Before you build a positive reputation with your external publics, you must be sure that your internal publics - your employees and managers - value what the company is trying to do and understand their role in accomplishing it.

An effective internal communications strategy will:

• Align employees and managers around a common set of ideas and values that will guide their on-the-job behavior.
• Increase employee commitment, resulting in higher productivity, fewer errors and less waste.
• Enable employees and managers to become effective ambassadors for the organization to external publics.

A printed "house organ" is no longer sufficient for an effective internal communications strategy. A carefully thought-out message platform using a wide variety of high tech and face-to-face mechanisms must deliver the right messages to the right people at the right time. The most effective internal communications strategies look like sophisticated external marketing campaigns - and, in fact, are often referred to as "internal branding" strategies.

Contact me for a free one-hour consultation to evaluate the effectiveness of your current internal communications approach and some ideas on how you might improve it.