Today's successful organizations are the ones which carry on open and honest communications with their employees. If employees know and understand the mission, they will help communicate it to customers.

Here are some employee communication methods and the pros and cons of each. As in marketing communications, a multi-media approach will be most effective when delivering honest and open communication.

Meetings and Discussion Groups

Pros Effective. Allow immediate response and feedback. Allow Q&A. Delivers message that management cares and wants open communication. Also, one of employees top preferred methods.

Cons Consistency at risk with many different group leaders involved. Hard to evaluate. Can get out-of-hand and become counter-productive. Management time required.

Newsletters

Pros Consistent, controlled message. Big picture message can be combined with local messages, allowing you to tailor to location, audience. Relatively inexpensive. Timely.

Cons Not a society of readers. Impersonal.

Television

Pros Consistency, control, timeliness. Chosen spokesperson speaks directly to audience. We are a TV society, so people relate well to this method. Live interaction through teleconferencing provides some of the benefits of face-to-face meetings.

Cons Distribution. Cost. Time required on the part of the spokesperson.

Audio Tapes/CDs

Pros Consistency, control, timeliness. Chosen spokesperson speaks directly to audience. Relatively low cost. Ease of use (most people have access to cassette/CD players at home, work or in the car.)

Cons Distribution. Time required on the part of the spokesperson.