Communications Plan Assignment S&T

School of Communication & Media
PR 3380: PR Strategies and Tactics (Hybrid)
Fall Semester 2016
Communications Plan Assignment: Kevin Hall
Communications Plan Assignment ▪ Page 1 ▪ Kevin Hall ▪ Fall Semester 2016
ABC Company Communication Plan
Background and Situation Analysis
Background Situation Analysis
 The ABC Company has over
5,000 employees globally.
 The Company has been in
business for 25 years.
 The company sells Billions of
widgets.
 The ABC Company in the last
year has merged with another
company.
 Employees are fearful and
unengaged about their future,
due to recent layoffs within the
company.
 Employees are confused about
information coming from the
company because of lack of unity
from the leaders.
 Employee’s engagement has
decreased over the past years.
As a byproduct employees are
leaving the company and also
burning out.
 There is an absences of proactive
media relations which is causing
turmoil throughout the company.
 External media relations are out
dated and not currently being
used effectively. There is no
focus on social media internally
or externally.
 There is a lack of consistency of
internal communication channels
that employees have to
collaborate and seek information.
 There is no consistent medium
for leaders to communicate with
employees.
 There is no key messages leaders
can relay back to employees.

Fall Semester 2016
We will develop a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)
analysis to have a better understand of how the company can work in a more
efficient way. This will give ABC Company vital information on what employees
enjoyed about the company before the layoffs. This will also help them better
visualize what is happening to ABC. This will also be used to measure success at
the end of the campaign.
An entrance and exit survey will be distributed. This will help to see employee
attitudes before the campaign and after the campaign is finished. By doing this
it will provide information on if the communications plan was affective.
Audiences
There are three key audiences: Employees, Leaders, and Media in order of
significance.
Employees are the most significant audience. Without this important stakeholder
the ABC Company does not have a back bone to lean on. The employees are what
makes the company work at an efficient rate. Without them the company will fail.
To better understand employee needs and employee complications surveys, focus
groups, and one on one interviews will be implemented.
Leaders are the second most significant audience. Leaders are where important
information is learned. They also are the catalyst for relaying key messages. The
leaders are also the examples that employees look to in how they should be
performing their jobs. To develop a greater understand of the leader’s one on one
interviews and leader workshops will be performed
Media relations is the third most significant audience. Due to if all other audiences
are handled properly media will naturally follow along with it. The best proactive
tactic is to have a media calendar. This will let leaders know when they should post

Fall Semester 2016
and what information they should post for the media. This will help media relations
keep up to date with ABC Company’s affairs.
Key Messages
Employees
 We are committed to bringing unity and pride to our employees.
 We are creating an optimistic environment for our employees to be
enthusiastic about their futures.
 We are devoted to instilling strong leadership so employees are never lost.
Leaders
 We are devoted to instilling strong leadership so employees are never lost.
 We are commented to creating consistence in leadership to accomplish
common goals.
 We are creating a medium for leadership to share ideas and goals with
employees.
Media relations
 We are devoted to have a consistent stream of information.
 We are committed to improving employ knowledge of current affairs.
 We are committed to developing relevant strategies for employee
information.
Strategy
The ABC Company is passionate about sculpting sound futures for employees. As
our leaders become united to accomplish common goals we will see the future of
ABC Company become bright. We will see all employees and stakeholder pride
overcome tremendous obstacles. With a renewed sense of purpose ABC Company
will strive to change the world with our widgets.
Objectives
We want to renew the life of ABC Company.

Fall Semester 2016
We want to communicate clearly and timely to all company outlets.
We want to educate and encourage employees in order to better their futures.
Goals
We want to increase employee engagement by 20% by October 7, 2017.
We want to increase leader onsite visits to 6 times a year by October 7, 2017.
We want to improve media relations and the teams capability’s through new and
innovative strategies which will yield better results by 20 percent. Internally and
with our customers by October 7, 2017.
Tactics
ABC
What Why How
Employees
Survey This is a quick way to learn
valuable information. This will
help to find the attitudes of
the employees towards the
ABC Company. It will help to
build a comprehensive SWOT
analysis.
This will be distributed
electronically through each
employees email.
Focus group This will help get more in-
depth information for the
SWOT. This will give people
the chance to bounce
opinions off other employees.
It will also help to find more
detailed information on what
employees actually know
about what is happening with
the company.
This will be held by a neutral
person. We will go to each
department and hold 2 focus
groups of 12 people. This will
give the best yield.
SWOT Analysis The SWOT will help the ABC
Company see what they are
doing right, wrong, what they
can capitalize on and what
may hinder them in the
future. By doing this it will
The SWOT will be created from
the survey and focus group
information. A team will go
through all information and
develop a comprehensive SWOT.

Fall Semester 2016
help the company better
visualize what is happening
in the company and what will
happen in the future.
Employee In The Box Talks An In The Box Talk will give
employees an outlet to let
them talk about their
problems within the
company. It will help
manage the confusion of the
company. It will also help
leaders learn information
about employees so they can
further help employees and
their needs. This will give
Leaders a chance to speak in
unity. These sessions will
help gain trust in leaders and
build unity and pride around
the company.
These will be once a month
where employees and at least
one leader get together onsite
and speak about problems that
are going on within the
company. This is more of an
open dialogue rather than
questions and answers
associated with town hall
meetings.
Employee Spot Light An employee Spot Light will
be a once a month post on
the employee portal
showcasing an employee’s
accomplishments. This will
help with employee
engagement and will show
that the ABC Company cares
about their employees.
This will be created through the
media relations team. The team
will create a page dedicated to
the spotlight on the company
website and the company portal.
This will be gauged by
outstanding performance from a
department or you may be
nominated by a leader from your
department.
Employee and Leader retreat This retreat is to show
employees that the company
cares about them. It will
educate employees and give
leaders an outlet to speak in
one voice. This retreat will
instill pride and unity back in
to the company.
The company will send all
employees and leaders to a
destination. There will be a
calendar created for team build
exercises and for talks that
leaders performing. The talks
will be no longer than 30
minutes to keep employees
moral high. This will be produced
and over seen by a large team
due to the number of
employees.
Leaders
Leader work shops A leader work shop is where
leaders form the company all
get together and speak about
the company. This will help
Leader works shops will be held
once a month. This will be
facilitated by a public relations

Fall Semester 2016
to educate them on what
they should all be saying.
professional. Leaders will meet
at a certain location.
One on one interviews This is where we will go and
interview each leader. BY
doing this it will provide in-
depth information on the
attitudes of the leaders. It
will give us information on
what each leader has been
communicating to the
employees. From here it will
help manage what has been
said.
A group of interviewers will be
sent to each leader to do the
interview.
Town Hall Meetings Town hall meetings will give
leaders a medium to speak
with one voice. This will give
them a outlet to speak to
employees and earn trust.
These will be held once every
three months. Leaders from each
department will go to a town
halls meeting at near their
locations and sit on a panel and
answer questions.
Checkpoint Meetings Check point meetings are to
see if the communications
plan is on track. It will help
leaders see what is working
and what they need to adjust
on.
Check point meetings will be
held every 3 months. All leaders
and communication plan
members will meet and discuss
the execution of the plan.
Employee and Leader retreat The retreat will allow all
leaders to get together in one
place and speak in one voice,
allowing the employees to
see they are all on the same
page. The team builder
exercises will help employees
trust in their leaders.
The company will send all
employees and leaders to a
destination. There will be a
calendar created for team build
exercises and for talks that
leaders performing. The talks
will be no longer than 30
minutes to keep employees
moral high. This will be produced
and over seen by a large team
due to the number of
employees.
Media Relations
Media Calendar A media calendar will help to
manage all information
coming out to employees and
other outlets. It will allow
leaders to speak in one voice
and give them specific times
when they should speak.
The media relations team will
create a calendar consisting off
all the days information has to
be distributed out.

Fall Semester 2016
Employee portal update Due to the employee portal
not being used efficiently
updating the portal and
making it relevant is a great
opportunity. This will give
leaders a medium to connect
with employees and
employees connect with
leaders and with other
employees.
Media relations team will update
the website. They may bring in a
separate team that specializes in
this field.
Media Tool Kit A media tool kit will help the
media relation team
distribute information to
leaders and other outlets
effectively and efficiently.
The media relations will create a
team that will collect all
information for a tool kit.
Develop social media accounts By having social media
accounts it will allow
employees to receive quick
and easy information about
the company, rather than
having to log in to the portal
or find it on the website.
The media relations team will
create accounts and manage the
accounts.
Create a CEO about my life page This will help employees
know what the CEO is doing.
He will post once a month
sharing his personal and
work life. This will give the
employees a way to engage
with the CEO. The page will
also have his social media
accounts so they may
interact with him on a more
personal level.
The media relations will create
the page. They will help him
manage the page in order for the
CEO to always stay engaged.
Best Practices
SWOT Analysis

Fall Semester 2016
The SWOT is a proven method that helps companies. The SWOT does this by
breaking the company down into four sections, Strength, Weakness, Threat, and
Opportunity. Each section provides information on how the company is executing
their tasks. It allows companies to see what they are doing well, what they are
doing poorly, what the company needs to capitalize on and what might happen in
the future if they do not fix a problem. This is a fundamental tactic in public
relations that provides an ample amount of information to create a sound plan that
works.
Spotlight Page
A stories page, in ABC Company case a spotlight page, on the company website and
portal is a key tactic that allows employees an outlet to shine. It develops a
relationship between employee and company allowing the employees to see that
the company cares for its employees. It is a way to build pride, trust and employee

Fall Semester 2016
engagement in a company. It also is another way to find the strengths and
opportunities of a company. This happens by the company reproducing the
kindness they showed to their employees.
Company Retreat
A company retreat is a great opportunity to build trust with a company’s
employees. This allows the company to treat their employees. By doing this it
shows that the company cares enough about a single individual to take them on a
trip. Retreats build leadership, not only in the leaders’ the company already has but
the up and coming employee that is trying to make their mark in the company.
Retreats also allow for a high amount to employee engagement. This will help build
relationships in the company, these relationships will give the employee a sense of
home. This will allow the employee to want to stay at the company longer.
Measurement
Entrance and Exit surveys. This will provide ABC Company comprehensive
results on how attitudes change from the start of the campaign to the end of the
campaign. They can measure what percent changed their perception on each
question.
Employee Portal. The ABC Company can measure how frequently employees are
using the new Portal. If the number goes up from previous months this would be a
great tool to gauge if the new media relation strategies are working efficiently.

Fall Semester 2016
Check-Point Meetings. These three month meetings will help communicate if
leaders are making their number of “Town Hall meetings” and the number of “In
the Box meetings”. The meetings will also help to keep track of the numbers for
other tactics.
Budget
ABC
Tactic Estimated Budget
Survey $0
Focus group $5,000-10,000
SWOT Analysis $1,000-$2,000
Employee In The Box Talks $1,000-$3,000
Employee Spot Light $1,000-2,000
Employee and Leader retreat $1,000,000
Leader work shops $5,000-$10,000
One on one interviews $5,000-$10,000
Town Hall Meetings $1,000-$2,000
Checkpoint Meetings $5,000-$10,000
Employee and Leader retreat $1,000,000
Media Calendar $0
Employee portal update $1,000-$2000
Media Tool Kit $0
Social media Accounts $0
CEO MY LIFE $0

Fall Semester 2016
Timeline
January
2017
February
2017
March
2017
April
2017
May
2017
June
2017
 In the Box
 Tool Kit
 Leader
Workshop
 Introduce
Employee
Spotlight
 Introduce
CEO MY
LIFE
 In the Box
 Town Hall
Meeting
 Leader
Workshop
 Spotlight
post
 CEO MY
LIFE
 Check in
Meeting
 In the Box
 Leader
Workshop
 Spotlight
post
 CEO MY
LIFE
 In the Box
 Leader
Workshop
 Spotlight
post
 CEO MY
LIFE
 In the Box
 Leader
Workshop
 Town Hall
Meeting
 Spotlight
post
 CEO MY LIFE
 In the Box
 Leader
Workshop
 Check in
meeting
 Spotlight
post
 CEO MY
LIFE
July
2017
August
2017
September
2017
October
2016
November
2016
December
2016
 In the Box
 Leader
Workshop
 Spotlight
post
 CEO MY
LIFE
 In the Box
 Leader
Workshop
 Town Hall
Meeting
 Spotlight
post
 CEO MY
LIFE
 Company
Retreat
 Check in
Meeting
 Spotlight
post
 CEO MY
LIFE
 Distribute
Plan wrap
up
 Distribute
surveys
 Conduct
Focus
Groups
 One on
one
interviews
 Create
SWOT
 Town Hall
Meeting
 In the Box
 Leader
Workshop
 Create social
Media
Accounts
 In the Box
 Introduce
new portal
 Check in
Meeting
 Media
Calendar
created
 Leader
Workshop
Plan Wrap-Up and Results
We will compile all results from the one on one interviews, surveys, and focus
groups into one document. We will provide how we measured these findings
throughout the communications plan and the results we found at the end of the
plan. We will place the SWOT with these documents. The check point meetings data
will also be provided in this document. This will allow people to see if any plan was
changed or modified along the way. We will distributed these electronically by
September 30, 2017.

Communications Plan Assignment S&T

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