Holtz Communications + Technology

When people talk about the problems with e-mail, the conversation usually turns to spam. There could, however, be a bigger problem brewing with the potential to cost companies a lot more than they pay to deal with unsolicited e-mail advertisements.

The study, conducted by Queen’s University in Belfast, examined employee use of business e-mail. The results are disturbing. According to the study, 28%…

Is it a sign that public relations people are entirely clucless about employee communications? The UK edition of PR Week released an article today that offers advice for communicating to employees during a takeover. While a couple case studies give the article some life, the advice is a blinding flash of the obvious: Be open. Be honest. “At times of instability,…

Ineffective internal communications in North America can result in a disenfranchised workforce, diminished competitiveness, reduced profits, and a litany of other woes. At least you can’t be fined for it.

Beginning in March, companies operating in the European Union (EU) can be fined up to 75,000 pounds for violating a directive that compels them to communicate effectively with their employees. The directive…

I’m worried about employee communications as a profession based on shockingly bad performance across the business world. That doesn’t mean some companies aren’t getting it right. In fact, in some organizations, employee communications is replacing media relations as the hot communications spot.

That’s the conclusion of Amy Friedman in a piece she wrote for Positioning Online, the Web newsletter from communications recruiting firm Heyman…

My post on the ineffectiveness of internal communications (as evidenced by executive opinions revealed in an Accenture study) was picked up by PR Canada, prompting several responses from folks who may not have read my blog. Among those posting their own thoughts was Jana Schilder, an Ontario-based communications consultant.

Schilder lists five reasons why employee communcations is ineffective.

Back on August 28, I wrote an entry in which I stated that employee communications as a profession has been a failure. Advocates of strategic internal communication (myself included), along with associations like IABC that represent the profession, have argued for years that effective employee communications aligns employees with company goals and objectives. We maintain that solid internal communications produces…