Influencing Leadership and Transforming Behavior in Your Organization

During our May program, guest speakers Kelly Ferris, APR and Laura Lord-Blackwell, APR presented on “Influencing Leadership and Transforming Behavior in Your Organization.” 

Together, Ferris and Lord-Blackwell shared the importance of knowing your organization and your audience to best implement an effective employee communication campaign. 

Here are the top takeaways on becoming a trusted expert: 

  1. Acknowledge employees as ambassadors and a priority audience group. When employees know they can chime in, they will be more engaged and will usually help garner success with leadership to impact change.
  2. Allow research to inform every step of the plan. Research is vital to an effective employee communication campaign, and impacts leadership buy-in, goal-setting, implementation and the evaluation of the campaign.
  3. Keep the organization’s mission at the forefront. It’s vital to keep organizational goals front and center. Sometimes requests for communication initiatives and projects don’t align with what the research shows. Instead of saying no, find solutions and alternatives to addressing the needs of your organization.
  4. Leverage internal relationships. Know what motivates your leadership and employees when pitching ideas. It’s important to have allies in the room when pitching ideas. In addition, there is a significant opportunity in leveraging the power of storytelling through your employees. 
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