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An excerpt from Marketing News Joanne Cleaver . . . Sometimes, companies aren't sure even how to begin talking with employees about non-operational issues. That's when a survey of employees and other parties can gauge opinions of past communications, said Jim Porchey, president of St. Louis-based Porchey Research Inc., a market research firm. One of Porchey's clients was a company that hadn't changed its name, slogan or logo in 100 years. After acquiring several competitors and dramatically expanding its product line, the company's managers wondered if its old insignia still was relevant. They surveyed both customers and employees to see how the company was perceived. The response was both good news and bad news. Customers and employees appreciated the company's stability, but were disturbed by operational gaffes, such as a year-long lag in processing bills. "Employees wondered, 'Where is management headed?' and 'Are we as financially healthy as we think we are?'" Porchey said. Armed with information on what respondents were confused about, the company's managers quickly gave employees answers to customers' common questions. (The billing delay was partly due to a change of computer systems, for instance.)"If their internal communications had been better, they could have represented the company more authoritatively" long before the confusion and the doubts surfaced, Porchey said. . . . |
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