ICYMI: Gossip, Brand Perceptions, Pioneers
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đ For those of you who donât know me, Iâm Shaun Randol. Connect with me on Twitter and LinkedIn.
In case you missed itâŠ
1. Gossip Is âemployee commsâ
As I wrote for Poppulo, there are two kinds (or definitions) of employee communications. The first is about lowercase employee comms; the second is about uppercase Employee Communications.
employee communications is more literally identified than we thought: employees communicating with other employees.
Employee Communications is a team that, in addition to lowercase employee communications, measures and analyzes communications in ways that support business goals.
Gossip is a form of lowercase employee communications. Writing for The Wall Street Journal (subscription), Rachel Feintzeig says gossip can actually be healthy for the workplace.
âIt gets a bad rap,â Feintzeig says, âbut gossip can relay positive news, like when you pass along that a co-worker crushed it at a presentation. It also provides stress relief and intellectual stimulation, helps us gain influence, and fosters interpersonal intimacy.â
Gossip is an early-warning system, says Nancy Halpern, a New York City-based leadership consultant who helps executives navigate office politics. The verbal undercurrent also serves to counter any overly upbeat or sanitized formal corporate communications coming from on high.
âPeople suspect that in the C-Suite or in the senior offices theyâre making plans that impact other peoplesâ lives that they donât really know about,â Halpern says. âGossip is a counterinsurgency.â
đ MY THOUGHT: But how do you effectively gossip in a WFH environment? When I worked in an office there were moments in the snack area or right before/after meetings when you could whisper the latest news and rumors and, yes, even make snarky comments about So and So. How do you do that when everyone on a Zoom call can listen in on your tĂȘte-Ă -tĂȘtes, or when chat systems archive every cheeky message you send?
If a rumor falls in an office and no one is around to hear it, does it make a round?
2. Can Internal Comms Influence Employeesâ Brand Perceptions?
Aniisu Verghese released the 54th edition of Intraskopeâs Spotlight on Internal Communication Series. This one features Rajita Kumar, who is the head of Brand Communications & PR, Market Communications & Digital Marketing for South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa for Alfa Laval.
Rajita is passionate about getting employees to feel positive about the brand they work for. She believes in investing time in gaining their trust and improving their connection with management to raise the brandâs profile.
I named Aniisuâs blog one of the four best for internal comms. See the complete list.
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Recently subscribers received Can Internal Comms Thwart Post-Pandemic Job Hopping?
And before that, What Makes a Bad Newsletter.
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3. Industry News
Verizon, Kellogg, Snap, and Spotify are co-founders of Mind Together, a coalition to destigmatize mental health at work (press release)
Whitepaper: How Employee Communication Drives Business Outcomes (Poppulo)
Vyond, which helps businesses create videos for employee training, marketing content, and internal communications, just picked up $50 million in funding (PitchBook)
General Motors is taking a surprisingly simple approach to its return-to-work strategy for employees: âWork appropriately.â (CNBC)
What research says about how to make hybrid work succeed (Reset Work)
Your Guide to Finding and Communicating With Your Target Audience on Instagram (Hacker Noon)
4. Pioneering
This week paid subscribers received Can Internal Comms Thwart Post-Pandemic Job Hopping?, an article based on survey data that says 26% of workers plan to look for a different job once the threat of the pandemic has decreased.
It got me thinking about striking out on oneâs own and how starting a new job or moving to a new place can be thrilling. Then I came across a paragraph in Louis LâAmourâs memoir Education of a Wandering Man that speaks to the feeling:
The western pioneers were select people, selected by themselves. They chose to break the mold, to leave all they knew behind and venture into a new country, with new problems, new standards. Each one was expected to stand on his own feet. He was moving of his own volition, on his own support system. Nobody was paying his way or showing him the way; nobody had told him to go, or where to go. He simply packed what good he could carry and headed west, looking for what chance might offer.
If youâre thinking of moving on, may the pioneer spirit be with you!
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Disclaimer: Besides running Mister Editorial, I work in employee comms at Splunk. The views in this newsletter are my own.
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