look at how communication professionals can develop new skills and keep up with trends by cross-training with colleagues of different generations and focusing on lifelong learning, in addition to other techniques and issues.

Currently, members of five generations work together: Generation Z (born after 1996), Millennials (born between 1977 and 1995), Gen X (born between 1965 and 1976), Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), and Traditionalists (born 1945 and earlier). One of the terms applied to Millennials and even more to Gen Z is “digital natives.” While there is disagreement over whether that term is useful or even accurate, the data shows the younger you are, the more likely you are to use newer communication tools and channels.

As business adapts to an evolving communication environment — and the rapid advance of technology in communication — communicators raised in earlier eras can feel overwhelmed and unprepared. To be relevant as a communicator means staying current and incorporating new competencies and skill-sets.

September’s Circle of Fellows panel — an hour-long conversation among a group of IABC Fellows — explored alternatives and approaches for advancing careers in communications.

About the panel

Tamara Gillis, Ed.D., ABC, straddles the worlds of academia and communication practice. As a tenured professor at Elizabethtown College, she is preparing tomorrow’s corporate communicators. As an author and communications consultant, she continues to influence the practice of communications and change management. Dr. Gillis’s research interests have been recognized on the regional, national and international level by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, International Communication Association and IABC. Gillis was the first educator to serve as chairman of the IABC Research Foundation.

Mary Ann McCauley is committed to ensuring people communicate more effectively about their organizations’ products and services. With a specialty practice in crisis management, Mary Ann addresses sensitive issues with timeliness, dignity, and minimal backlash. “Managing communication during a crisis requires common sense folded into a structured process,” she says.

Mark Schumann is the director of graduate business communication programs for the Zzicklin School of Business at Baruch College, City University of New York. He is also founder and principal of re-communicate. Most recently, he was VP of marketing and communications for Western Connecticut Health Network. He served as IABC’s chair in 2009-2010 and is currently IABC’s liaison to the Global Alliance. He was a managing principal and global communication practice leader at Towers Perrin for 26 years.

Brenda C. Siler, a public relations, marketing, and branding professional. She currently manages a consultancy offering short-term public relations, communications, and writing solutions for a variety of clients. Siler has lead communications teams at national associations and nonprofits including AARP, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and UNCF, the United Negro College Fund. At UNCF, she managed the rebranding of this scholarship fund retaining its iconic tagline “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” At the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, she managed a national public awareness campaign featuring actor James Earl Jones. From 1998-99, Siler was Executive Board Chairwoman for the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), She is on the Board of Advisors for PRNews. Siler is a graduate of Spelman College.

Brad Whitworth (moderator) is executive communication manager at at Hewlett Packard enterprise.  A communication coach at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Brad was most recently senior communication manager at Cisco Systems. Brad joined Cisco in 2007 and today leads integrated communication for the part of the company that builds partner ecosystems for new markets. Before Cisco, Brad led communication programs at HP, PeopleSoft and AAA. He earned undergraduate degrees in both journalism and speech at the University of Missouri and an MBA at Santa Clara University. A former broadcaster, Brad has made more than 300 presentations to executives, communicators, and university classes around the world. Brad has a long history with IABC, including serving as chairman of the international board and president of two local chapters. He is one of the authors of The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication.

Next up…

October’s Circle of Fellows will focus on managing fast-paced, transformational change. Mark your calendar for noon ET on Thursday, October 19 as Fellows Priya Bates, James Lukaszewski, Annette Martell, and Jim Shaffer share their experiences and insights.

The post Circle of Fellows #25: Multigenerational Career Development appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The evidence continues to mount that companies need to move beyond traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR):

And those are just the most recent studies pointing to a profound shift in expectations of business. In short, companies that live their values will increasingly be the winners in the marketplace.

August’s Circle of Fellows panel — an hour-long conversation among a group of IABC Fellows — tackled the issue of communications and social responsibility.

Note: Some audio issues plagued this episode, but they’re brief and most have been edited out of the audio version.

Priya Bates is a senior communication executive who provides strategic internal communication counsel in order to ensure leaders, managers, and employees understand the strategy, believe in the vision, act in accordance to the values, and contribute to business results. She is president of Inner Strength Communications in Toronto, and previously served as senior director of Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited.

John Gerstner is a strategic communications leader whose work has spanned 30 years and 30 countries on five continents. He has career experience as an internal communications and intranet manager, consultant, marketer, website developer, video producer, book author, magazine editor, photo-journalist, conference producer, radio announcer and public speaker. He is CEO and founder of Communitelligence, an online learning community for corporate communicators. Previously he managed diverse communication assignments at John Deere. These included launching John Deere’s internal communication program and intranet, serving as the company’s first manager of environmental and safety communications and authoring an award-winning coffee-table history book, Genuine Value: The John Deere Journey. 

Mary Hills’ career as a marketing and communication professional has been in companies undergoing significant evolution, change and growth. She has held leadership positions with responsibility for developing plans and schemas to support long term growth and business sustainability goals. She has more than 20 years experience and expertise in designing and delivering training and development programs for companies and organizations, bringing theories, models and frameworks into everyday practice. In addition to her role at HeimannHills Marketing Group, Mary serves as Adjunct Faculty in the MS – Global Strategic Communication program at Loyola University Chicago.  Mary speaks internationally and nationally on marketing, communication, standards and practices and women’s leadership topics. She is licensed in Adobe Connect and WebEx, using these to conduct virtual professional learning and education sessions.

The post Circle of Fellows #24: Fostering a Socially Responsible Organization appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.