E2E Communication Awards Celebrate Internal Communication That Transforms Cultures

MAY 13, 2010

Phoenix—Employee communication is often considered a subspecialty of human resources or public relations. But even the most casual look at the powerful programs and tremendous results achieved by winners of the 2010 E2E Communication Awards will have HR pros, PR pros and everybody interested in workforce communication wondering, "Which is the subspecialty of which?"

From the biggest company in the world to a local hospital, these case studies in internal communication make jaws drop and eyes open.

Some of the 2010 E2E Communication Award winners include:

• Wal-Mart's own online community, mywalmart.com, which knitted the biggest workforce in the world into a grassroots community.
• A communication campaign that persuaded all employees to change the words used to describe the company's service.
• The 25th anniversary campaign that left 92 percent of Cisco employees inspired about the company's future.
• An elaborate "I have a very good idea!" employee suggestion system that transformed a Turkish company's culture from inhibited to innovative.
• The State Farm employee magazine that 95 percent of employees say helps them "understand company goals and how I can impact those goals."
• The internal-branding program that got all the employees of a fast-growing health-information firm on the same page on a core ethics issue.
• How Northwestern Mutual communicators actually found a way to measure the value of employee engagement.

Through innovative communication media, strategic discipline and, in most cases, partnership with colleagues in HR and PR, E2E winners achieved great things, going to show what the E2E Communication Awards were created to recognize: "how timely, candid, free-flowing communication can sustain cultures that work."

The E2E Communication Awards are operated by McMurry and began in 2008 as the only awards program dedicated solely to internal communication. Winners were showcased by employee communication guru Steve Crescenzo at the Employee Engagement, Social Media & HR 2010 conference in Chicago May 12-13.