Date of Award

1990

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Corporate and Industrial Communications

Department

Business

First Advisor

Michael Castro

Second Advisor

Michael Kramer

Third Advisor

Eric Zitelli

Abstract

This thesis will focus on the study of implementing effective employee communications to manage a diverse work force.

Over the years the practice of public relations has struggled to establish a niche for itself by justifying its existence to corporate America, mainly upper management. As an increasing number of chief executive officers recognize the need for effective communications professional communicators are being strategically placed to best serve the organizational objectives. Unfortunately, the area of internal communications is often neglected.

Research has attributed the lack of effective, open, two-way communications to the false presumption that employees are loyal 10 their employer by nature. The work force is continually evolving into a diverse group of people different not only by gender but also by race, education and a11itude. The present-day employee is influenced by the world and the technology that is made readily available. But the technology that has made it possible to communicate to thousands of employees instantaneously has also made it more difficult for employers to create personal messages.

The only way corporate America can manage the employees of the next century is by creating relationships through personalized information sharing rather than the passe' authoritative style used in the past.

The purpose of this study is to research the -possibilities available to internal communicators in terms of identifying techniques they can use to make their communications efforts more effective. Specifically, it is hypothesized that by evaluating existing techniques the communicator can identify areas in need of improvement.

Wetterau Incorporated's internal publication, WE Magazine, was evaluated for communication effectiveness. Changes in communication style were made as specified by the research project.

The redesign of WE Magazine produced positive reviews from public relations professionals suggesting that implementing effective employee communications can help manage the work force by keeping it informed.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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