The latest from our blog
Explore insights, how-to tips, trends, and best practices from our team of internal communications experts. All our blog posts are original content written by our writers, consultants, and interns.
Make Sure Your Email Gets the Job Done
According to a 2023 study from Microsoft, office workers can spend up to 8.8 hours a week on email. Nearly everyone has an overflowing inbox, so it’s no wonder emails get quickly skimmed and sometimes even missed. Here are a few tips to make sure your emails are effective and get read. […]
What does Gen Z want? Communicating with the newest generation in the workforce
Members of “Gen Z” (those born between the late 1990s and early 2010s) are fully wired digital natives who expect communication in their personal lives to be concise, visually appealing, and mobile-friendly. But what about workplace communication? Do those same preferences hold true, and how do members of Gen Z […]
New Ways of Working: Observations from a Post-Pandemic World
A Conversation with Heather Maris, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Swiss Re With the COVID-19 pandemic came a fundamental shift in how and where people do their jobs. And, while there is some debate about the benefits and drawbacks of remote work, many of the changes are here to stay: […]
4 Ways to Create a Mental Health Communication Campaign that Sticks
Long before we ever heard the term “coronavirus,” employee mental health was declining. Now, as we enter a post-pandemic world, we’re coming to terms with how the stress, isolation, grief, burnout, and caregiving challenges experienced by employees during the pandemic have made the mental health problem that much worse. If […]
The O’Keefe Group Receives the Prestigious Gold Quill Award of Excellence
We are honored to share that The O’Keefe Group (OKG) has received the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Gold Quill Award of Excellence. The Gold Quill Awards program has been recognizing and awarding excellence in strategic communications for more than 40 years. It’s acknowledged as one of the most […]
Getting the Most from Pulse Surveys: Tips from Expert Communicators
Pulse surveys are a great tool for gaining insight into employee satisfaction and the employee experience. Typically just 5 to 20 questions, they tend to focus on a near-term objective or change management initiative and, unlike larger engagement surveys, are distributed multiple times per year. Pulse surveys have many benefits: […]
Hiring a Contractor? Read This First.
An interview with Communications expert Lauren LaFronz Choosing the right contractor to help with communications planning, writing, project management, and other initiatives isn’t easy. Your project’s success, and often your reputation, hinges on the contractor’s ability to consistently deliver their best work, on time and within budget. We spoke with […]
Getting from “Someday” to “Today” — Encouraging Younger Employees to Save for Retirement
Long-term goal setting is tough for anyone but that’s especially true for the youngest employees in our organizations. Reports vary on average savings rates for young employees – from 7% to 14% depending on your source – but the bigger picture is clear: by and large, Americans aren’t on track […]
Why Communicators Are Still Feeling Burned Out + What You Can Do About It
These days, workers in every field are experiencing an uptick in stress and burnout – and internal communicators are no exception. Since the beginning of the pandemic, communicators have been faced with an almost daily onslaught of new challenges and commitments. These challenges continue to take their toll on communicators’ […]
Help Your Managers Master These Three Essential Skills
The relationship between a manager and an employee looks a lot different these days. Before the pandemic, the idea of asking employees what was happening in their lives outside of work wasn’t considered appropriate for the workplace, and it might even have been frowned upon by Human Resources. Times have […]