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As we leave August behind and start to move into the Fall season in the States, there’s just something about the days getting shorter and that first chill in the air that makes it feel like a time of change. Maybe it’s a holdover from our childhoods when we went back to school at this time of year, put away our swimsuits and bought our new school supplies, sharpened our pencils and pulled out our backpacks. Fall feels like something new is happening.

Even though as adults we may not be making major changes in our jobs or our daily schedules, there’s still something about Fall that encourages us to want to change directions, learn new things and forge ahead. As leaders in business, how do we foster that inclination to refocus attention among our teams? How do we encourage them to put their “Fall Focus” mindset to use in support of achieving company goals?

Through effective communication – that’s how. If we take the time to interact with our teams, to talk to them about future success and how we’re going to get there, as well as to listen to what’s on their minds and to their ideas about our business, we can engage employees in a conversation about our shared goals that will build their commitment to helping achieve them. Employees want to be part of a successful team and organization. They want to focus their time and energy on the right things. And they want to understand how what they do contributes to the overall success of their company.

Fall is a great time to share these messages and to take advantage of a natural inclination to refocus and get serious. The time is right to have that team meeting or all-employee town hall and to paint a picture of the future for employees, one that involves them in mutually-shared success.

As a leader, consider using the Fall as a time to commit yourself anew to communicating with your team. It will help you to build employee commitment and a shared mindset of focus, teamwork and success.

As social media continues to become more and more a part of our lives, the laws surrounding these new technologies continue to evolve as well. Courtney Love is being sued by a fashion designer for allegedly making libelous claims on Twitter (read the article on CNN.com). Countless bloggers have been accused of similar actions. There have also been a host of employment law issues related to intellectual property, privacy and hiring and termination practices.

As the law continues to unfold, it’s crucial for companies to keep a close eye on the impacts of the use of social media by employees. And, importantly, we, as communicators, have to take the added responsibility of educating employees about what’s acceptable and what’s not. Whether it’s an internal forum or an external site, we have to ensure employees understand what they can and cannot say online. We have to think through the implications of our digital strategy and partner with our colleagues in HR and Legal to define appropriate policies to govern these tools.

When thinking about the internal side, check out Bill Ives’ list of 10 things to consider when developing an internal social software policy. This is a good list to review regardless if you already have a policy in place or if you are just beginning to explore these types of tools. And, remember to revisit your guidelines from time to time as the legal environment continues to evolve.

In the end, a lot of this comes down to common sense. The age old rule of “think before you speak” still applies. However, we have a role to play in helping employees adapt to the new digital world of corporate communications.

Nielsen and Facebook recently announced an alliance to help better define the return on investment in marketing activities on Facebook. The first product to be offered, BrandLift, will present brief surveys to users to help measure aided awareness, ad recall, message association, brand favorability and purchase consideration resulting from ads on Facebook.

It’s exciting to see this next step in the evolution of social media and its impact on the business world. Marketers will now be able to begin to quantify the return associated with online advertising on one of the most pervasive sites around. According to Nielsen, in August 2009, Facebook had the most time per user spent on the site among the top Web brands, with an average of 5 hours 46 minutes 4 seconds.

As communicators, we’re often challenged to define ways to measure the impact of our programs and even harder stretched to measure a concrete return on investment. That’s especially true with internally focused programs. We’re often faced with questions like:

Do employees really care about reading an executive’s blog? Does it really help the leader become more visible and “real” to employees?

Will a revamped intranet actually improve employee productivity?

Do online discussion forums and other collaboration tools actually help improve employee engagement?

Though not necessarily the “holy grail” of measurement, tools like BrandLift represent the beginning of a more scientific approach to measuring the real value of marketing and communications in the world of social media. As these tools become more common, we as communicators will have much more of an opportunity to begin proving the relative value of our online tactics both internally and externally.

We have worked with several clients to assess their internal communications environments to identify opportunities to better engage employees. One of the most common findings in these types of projects is that although companies have generally introduced several social media tools for internal use, there is frequently not a strategy in place for how to use the tools (or at least that’s the way employees have perceived it). As a result, people often seemed confused and even unaware that there are actually resources available for them to use.

To me, this highlights the critical role of having a sound strategy in place for integrating social media into the corporate environment. It’s not as easy as simply launching the ability to share videos (e.g., Qumu) or introducing a new blogging capability (e.g., Yammer). Employees need to know how to use the tools (including what’s acceptable and what’s not), what their role is and how participating in the dialogue will benefit them. And, of course, anything that is introduced needs to be tied directly to a business purpose. Essentially, you need to define the “rules of engagement.” This is in addition to any guidelines and policies you have created to govern the use of these types of tools by employees in the external environment.

In addition, you should expect to adapt these “rules” as your internal social media landscape continues to evolve. While you want to have a comprehensive framework in place from the beginning, new situations will arise that may require you to rethink the way you have approached a particular guideline or policy in the past. Evidence of this can be seen in the external environment with the recent announcement from Wikipedia that they are introducing a new level of oversight to some of the content posted to the site. While the debate on whether or not this has changed the underlying philosophy behind Wikipedia will continue to unfold (check out these stories on Fast Company, CNN, BBC, and AP), it’s clear that there will be a need from time to time to do a “gut check” to see if things are working as originally intended.

As with any communication tactic, don’t just launch something for the sake of being on the cutting edge. Look at your audience, identify their needs and preferences, align those needs with the needs of the business and develop a strategy for fully integrating the new vehicle into the organization.

It’s Friday.  In the summer.  And, somehow I’m not thinking about getting home to the beach.  Instead, I am focusing on winter!?!  It’s true.  I’m actually thinking forward to January and the start of 2010.  Before you think I’ve lost my marbles, I’m in this mindset because we’re soon to begin planning for next year, and I keep finding myself dwelling on the changing nature of messaging for employees.

I’ve ended up in this mental conversation with myself because of a number of meetings and conversations I’ve had with folks lately.  It starts with some of the people in financial services who have had their entire world change this year, seemingly going from “hero” to “zero” overnight.  Then, there are the retailers and restaurant chains that are suffering and closing because of lack of sales while still others are going gangbusters because they offer reasonably priced items consumers crave during this downturn. And then there are the healthcare companies that continue to move along, doing their thing and seemingly holding steady.

So, if you’re wondering where I’m going with all of this, here it is:  take a step back and look at your business, at your people and at your performance.  Now ask yourself if it’s time to change the dialogue with your employees?  Is there something about your business that’s fundamentally different today than it was last year?  Is your business benefitting, suffering or remaining status quo?  What does the future hold for your organization?  Your industry?

Think about your internal communications channels, executive outreach and other activities as you answer those questions and determine if it’s time to change or adjust what you are saying and/or how you are saying it.  It might very well be time to inject new candor into what’s being communicated or to change how you’ve been talking about your business.  By conducting this litmus test and making any appropriate changes, you’ll ensure your communications are aligned with today’s realities and that you are sharing the information that your employees most care about in terms that make sense to them.  Why does this matter?  Because authentic, truthful and timely communications are an important (I might even argue the MOST important) component to building and keeping trust among employees.

It’s probably a safe bet that just about everybody in the front office of an NFL team is working their dream job (I wait, with baited breath, for a phone call from the Cleveland Browns). It’s one of those jobs people aspire to, and for which they are often willing to suffer indignities along to way. A number of NFL teams recently put their front office employees on furlough, citing the sluggish economy. But anyone who knows professional sports knows that the 32 NFL stadiums combined couldn’t hold all the cash generated by the league each year. Thanks to the well-connected profootballtalk.com, we have word that employees of at least one team, the San Francisco 49ers, believe the furloughs are merely a ploy by ownership to appear in worse financial shape when it comes time to negotiate the collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association after the end of the 2009 season, and thus rein in high player salaries.

This raises an interesting question for employee communications and HR: Is it OK to take advantage of employees if it’s at an aspirational company, since management knows its employees are working their “dream jobs”?

A woman dies in the streets of Tehran and we watch it on YouTube. Reporters are expelled from Iran in the wake of election irregularites and riots, and we continue receiving news reports and updates through Twitter, on Facebook, through blogs and texting from those inside a fragile nation. One blogger writes, “Since June 13, the start of nationwide demonstrations and protests against Iran’s rigged presidential elections began, a clampdown on many of the leading reformist politicians, as well as journalists and bloggers, has been underway.” But despite those crackdowns, news and updates borne of the new social and digital media find their way beyond censure to a waiting world.

The human condition speaks volumes. What we are witnessing in Tehran, in a poignant and moving way, will serve as a reminder of the power and reach of Citizen Journalists and the tools they have to move stories from their keyboards, Blackberries and iPhones to the computer cloud that connects us all. There’s a dark side to this phenomenon that author Andrew Keen has written about in The Cult of the Amateur, a must read for employee communicators and thought leaders in digital and social media. For me, the stark images of political and social revolt wracking Iran, or US Airways Flight 1549 skimming down into the Hudson River, or the frightening video shot days ago inside a tornado in Aurora, Nebraska, serve as a constant reminder of our globality and how we are all on, 24-7-365.

Once upon a time, we counseled our corporate clients that a crisis can quickly explode from a single location to the larger company and world within hours. Today, with the digital information commons, quickly is slow. Now it’s instantaneous — and there’s no stopping the video, the words, the images or the sounds once they start. As employee communicators, we must know that businesses and institutions are facing a rapidly changing landscape shaped by this new digital world, the global economy that Thomas Friedman has written about in The World is Flat, and the explosion of myriad stakeholder groups.

The Arthur W. Page Society, in its seminal white paper, The Authentic Enterprise, tells us these converging forces are requiring us to be even more transparent than ever.  Where once we carefully timed and cascaded messages, we no longer control them. Where once we targeted specific audience segments, today everyone can see everything at the same time. Where once we devised and controlled the channels, today they now “belong” to everyone in this digital explosion.

So what does it all mean?

To build trust, the Page authors tell us, we must go beyond shaping perceptions to defining companies. We must build new networks of relationships. We must move from the classic caricature of the public relations professional shaping perceptions to actually creating a new reality. We must place corporate values at the heart of our work. And we must, above everything else, seek to build trust in a world that has soured on hype.

In You Can’t Go Home Again, author Thomas Wolfe tells us, “Lean down your ear upon the earth, and listen.” When we do, we’ll know that things have truly changed and we will not return to that place we once knew.

I recently worked in the Middle East.  As a show of my respect for the people and their workplace culture I would wear traditional dress.  In the Middle East this, for a woman, is the abaya. This elegant, black, head-to-toe covering has long sleeves that gradually bell to the wrist. The shape is shift like, there are no darts, no bias cut or clingy silhouette to show the form.

Thankfully, despite its shade, the fabric is light and silky and it catches the breeze fanning me from the heat  -  a misty, tropic, palm-tree heat that I associate with the countries of the Far East, not the searing, dusty dryness of the desert – though I know that fate awaits in the next few months were daily temperatures hit 50c.

My hair is hidden beneath a sheer, black scarf which is carefully adorned with black sequins. Mastering the art of headscarf tying in the traditional way has been my failing – a few kirby grips protrude angularly here and there to keep the fabric from slipping. A streak of hair keeps sneaking unfaithfully out.  Behind me, Grace Kelly- like or so I kid myself, I have knotted the scarf to fall as a veil against my back.

And how do I feel wearing this outfit? Submissive? Unequal? Awkward? Religious? Stepping tentatively from my hotel room I felt quite regal in stature, like I was floating across the floor– indeed it is common to wear high heels as the garment’s length is so that it trails the ground.

My first human encounter was a Western man. Surprisingly, I thought, he did not step aside to let me enter the lift first. I thought that this look would predicate such gentlemanly behaviour. In the lobby a white, western girl, a similar age to me, watched me from the corner of her eye – she was talking dress with a male colleague and laughed casually abut wearing t-shirts without a bra. The time of day, the place and my new Islamic dress all contributed to me regarding her tone and tale as inappropriate –more so than if I had overheard the comments in London.

As I identified my feelings, I did feel quieter, and  finding and rousing my personality from beneath the abaya was harder.  There is something calming about this outfit.

At the client office I was greeted with joy, if not surprise,  that I had so respected and adopted their culture. Was my wearing the abaya a step too far? Should I have respected the tradition of my culture and worn Western business dress? No, I don’t think so. Respect, understanding and acknowledgment of the customs of where you are working is fundamental to excellence in communications practice. Walking in your audience’s shoes gives you greater empathy and understanding.

American Express, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, recently announced the details of its next Partners in Preservation initiative in Boston. Here’s how it works. First, 25 historic sites in the Boston area are identified to participate in the competition. Then, the public is invited to vote online for the site they would like to receive a grant. A total of $1 million is awarded across the sites, with the winner of the national vote guaranteed to receive a grant. Additional grants are determined by an advisory board of local community leaders, American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

During the voting process, you begin to see the power of online mobilization. Supporters of the various sites take to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and countless others to encourage people to take action and vote for their site (click through the links to see examples). It’s a (new) classic case of a grassroots effort to mobilize a community around a cause.

The same type of campaign could have a powerful impact within an organization. Selecting a site or company-wide volunteer activity, determining which organization(s) to award grants to, identifying the best innovative idea to obtain seed funding – these are just a few examples of internal initiatives that could benefit from this type of grassroots model.

Instead of simply announcing the winning idea / project, this approach enables you to engage employees in the decision-making process. Not only does it create interest in the program, it also gives employees a voice in company decisions.All it takes is establishing some guardrails for the campaign (e.g., providing a list of pre-approved projects / ideas, creating an advisory panel to validate things along the way, defining a clear process and rules) to help keep things on track.

In addition, a program like this allows you to test the waters with social media applications. Many communicators and leaders are hesitant to launch new vehicles due to fears of having to introduce fresh content to maintain interest or having to figure out how to close down a channel that isn’t working or is being abused. Using social media tools for a specific project provides a defined purpose and lifespan and enables companies to see what works well and what doesn’t given their culture and technology. Those experiences can then be used to shape the future communication strategy for the company.

Lately it seems like everyone is buzzing about new technologies and how they may be applied to employee communications.  Whether it’s clients debating the need for social networking capabilities as part of an intranet redesign or sharing insights about allowing commentary on internal blogs, it seems like everyone is trying to figure out the new communications mix.

Recently a member of a professional organization I’m involved with requested examples of CEOs twittering, because this person’s CEO asked if they should start doing that for their organization and for their people.  The subsequent dialogue was interesting with people espousing the benefits of the technology and others questioning what the CEO had to say that warranted its use.

As an observer to the debate I tended to net on the side of “what do you have to say” being one of the deciding factors, but truth-be-told, what I really thought was “know your DNA.”

Do your employees have access to the technology that would warrant Twitter appropriate?  Does your CEO have anything – let alone that much – to say?  Is your CEO committed to keeping up posts or is this just the “shiny penny” du jour?  Is your CEO credible with employees so that they’d even care what s/he has to say?  Or is your CEO simply an early-adapter wanting to hop on the next digital bandwagon?

That’s part of knowing your DNA: what are the demographics of your employee population? How do they access information?  Are they truly engaged in your business and business plan or are they more task- or shift-oriented?

For example, are you considering migrating to an all digital strategy in hopes of reducing budget?  Maybe if your employee population is 100% online then sure, an all digital strategy might work for you.  But if a significant portion of your employee population is in manufacturing and rarely, if ever, has access to a computer, no matter how much you save, you won’t likely drive increased engagement.

We’re fortunate enough to work with a variety of companies across many industries and time and again that’s what we ask ourselves – what is the DNA of this organization?  Once that’s known, decisions on what technologies or other tactics to use are relatively simple.  So get to know your DNA.  If you know what you’re working with it’s easy enough to design the right approach for employee communications.

Related link: ExecTweets