Tag Archives: management

Lacing Up for Good: Enhancing Team Communication, Collaboration by Giving Back

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This Spring, the team at Kimball Hughes Public Relations is lacing up our sneakers and tracking our steps to raise funds for those in need through the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation’s annual Step Up challenge.

We have found philanthropic activities like this not only support charitable causes, but they also enhance our employee culture, team morale, and bring us closer together. As professional communicators, we’re always striving to find the best channels for our clients to use to reach their target audiences. In a new age of remote work, channels of internal communications are changing and we’ve found one of the best ways to communicate and deepen relationships with colleagues is to work together for social good.

As we’ve all heard, giving back and volunteerism have become core tenets of businesses across industries in recent years. There is a clear business case for philanthropy, as the next generation of workers have a clear interest in working at businesses that back up their values with action. Further, recent studies have shown that customer loyalty may improve at socially responsible businesses.

We believe giving back and volunteering events that emphasize collaboration and bringing communities together find more engagement.

Our client Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (PLM) is also getting fit and having fun while building comradery among team members and raising funds for vulnerable children and communities. Each spring, employees form a team for the Insurance Softball League of Philadelphia, which raises money for local nonprofits while gathering regional insurers for friendly softball competition. Employees have the opportunity to get to know each other outside the office, get a little exercise and breath in fresh air while helping those in need.

With the IICF Step Up challenge, employees, friends and families in and around the insurance industry can form a team and compete with one another in a fitness challenge, measuring their steps, pedal strokes, sit-ups and virtually any other activity against the teams of other companies. Kimball Hughes PR is proud to have been a part of Step Up for the past five years and we have enjoyed learning more about each team member along the way – whether it’s a penchant for morning dog walks, an after-work jog, a Peloton ride or hike through the woods.

Consider reigniting company culture with a collaborative philanthropic initiative this Spring. We’re having a blast. Check out our progress so far here:

Socially Irresponsible

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Some small business owners don’t believe in using experts for social media engagement and content development. They see the practice as novel and unproven – until it isn’t.

Such is the case of The Union Street Guest House in Hudson, N.Y. This picturesque small town inn quickly discovered the demonstrative impact of social media when comments about a fines-for-reviews policy hit the inn’s Facebook page and Yelp, the popular online review site.

According to an ABC News story resulting from the social media dust-up, the inn claims its “policy” was posted to its website as a tongue-in-cheek response to a wedding from years ago and should have been taken down. The policy in essence stated bridal parties would be fined $500, taken from deposit monies, for each negative review the inn might receive connected to a particular wedding or event.

A Google search for the inn's name brings with it a wealth of negative online content that will impact the business' bottom line.

A Google search for the inn’s name brings with it a wealth of negative online content that will impact the business’ bottom line.

Unfortunately, a simple Google search of the inn’s name now produces both a link to the inn’s website, as well as countless social media and news articles referencing this not-so-amusing policy.

The result is a Search Engine Optimization nightmare for the inn coupled with a runaway train of negative comments on its Facebook page (more than 200 at this writing; although it appears the inn may now be deleting posts from its Facebook page).

Since this firestorm hit mainstream media, the inn's Facebook page has been inundated with negative posts.

Since this firestorm hit mainstream media, the inn’s Facebook page has been inundated with negative posts.

The news coverage and social media firestorm – with only a half-hearted response from management that appears to have since been deleted  – have created a massive public relations problem to overcome. This isn’t the type of crisis you wait out. And without a strategy for responding to and recovering from this communications nightmare, The Union Street Guest House is likely to see a steep decline in business, assuming it has the wherewithal to survive at all.

Small businesses are successful because they do what they do well. Where they often fail is when they try to do something outside of their expertise.

By consulting with a social media professional or brand content specialist, small businesses can avoid errors – even tongue-in-cheek responses – that might not seem substantial at the time, but with an extra set of trained eyes, can be seen for the potential disasters they are and thus avoided. Alternatively, bringing in the professionals after a crisis has erupted is not optimal, but it can mean the difference between staying in business or going under.

Most freelancers or public relations agencies can find equitable arrangements with small businesses that won’t break the bank, and can avoid or attempt to correct business-ending mistakes.

For a free consultation on how working with a public relations agency can help protect and promote your business, please contact me at rhughes@kimballpr.com.