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June 13, 2006

News you can use

I’m coming to you today from Trends Central, where I track important issues that will have an impact on how you communicate with employees in the (near) future. Here are three trends we’re keeping an eye on:

Online video
A new study indicates that Internet users are increasingly watching video on line: In fact, from October 2005 to March 2006, there was an 18 percent increase in online video viewing. According to the comScore Networks study, consumers viewed 3.7 billion video streams in March alone, and each viewer, on average, spent just under 100 minutes viewing video.

Why this is important: Employees’ expectations are increasing that web sites will contain compelling, dynamic content. Do you provide video on your intranet site?

The cost of info overload
Ever wonder why employees are ignoring internal communication? Maybe it’s that they’re overwhelmed with the information that they’re paying so dearly for at home. An article in MediaPost (free signup required) quotes a study from Veronic Suhler/PQ Media that by 2010, Americans will spend more than $1,000 per person on their media bill, when you factor in cable, video-on-demand, broadband, mobile TV, magazines, I-Pod downloads, etc. That’s double what they’re spending today.

“Worse yet,” writes columnist Steve Smith, “we are only at the early adopter phase of emerging platforms like satellite radio, online music services, digital video recorders, and mobile content, let alone applications like in-car global positioning systems, information services, and wireless broadband. Each platform is building business models and adding yet another monthly subscription fee to the tab. In 1975, consumers had only eight choices for entertainment and information, but in 2006 they have 21, according to PQ Media.”

Why this is important: It’s about time, money, and value. The media is working very hard to make sure consumers believe that what they’re investing their hard-earned money and precious time in feels worth the cost. Although you probably aren’t charging for your communication, employees are calculating whether the information they receive is worth spending their time on. Are you providing value?

Worthless words
He had me at the headline: “Five Words to Never Use in an Ad,” a Viewpoint column by ad professional Steve McKee in the June 7, 2006 BusinessWeek

The problem is that certain words are used so often and for so many nefarious claims that they’ve lost their credibility. “Using common words that have become empty clichés is a shortcut to nowhere,” writes Steve McKee. “Just because you sell it doesn’t mean people will buy it.”

Unfortunately, you—or your senior leaders—may be using some (or all) of these words in your own communication. I won’t keep you in suspense any longer: The bad words are Quality, Value, Service, Caring and Integrity. (Read why they don’t work in Mr. McKee’s column.)

Why this is important Words that senior leaders love may have a negative effect on front-line employees. Find out what the hot buttons are, and advise your internal clients accordingly.

See you next time.

Posted by Alison Davis at 10:33 AM

June 08, 2006

What executives want to say, not what employees want to hear

You know that feeling you get when something’s happened to you, or you’ve accomplished something, and you’re bursting at the seams to share it? You pick up the phone or run down the hall to tell someone. And as you’re communicating, you don’t give a single thought to the audience’s needs: This is so all about you.

Unfortunately, too much of internal communication is just like that. The senior management team or a group leading an initiative is eager to share something with employees. And they insist that the communication be created to focus on what they want to say, ignoring what the audience needs to hear.

This needs to change. To get started, remember that employees, like any audience, really only cares about the answers to these interrelated questions:

So all that other junk that’s being communicated—the process the team followed, the options considered, how this relates to best-practice companies, who was on the initiative team, what management consulting firm was hired, etc. etc.—is just noise. It’s internal public relations, in the worst sense of the term. It’s vanity press.

Worst of all, it makes the executives in question feel really good—“We told them!”—but often has a negative effect on employees, leaving them anxious, disrespected, or just bored. Their time has been wasted. Their questions (see above) haven’t been answered. Their needs haven’t been met.

Can this practice be stopped? At many companies, but I’ve got to tell you the truth: Not everywhere. At some organizations, senior manager egos are so dominant that they’re an immovable force.

But the good news is, most executives will listen to good counsel, especially if you bring the evidence to back up your advice. Conduct research to demonstrate what employees want to hear. Use quantitative data to demonstrate how to effectively reach and engage your workforce.

Stop the madness.

Posted by Alison Davis at 12:39 PM

June 02, 2006

Your future workforce is wired (and wireless)

Here’s another reason to become informed about up-and-coming communication technologies (cell phones, PDAs, iPods, etc.): Today’s young people are using these devices practically from the time they are born. That means that by the time they enter the workforce, young employees will experience these devices as being an integral part of day-to-day life.

As reported in Advertising Age, a new study by NPD Group, “Kids and Consumer Electronics Report,” shows that kids are regularly using personal music devices, digital cameras and DVD players by age 7. Furthermore, from 2004 to 2005, the number of kids aged 4 to 14 who own music devices and digital cameras doubled, while cell phone ownership in this age group increased 50% since last year.

According to the study, the top products personally owned (“It’s mine! You can’t have it!”) by children were video-game systems (40%), CD players (40%) and TVs (31%). But the top electronic product in households with kids aged 4 to14 was the desktop computer (94%), followed by DVD players and TVs (90%).

Children’s increasing usage of cool devices just follows an overall trend: The dominance of electronics. A Consumer Electronics Association March survey showed the average household owns 26 consumer electronic products and spends about $1,200 a year on consumer electronics.

Your CIO is thinking about how to leverage electronic devices, as we reported in an issue of Technology Tidbits. Is incorporating this technology on your radar screen and in your long-term communication plan?

Posted by Alison Davis at 02:29 PM