VOC Posts

https://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/news/2020/03/19/five-ways-to-help-your-businessconduct-better.html

5 Ways to Conduct Better Virtual Meetings

24 Mar , 2020 No Comments

happy business people using conference phone at modern office

By Paul Barton
Principal Consultant
With everyone hunkered down at home these days, virtual business meetings are the new normal. But conducting a virtual meeting is not as simple as flipping a switch and carrying on like a typical in-person meeting. There are special considerations If you want to have a productive and collaborative meeting.
I recently wrote this article for the Phoenix Business Journal outlining five steps business professionals can take to help ensure a more productive virtual meeting.
Some of my clients have been working virtually for quite some time. For others, working from a laptop on the kitchen table is a new experience. Either way, I think there are some helpful tips here.
I’d love to hear your tips as well. How have you made sue your meetings run smoothly? What creative things have you done to keep your audience engaged? Please drop your thoughts in the comments box below. Thank you!
https://www.worldatwork.org/workspan/articles/organizational-tips-to-guide-employee-activism

7 Tips to Guide Employee Activism

20 Feb , 2020 No Comments

Working together, HR and communications professionals can help steer their companies through the new reality of employee activism.

What You Said: Employee Activism Survey Results

09 Jan , 2020 No Comments

By Matthew Mitschang

Most companies do not have a plan in place for employee activism, most believe they are at moderate risk of a negative employee activist event, and most believe they do a good job communicating their company values to employees. Those were among the results from a recent self-selected online survey of human resources and employee communication professionals.

The survey was conducted by Paul Barton Communications to learn more about the rapidly growing trend of employee activism and HR and communication professionals representing 44 companies participated.

Many of the questions aimed to figure out if the companies these employees worked for communicated the values of their company effectively and if they released a corporate responsibility report highlighting the good works they do in the community. More than 40 survey respondents (or 91 percent) said their company did effectively communicate its values to their employees and 24 participants (or 55 percent) said their company did release a report. This shows that many companies are already broadly communicating their company values.

While survey participants believe company values are being communicated well, many companies may be unprepared for employee activism that results in employee protests or walk-outs. Twenty-five respondents (or 57 percent) said they do not have an employee activism response plan and another 12 (or 27 percent) weren’t sure. Only seven (or 15 percent) reported that they had a plan in place.

The breakdown of the nine-question survey is below. The findings of the survey are being used to help inform a major article Paul Barton Communications is developing on employee activism. Thanks to everyone who participated in the survey!

Issues including gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, immigration, anti-capitalism, universal healthcare, and automation of jobs, ensure that employee activism is here to stay. And, in the run-up to the presidential election in the U.S., those issues will be top of mind for many throughout the coming year.

We welcome your thoughts on this important issue. Please post your thoughts in the comment box below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR — Matthew Mitschang is studying Marketing Communications at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and he helped with this survey and wrote this article as an intern for Paul Barton Communications.