Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Gary Grates
Internal Comms Is About More Than Cheerleading
Where is it written that employee communications must be all about cheerleading? Touting and promoting company news and stories in an attempt to “motivate” and inspire employees? Defining leaders as flawless individuals and basic products and offerings as “innovative?” Is it any wonder that people are turned off by what they are exposed to inside their organizations? If employees can’t find reality internally, where can they go?
Disintegration of "Social Compact” Between Employers and Employees
For all the dramatic developments such as a global pandemic, globalization, technology advancement, and competitive parity have had on business, we often overlook the most dramatic impact of all – the disintegration of the ages-old “social compact” between employers and their employees.
Is 2023 The Year of Survival for PR/Communications?
Jay Cooney (L) & Gary Grates If you are paying attention to the subtleties of business, this could be the most compelling year for public relations leaders as we’re convinced the fickle economic trends provide immense upside for our profession.
Why Aren't More PR Pros on Boards?
Silicon Valley Bank. FTX. VW. Wells Fargo. JC Penney. Ford. And dozens of others. Organizations who have undergone bankruptcy, near-death experiences, reputational issues, and operational disasters all have one thing in common – the lack of public relations/communications experts on the Board of Directors.
How Employee Loyalty Can Return to Business
Google—12,000. Amazon—18,000. Walt Disney Company—7,000. IBM—4,000. Those are the layoffs announced recently by some of the biggest global companies in the most visible industries. Put aside the sheer numbers and focus on how these leaders decided to inform impacted people—e-mails, Zoom, third-parties, external sources—and it’s no wonder employees have long ditched loyalty and taken a very personal, and some say selfish, approach to their own careers and company affinity.
2023: What Are You Chasing?
It’s planning time and with it, the opportunity to assess the business landscape, your organization’s strategic intent, and your workforce’s capability to perform against unwavering pressure, ambiguity, and uncertainty. For so many corporate communications functions, the planning cycle becomes a rote exercise updating numbers, objectives, initiatives, and metrics for the coming year. Yet, the real value in annual planning lies in identifying the one true north star – What Are You Chasing?
4 key tenets for leading through turmoil and ambiguity
COVID-19 is teaching organizations to operate in new and unfamiliar ways. When one thinks of leadership, words like “strong,” “visionary,” “decisive,” “confident” and “success” come to mind. However, leading is more art than science as it entails both an intellectual and emotional component to sustain interest and direct behavior. As the pandemic unfolded, a whole new model of leadership came into view—one that placed a different set of characteristics at the forefront.
Creating the Perfect Fit
Tue., Nov. 2, 2021 By Gary Grates Gary Grates The “Perfect Fit” is what an organization needs to be communicating at a specific moment for its story to unfold properly. Communicators are often blessed—or plagued—with multiple choices to communicate to the world that are plucked from myriad business functions, product and service areas, announcements, events, processes, geographic areas and personnel moves.
4 key tenets for leading through ambiguity
COVID-19 is teaching organizations to operate in new and unfamiliar ways. When one thinks of leadership, words like “strong,” “visionary,” “decisive,” “confident” and “success” come to mind. However, leading is more art than science as it entails both an intellectual and emotional component to sustain interest and direct behavior. As the pandemic unfolded, a whole new model of leadership came into view—one that placed a different set of characteristics at the forefront.
How COVID-19 is Forcing CEOs to Rethink the Importance of Internal Communications
This post is provided by the IPR Organizational Communication Research Center. A subtle but very important outcome thus far from this horrible pandemic is just how critical employee behavior, trust and engagement are not only to organizations and business but to society in general. Maintaining a level of confidence in the workforce is essential to productivity, innovation and balance.
Seven Ways Analytics Are Changing CEO Leadership
Data and its accompanying insights are having a profound impact on the value and efficacy of both marketing and corporate communications at the C-Suite level in organizations today. The real benefit is that analytics provide a roadmap for more precise communications – i.e., moving from a Coverage model to an Influence model identifying influence, including media as part of a larger ecosystem, connecting engagement with purchase behavior.
Hugh Forrest Discusses SXSW’s Past, Present and Future with John Battelle
Out of all the great speakers that took part in W2O Group’s 2016, PreCommerce Summit, the fireside chat between Hugh Forrest, director of SXSW Interactive Festival and NewCo CEO John Battelle was one that I personally was most excited to hear about. Though it’s huge now, it didn’t start that way. Beginning a few years ago, it surpassed the music festival in terms of attendees—a trend that continues in 2015 and probably beyond.
Austin’s FUEL Forum: Fostering the Entrepreneurial Spirit - W2O Group
After successful events in New York City and Los Angeles, emerging leaders in the W2O Austin office brought the Firing-Up Emerging Leaders (FUEL) Forum to Austin last month to explore how individuals and organizations can embody the entrepreneurial spirit. This spirit is a natural occurring phenomenon in Austin as the city’s culture fosters the elements needed to be a successful entrepreneur, such as diversity, purpose-driven work and fearless ambition.
Corporate Relevance: Uncovering Reputation in the Network Economy
Today, communicators and marketers are facing an unparalleled challenge – justifying the value of what they do at a time when customers and employees are in control. We are working in an ever-changing, ever-evolving environment where choice and accessibility are making it virtually impossible to remain relevant. Add the growing importance of technology and data, constantly reminding us that we’re missing some insight, some risk, some opportunity, and some new audience.
Corporate Relevance: Managing Connectivity and Engagement in the Network Economy
Today, communicators and marketers are facing an unparalleled challenge – justifying the value of what they do at a time when customers and employees are in control. We are working in an ever-changing, ever-evolving environment where choice and accessibility are making it virtually impossible to remain relevant. Add the growing importance of technology and data, constantly reminding us that we’re missing some insight, some risk, some opportunity, and some new audience.
W2O Group to Host Invitation-Only Interactive Summit on Today’s Digital Workforce - W2O Group
Did you know 87% of employees globally are not engaged according to a recent Gallup poll? Additionally only 14% of employees understand their employer’s business strategy. Clearly there is a disconnect between organizations and their employees that needs to be addressed. Connecting with today’s workforce – one that is distracted, skeptical, curious, motivated, informed – is a key challenge for any organization and its leadership.
Why Your Organizational (Internal) Communications Will Fail in 2017 - W2O Group
Addressing these reasons can save time, heartache, wasted effort while accelerating confidence and connectivity It’s still early, but for many corporate communications leaders and managers, organizational or internal communications approaches and programming are already headed for less than anticipated results. So, what is it that diminishes promise into anxiety?
Who Are You Working With?
When selecting the right firm partner regarding Internal Communications/Employee Engagement, being clear on “Need/Deliverable” is essential but discerning specific skills and expectations makes all the difference With organizational effectiveness – employee engagement, internal communications, organizational clarity – now at the top of many CEO agendas, corporate communicators are moving quickly to shore up strategy, programming, execution, and systems in this area.
Millennials Unplugged: What “InteGREATness” Means to Us
Earlier this year, our CEO, Jim Weiss, paved the way for the future of W2O Group with the concept of “InteGREATness”. In theory, the Committee of Millennials (COM) has had this in practice since its first meeting in 2013. With over 60 interns, associates and managers across the New York, Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis offices, COM offers a space for millennials at W2O Group to educate, collaborate and innovate as we continue to develop our careers.
I Can See Clearly Now…
IPR’s Global Organizational Clarity Study Makes the Case for Stronger Internal Alignment around Business Strategy and Individual Performance This week, the Institute for Public Relations (IPR) Commission on Organizational Communication released a Signature Research Global Study – “Organizational Clarity: The Case for Workforce Alignment and Belief” – delving into the company/employee dynamic involving comprehension and activation around business strategy.
A Review of PreCommerce & GeekFest for our friends worldwide
We just completed an awesome series of events during SXSW in Austin. We heard from leaders of key companies (Intel, Verizon), leading online companies (Twitter, Google), leading thinkers (David Kirkpatrick/Techonomy, VJ Yoshi), leading innovators (Witricity) and leaders in media (Al Roker, Bloomberg). We created this content capsule with our friends at NextWorks so that we could share the presentations, blog posts, videos and photos with you directly.
SXSW Will Be Our Best Ever! Are You Coming?
There are three certainties in life… death, taxes and the fact that our company, W2O Group, will once again be hosting some awesome events during SXSW Interactive. Unless you live under a rock, you know this is one of the largest interactive conferences on this planet. Over 100,000 of the top digital, social and mobile minds from around the world haling from companies large and small, agencies, startups, etc. come to Austin, TX to network, attend panels and catch up on the latest trends.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Gary
Contact Gary, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack