PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

The four core drivers of results-driven employee communication

Whatever you communicate with employees—big news about an acquisition, a feature about an associate doing volunteer work or information about the upcoming benefits enrollment—you should incorporate at least one of four major themes to make an impact. As communicators, we are keepers of the culture, stewards of engagement, champions of the customer and advocates for an affirming employee experience. Connecting the dots between these themes, the content you distribute and the conversations you spark can create the conditions for business and individual success. In this workshop you’ll learn how to start and maintain a two-way conversation between leadership and front-line staff in a way that serves business objectives and encourages employees to use their collective voice.

You’ll learn:

• What “two-way communication” really means (Hint: It’s not comment fields bolted onto articles)
• The critical and growing need to communicate the organization’s values so everyone embraces and acts on them
• How to connect employees to your customers so they understand their role in delivering on the organization’s promise of a great customer experience
• How to engage managers and supervisors more effectively than ever
• Why employees need a voice, why leadership needs to hear it and how employee communications can satisfy those needs
• Where “corporate journalism” fits into the mix and how it can become part of your organization’s strategic narrative
• What it really means to measure and adjust your communications to meet business goals

Beyond the numbers: How to prove the value of internal communications

Everyone says employee engagement is one of the keys to being a great place to work. And the key to engagement is great internal communications. How can you tell if it’s working? What are you actually measuring, and to what end? What will you do with the results to move your communications from good to great? Join Ragan Consulting Group’s Jim Ylisela and Rebecca Shaffer as they make the case for continuous communications measurement—beyond the yearly comms audit.

During this session, you’ll learn:

• What to measure and why. Hint: it should be tied to your business goals
• From comprehensive audits to pulse surveys: The right frequency to measure all your communications
• What metrics matter most? Beyond clicks and open rates
• The five best internal comms measurement tools
• The five-step process for a comprehensive comms audit
• What to do with what you measure: How to win approval to make significant upgrades to your communications

 

Lunch provided onsite

Video for internal comms: Small budget? No Problem. Your smart phone is all you need

From recording full-quality HD footage to legit editing apps that give you full control of your video and audio—including text, color correction and audio sweetening—the only thing you need to bring video for internal communications to life in a meaningful way is in your pocket: your smartphone. Seasoned video producer and content strategist Justin Allen will teach you how to get the most out of your device to produce high-end, low-budget, yet powerful videos for reaching and engaging employees.

In this pre-conference session you’ll learn: 

• Shooting 101: How to embrace the limitations of your smartphone to get the best visual and audio quality
• Editing best practices: What the best apps are and how to use them
• Why even with a smartphone, you need a production plan and a script—and how to craft both
• Content ideas, tips and tricks: How to shoot once and repurpose across multiple platforms—internal and external