Your PR Architect

News item: Chipotle will hold an all-employee meeting Feb. 8, closing its doors to the public while engaging executives and workers in real time on issues stemming from its recent food-borne illness crisis. Not a bad idea. A food safety crisis crippled Chipotle's business for the fourth quarter of 2015, with mysterious outbreaks in the Pacific Northwest and New England. A month ago, I praised the upfront, take-responsibility approach of co-CEO Steve Ells, who went on network TV  news shows to publicly apologize for the restaurant chain's problems. Getting all employees on the same page, even for an hour, reflects Chipotle's commitment to following through on its promises. And the move has potential PR benefits, as the employee meetings demonstrate that the chain is taking serious steps to address its problems. Will this persuade me to visit the Chipotle eatery in my town? I've only eaten at one Chipotle, years ago, before the chain's rapid growth. And ...

For many organizations, diversity is a nice-to-do function. When resources get tight, however, efforts to grow a diverse workforce can lose top-of-mind status. But a quick look at many PR departments and agencies’ staff rosters – and the cheery photos accompanying them – leave the impression that few communications organizations pay much attention to diversity. One example: an agency in upstate New York features a slick video reel on its website with quick clips of its employees leading meetings and brainstorming. There’s not a person of color in that montage. By The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek from Los Angeles,  CA, USA (Anime Expo 2011 - the crowd) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)],  via Wikimedia Commons We all talk about engagement. When will we do more than talk about it among ourselves? You’ll hear abundant reasons to bring diversity to a PR or marketing communications workplace. The one I advocate is the need for diversity in innovation...

Radio Shack, where you bought your last blank cassette in 1998, could file for bankruptcy reorganization in the next few weeks. Retailers have had a rough start in 2015. Macys, J.C.Penney, and Target Canada, which never got its supply chain issues under control, all are shuttering stores. Coolcaesar at the English language Wikipedia  [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons Radio Shack, however, has been losing ground for years, squandering opportunities to rebound. When it lost the computer retailing business to Best Buy, it went into cellphones and wireless phones. And remote controlled toys. And digital cameras. And even created a buzz-worthy TV ad for the 2014 Super Bowl . Of course, RS' marketing never drew crowds. Check out this 1980's ad for the Color Computer III, and you'll see why. Why did Radio Shack falter? A few reasons: its aging customers finally learned ho...

Eric Friedman makes a number of good points about employee communications in this blog: 10 Steps to Keeping Employees Engaged and Motivated -- but he skims past an important step: listening to employees, face-to-face. His communications advice: " Communicate well and often.  Training sessions, memos, newsletters, FAQs, and regular meetings can all be used to present your vision to your employees. Make sure to ask questions, and if they are confused, redesign the way the information reaches them." "Trim for ansatte hos NVE" by Henrik Svedahl/Norges vassdrags- og  energidirektorat - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ nve/4174242876/. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share  Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/ File:Trim_for_ansatte_hos_NVE.jpg# mediaviewer/ File:Trim_for_ansatte_hos_NVE.jpg This advice feels at once both intelligent and dated, because Eric's cited source is about 10 years old. Memos and newsletter...

I love employee recognition. I despise 90 percent of the photos taken to recognize great employees. HR leaders love to talk about employee engagement. If they wish to do more than talk, they'll advocate for a communications person to strengthen internal communications.  One strategy: beef up employee recognition programs. Some organizations do employee recognition well. Hospitals and health care providers do a good job of honoring their employees. Colleges and corporations, less so.  Often, someone will line up a group of employees for a  recognition  photo that's destined for a local newspaper, company newsletter, or website. The photo itself? It's often rushed, unposed, and you wonder if the organization is recognizing people, or lining them up for a firing squad. Look at these actual employee recognition photos, and consider the following suggestions: 1. The Line-Up: a non-motion perp walk featuring a casual, backlit gaggle of employees...