« October 2005 | Main | December 2005 »
November 28, 2005
Verizon makes good use of employees in advertising campaign
I've been impressed with one of Verizon Wireless' ad campaigns that features their own employees. The full-page ads have a picture of the employee and their name and title under the tagline "Our People. Our Network." The ad copy tells the employee's story and the small part they play in the larger enterprise.
For example, a recent ad featured Robert Geraci, senior systems technician. His story is as follows: "In the nearly 10 years I've worked at Verizon Wireless, I've seen how fast technology has changed and how the demands on our wireless network have grown. I help maintain the strength and power of the network so more customers can transmit all kinds of data. At first it was only phone calls. But now it's web browsing and text messages, music and video. I'm part of a team of more than 51,000 people that is always looking for newer and better ways of doing our jobs so our network can do more for our customers...everybody looks forward to the future. But at Verizon Wireless, I actually get to build it."
Because the ads feature actual employees, they carry an inherent credibility and, as our own research has shown, employees are more credible spokespeople than CEOs by a 3-to-1 margin. Verizon seems to have gotten it.
Posted by Christopher at 2:40 PM
Comments
Post a comment
| TrackBackNovember 21, 2005
Dealing with "presenteeism" and flu-ridden employees
This is the time of year when it seems like everyone you work with is sick -- and still coming to work. A 2004 survey by the Harvard Business Review estimated that companies may lose as much as $150 billion a year because of workers coming to work sick -- a phenomenon known as "presenteeism." The report indicated that employees who go to work sick may cost more than absenteeism, disability payments and direct and indirect medical costs combined.
The answer? Give your employees paid sick leave. The HBR survey found that employees who were able to take paid time off for doctor visits actually take fewer sick days than workers who don't have that benefit. And workers who can't take paid time off during work hours for doctor visits actually miss at least six days more than workers who have these benefits. The report concludes that employees who don't have any sick leave likely feel that they can't afford to miss work and lose pay, even if they're sick.
Posted by Christopher at 12:09 PM
Comments
Interesting comments.
Posted by: Amanda at November 28, 2005 9:43 PM
Christopher,
There is an interesting article addressing this issue based on some work done at Wharton: "Multiplier Effect: The Financial Consequences of Worker Absences" http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1328
The article also mentions the devestating effect that depression/anxiety has on employee productivity. Companies (and insurance providers) may want to seriously look into depression screening and illness prevention programs as a legitimate investment.
Posted by: Jeffrey Treem at December 7, 2005 10:09 AM
Jeffrey -- great insights and must appreciated -- I see very little depression screening done despite the huge potential cost to organizations. Interesting.
Posted by: Christopher Hannegan at December 8, 2005 9:24 AM
Post a comment
| TrackBackNovember 16, 2005
IBM publishes guidelines for employee podcasters
IBM is getting in the podcasting game and has published guidelines for employees who want to podcast. This is one of the first widely available set of employee guidelines that I've seen. You can assess them at http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/blogs/dw_blog_comments.jspa?blog=351&entry=97118.
Posted by Christopher at 5:39 PM
Comments
Post a comment
| TrackBackNovember 12, 2005
Remembering Peter Drucker
I have had many discussions over the last two years about the field of employee engagement and if it is a fad that will go away in the near future. I often respond that, while the term "employee engagement" is relatively new, the ideas it embodies date back to the 1940s.
Peter Drucker, who died yesterday, pioneered today's employee engagement concepts with his book "The Concept of the Corporation" from 1946, in which he argued that management could achieve sustainable profits only by treating employees like valuable resources
and that decision-making power should be decentralized, including giving hourly workers more control over factory life and guaranteed wages.
The genesis of this ground-breaking book that became a sensation overnight was General Motors, which invited him in 1943 to study its structures and policies. It's a curious coincidence that, on the day of Drucker's death, GM's unions ratified historic cuts in worker benefits. I wonder what Drucker would have thought?
Posted by Christopher at 9:13 AM
Comments
Very interesting
Posted by: Amanda at November 28, 2005 9:44 PM
Post a comment
| TrackBackNovember 9, 2005
US supreme court backs workers in pay dispute
The US Supreme Court ruled yesterday that companies must pay workers for the time is takes to change into protective clothing and safety gear and walk to their workstations. While the court ruled nearly 50 years ago that companies had to pay employees for the time it took to put on safety gear, this ruling focused on the time employees spend walking from place to place.
Somewhat confusingly, however, the court also ruled that employees are not eligible for pay for time spent waiting in line for equipment and safety gear when they first arrive at work. Essentially, the minute an employee starts donning safety gear or enters a facility to begin their work must be paid.
Posted by Christopher at 2:34 PM
Comments
Post a comment
| TrackBackNovember 4, 2005
Managing electronic communications forms more effectively
In the many organizations I interact with, I am often struck by the struggles internal communicators have with electronic forms of communication. We know that office-based employees are overwhelmed with emails, yet we recognize the potential in instant messaging, blogging and training people to not put excessive recipients on the "cc" line.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Nancy Flynn, who heads up an organization called The ePolicy Institute www.epolicyinstitute.com that is a great resource for those of us responsible for improving information flow in organizations.
The ePolicy Institute is dedicated to helping employers limit e-mail-related risks, including litigation and regulatory investigation, through the development and implementation of effective e-mail and instant messaging policies and employee training programs. The ePolicy Institute's services and programs are designed to help employers reduce e-mail-related risks while enhancing employees' e-mail policy compliance and adherence to government, industry, and organizational laws and regulations related to e-mail use, content, retention, and other important issues.
Nancy herself is the author of seven books including Blogging Rules (Amacom 2006), Instant Messaging Rules, E-Mail Rules, The ePolicy Handbook, and Writing Effective E-Mail, which is published in the US, Germany, Spain and China.
I'd encourage you to check them out.
Posted by Christopher at 9:24 AM