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Social media - it's big, it's clever and it's here to stay

Understood and managed properly social media is a powerful tool for businesses inside and out. It can improve communication with and amongst employees inside as well as engaging your customers outside. Our latest thought piece explores how social media can be used in problem solving, idea generating and creating community tribes. There's even an 'App' for employee engagement. But beware, loose twitter talk can make real tweets out of companies. Click here.

How fish and an apple helped a CEO stage his vision for the future

When we were asked by the CEO of AXA Insurance to share his vision of making the brand the 'Apple' of insurance we needed a big idea to power it and a dynamic environment to stage it. It needed to be entertaining, sustain interest and leave employees excited and optimistic. 'The Thought Bubble'was born. A liberating and challenging event which left delegates inspired, energised and ready "to take on the world". Want to know how? Click here for a copy of our latest case study.

The importance of treating your employees like customers

There's often a gulf between the effort companies put in to communicating with their customers versus their employees.  But why? As Peter Simpson said when he was commercial director at First Direct, "Why would you want to be one kind of brand to your customers and a different one to your employees?" Woodreed's latest thoughtpiece explores the issue and suggests ways of bridging the brand gap between external and internal communications. 

Click here for your copy.

A short film can go a long way in communicating with your internal audience

The power of the moving image to capture the minds of an audience is undeniable. And in a time where employees get more frequent communications than ever before, film can be a surprisingly cost effective way to engage with your internal audience.

Film is arguably the medium which can achieve the best results when it comes to changing behaviours or mindsets operating on an emotive level other media simply can't reach. Theres no need for a Hollywood sized budget just the insider tricks of the trade for creating content that informs, engages and motivates in equal measure.

Woodreed's latest thoughtpiece looks at this important medium and the many channels available in todays ever-expanding digital environment. Make sure you're not missing a trick and find out how you can roll out the right film for your internal communications.

Click here to download a copy.

Employees don't quit their companies; they quit their bosses

Beating at the heart of the strongest performing businesses are employees who are fully engaged with their company's brand and values. As a result they're a productive, loyal and happy bunch.  The best possible corporate ambassadors, they interact better with their customers, which leads to a positive effect on profits.

One of the strongest ways to create an engaged employee, even stronger than remuneration, is through a positive line manager relationship.

Line managers at any level of the business have a tremendous personal power for good or bad. Great line managers know that by improving the lives of their employees, they'll also improve bottom line results.

Woodreed's thoughtpiece looks at the power of the line manager in developing employee engagement and contains 12 practical ways a manager can build positive relationships with their teams.  Click here to download a copy of if you'd prefer it in all its printed glory, which we highly recommend, then call us on 01892 515025 or email hello@woodreed.com

If it causes as much interest as our earlier musings on digital v print media then we'll be happy.  If you missed that one then you can catch up below. 

Email is the biggest threat. Because it's so easy to push the button e-mail is all too often the line of least resistance, but beware. Your messages may be competing for mind time with the 100s of emails the average office worker has to wade through daily. Here we look at balancing print and electronic media to ensure maximum employee engagement. Click to download.

There'll be blue birds over...

However bad things get some companies seem to survive hard times much better than others, and even come out stronger. But it's not down to luck. More often than not it's the effort they put into keeping staff morale high - a topic covered in earlier Woodreed thoughtpieces. If you'd like a hard copy of either of them, give us a ring or email hello@woodreed.com and we'll pop one in the post. 

Can't see the water cooler for the employees. They say there's only one thing worse than being talked about and that's not being talked about but just as you can talk things up, you can talk things down. This paper looks at how effective, open and focussed internal communication, keeps that all important water cooler conversation positive even if it's bad news. Click to download.

Fed up with saying au revoir to the crème de la crème?The last thing you need in difficult times is for your key players to transfer to another team. And keeping them is not just about money, it's also about their sense of belonging and understanding the common purpose. Get it wrong and any company will gradually disintegrate. But get it right and that holistic magic of team spirit can take your company anywhere it wants to go. Click to download.

"Over 60% of directors admit their organisations do not communicate well with employees, and 40% admit employees are not aware of the company vision or future direction."
(Vanson Bourne and Forbidden Technologies)

This is a startling fact that needs addressing, especially as we know that employee engagement has a direct effect on the company profits.

A recent Hays Marketing study found that engaged employees were 43% more productive than those who were not.

We think this is a bit of a no-brainer, but so many companies forget about this when thinking about the internal communications budget for their employees. That's why we always say you should treat your inside just as well as you treat your outside.

"If you can't love yourself, ain't no-one else gonna love you."
Woodreed's guide to brand success. To order a hard copy please email hello@woodreed.com or click here to download.