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    Communication | Training | Image Audit | ELTF | ezine PreSense | Sansad Ratna | Digital Journalism |

  • Image Audit

    | Communication | Training | Image Audit | ELTF | ezine PreSense | Sansad Ratna | Digital Journalism |

  • Sansad Ratna Awards

    | Communication | Training | Image Audit | ELTF | ezine PreSense | Sansad Ratna | Digital Journalism |

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    | Communication | Training | Image Audit | ELTF | ezine PreSense | Sansad Ratna | Digital Journalism |

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    | Communication | Training | Image Audit | ELTF | ezine PreSense | Sansad Ratna | Digital Journalism |

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    | Communication | Training | Image Audit | ELTF | ezine PreSense | Sansad Ratna | Digital Journalism |

Monday, 10 December 2012

Book Review: Employee engagement & Communication Research

PodUniversal Edition 157

I had the opportunity of going through the book 'Employee Engagement and Communication Research' authored by Ms Susan Walker ABC, from London.  This book was  published last month  by Kogan Page Limited at London and US.

Generally all the companies make huge noise about the employee motivation and employee satisfaction.  But in reality, they remain more in paper.  A serious research or study is not made by any company to understand the ground reality of the employee perceptions.  Whatever the surveys done in the name of 'employee satisfaction survey' serve the ISO audit purposes only.

In this book, Susan deals with the various aspects of communication research, development questionnaire,  measurement, interpretation of  data, strategies and action to be adopted.  She also explains as to how such communication research can help the companies in the employee engagement.

The author has divided the 20 chapters into three sections, viz. (a) Measurement, (b) Strategy and (c) implementation.  Even the complicated technical details have been presented in a simple manner.  She has also shared interesting and relevant case studies in these chapters.

This book will serve as a good handbook for the Communication Managers, HR Managers and Research organisations.  This book is available in UK, USA and in India.

The author Susan’s career began in the internal communications field before joining Market and Opinion Research International (MORI), the major UK research agency where she headed the employee research practice. She is now running her own engagement and communication evaluation research business.

Susan is  a Fellow of the Institute of Internal Communication and an  Accredited  Business 
Communicator (IABC). She has held various posts within IABC UK Chapter in the past and presented 
at events worldwide including IABC conferences in New York, Los Angeles and Brussels. 

The author can be contacted through mail at commevaluation@hotmail.com.

I interviewed Susan  over mobile.  Please listen to the interesting conversation.  The transcript of this conversation is also given below the YouTube flash player.  This podcast can also be listened from http://youtu.be/uIj12P8p4qQ (6 minutes)


Transcript of this conversation:

What prompted you to write this book?

I was inspired to write the book because I had looked at the market and there were books about research, and engagement and communication but there were really no books that tied all three together and looked at employee research from that point of view - that is what stimulated me to write the book.

What is employee engagement?

Well, there are all sorts of definitions of employee engagement and I think a lot if it is down to an employee who is interested in the company, understands its purpose, who feels part of it – and that feeling that they with the organization and want to help it.

Many companies conduct  conduct employee satisfaction surveys for ISO purposes. can it be considered as communication research?

Yes, I  think so, it concerns satisfaction which is really I suppose another work for engagement and especially if there are communications quests as well, I think It would be considered as engagement and communication research.

What are the areas covered by you in the book?

Three main areas: first of all measurement. This covers basis tools such as objective questionnaire design, statistical reliability, sampling. Then the second section about strategy which is engaging senior management, looking at benefits of research and linking with the business. Then the third section about action planning, defining what needs to be done from the survey results. And also a number of case studies and also interviews with leading professionals around the world: an important part of the book to have that global perspective.

What is the trend of communication research globally?

Interesting talking to people from all over the world Brazil, Russia ,China and of course India and although circumstances and cultures vary it seems that many of the challenges we face are the same The prime one being engaging senior management and convincing senior management that it is worthwhile measuring their employee engagement and communications. Also making sure that action happens as a result. So although we may come from different places, we all seem to share the same challenges.

Somewhere in your book, you have mentioned about 'Arthasastra'.  How you got impressed with Arthasastra?

What impressed me, it was written many thousands of years ago and people think things written a long time ago have nothing to teach us. In fact this is said to be the very first management book that was ever written. But what impressed me was that it did not just look at aspects like the military and the economy but it also looked at welfare. And a lot of the advice which was then said to be for the King could be said nowadays to be about the CEO of the organsiation – like the King of the organization. And I felt that a lot of what was written there was just as applicable today as it was then.
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Saturday, 1 December 2012

Making of Podcasts and EMagazines

Prime Point Srinivasan addressing the students
On 1st December 2012, I was invited to address the broadcast journalism students of NDTV-IndiaCan Education on the subject 'Making of Podcasts and EMagazines'.  Since I have been publishing podcasts and Ezines for the past several years, they invited me to share my experience.

I shared with them the techniques of making effective podcasts and also the emagazines.  It was a wonderful experience for me to have  interacted with the young budding broadcast journalists.

I am sharing the ppt presentation for the benefit of interested persons.  If anybody wants to get more details or inputs about the techniques of podcasts and ezines, he/she can contact me through mail prpoint@gmail.com  


Some of the photographs taken during the event.

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Tuesday, 27 November 2012

PR workshop at Sevalaya

Sevalaya, a Chennai based NGO offers a wonderful service to the rural poor, by transforming their life for the past 24 years silently.  Inspired by Mahakavi Bharathiyar, Mahatma Gandhi and Vivekanada,  Mr Muralidharan, a software engineer founded this trust to take care of the really underprivileged and destitute children and old age people.

Now, they have entered the 25th year of operation. They are running a Higher Secondary School (Mahakavi Bharathiyar Higher School School)  in Kasuva village near Thiruninravoor (40 KM from Chennai) providing high standard education and moral values to 1650 poorest children. Every year, they get 100% results in the State Board Examinations of 10th and 12th Standard. 

In the past 24 years, a minimum 15000 children from 33 villages would have benefited by way of education.  They are running one old age home with 60 elderly inmates  deserted by their family members.  160 boys and girls are living in the orphanage.  Even 50 cows are taken care of the Goshala.

Interesting part is that all the services are provided free of cost.  Probably this is the only school in Tamilnadu with so much of children without any 'fee counter', but providing high class education.  (shortly we are writing about them in our site www.action2020.in).

Since they do not collect any money from the children or elderly people, they have to depend on the sponsors for the support.  Many good hearted individuals and corporates are supporting them silently   Shortly with the support of some of the corporates, they are going to start one Industrial Training Institute to provide vocational courses for the children, to make them employable.  This service also will be provided free of cost.

Their administrative office at Chennai has a small team to look after the public relations and sponsorship.  In order to improve the skills of this team, Prime Point Foundation arranged a one day workshop at their office to expose them to the professional handling of Public Relations.

I  conducted the workshop.  I was supported by Mr Nurullah (Senior Tamil Journalist), Mr Sakthi Prasanna (Senior PR Professional working in a PR Agency) and Ms Bhanu Gomes (Spokes Person of IAC and a Social activist).

The PR team of Sevalaya was trained to make use of Public Relations tool to project the image of the organisation and to get sponsorships.  

During the workshop, we called up Mr S Narendra of Delhi (Former Information Advisor to Prime Minister) and Mr Ananda Padmanabhan (Jaya TV) over phone.  They shared their professional views to improve the PR skills and to increase the sponsorship base.

Last week, I personally visited the School and the campus.  These children deserve support from the public.  Those who want to get in touch with Sevalaya may contact Mr Muralidharan, Founder and Chairman of Sevalaya at sevalayamurali@sevalaya.org

Photos of the workshop:

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Sunday, 14 October 2012

Internet is a double edged weapon - Use technology with caution

Tamilnadu and Pucherry wing of Indian speech and hearing Association held their 2nd TAN-ISHACON at Puducherry (Pondicherry) on 13th and 14th October 2012. This Conference was attended by speech language pathologists and audiologists of medical profession.   Though this two-day conference was fully packed with various speeches and presentations on papers relevant to their profession, they had organised a session on 'Cyber Challenges' by Prime Point Srinivasan, President of Cyber Society of India.  Probably. This is the first time, any professional conference in India had included an important topic like cyber safety, to create cyber awareness among their delegates.

In the presentation, Prime Point Srinivasan focussed on the various challenges faced by the internet and mobile users and also explained as to how to manage the challenges.  He compared the internet with a 'double edged weapon' and cautioned them to be more careful while using the technology.

Dr S Manoharan, President of TANISHA and Dr N D Rajan, Conference Chairman organised the event at Pucherry in a professional manner.

Please see the presentation of Prime Point Srinivasan.

 
Please see some of the photos taken during the occassion.

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Thursday, 23 August 2012

Why Accreditation is a must for communication and marketing professionals?

In the globalised competitive  era, the individuals and the companies have now started bench marking their knowledge, proficiency and quality to globally accepted standards.  Companies world over subject themselves to ISO or BS Standards, which are globally recognised. Unless the companies get ISO certification, they may not be able to participate in the tenders internally and globally.

In the same way, IT professionals have now started benching their individual talents through Microsoft Certification and ISACA certification.  These certifications enable the IT professionals to compete globally and succeed professionally.

In the same way, communication and marketing professionals also need to get themselves certified to the global standards, if they want to succeed in their career in future.  I have been impressing upon the need for such global accreditation for the past eight  years.  None of the professional bodies in India are able to come up with any globally accepted certification or accreditation process. We need to prepare our younger generation communication and marketing professionals to compete at global levels.  

Just like we have accepted globally recognised certification process in other areas, the communication and marketing industry also can adopt the globally recognised and accepted certification process to develop their career in future.

US, UK, Australia, South Africa, Singapore and few other countries have already started accrediting their communicaiton and marketing professionals.  The employers give priority only to such accredited professionals in the internal promotions.  Professionals can get accredited in their chosen field, only after few years of experience.

APR Accreditation by Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and FCIPR Accreditation by Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), London are highly popular in US and Europe.

International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is one of the respected International bodies operating in more than 100 countries.  They offer ABC Accreditation (Accredited Business Communicator). All the professionals who are connected with Business Communicaiton field like Public Relations, Corporate Communication, Marketing Communication, Journalism, etc are eligible for Accreditation process. Only working professionals can apply for Accreditation.

Accreditation process involves 3 stages.  (1) Application, (2) Submission of two Portfolios (work samples), based on the applicant's own experience and (3) written and oral examination.  Senior Accredited professionals will mentor and guide the candidates.

Recently, I recorded an interview with Mr Bish Mukherjee, President of IABC's India South Chapter.  Mr Bish was earlier the Accreditation Director for Asian countries and now the Asian coordinator for the prestigious Quill Awards of IABC.  He has mentored many professionals.

I have also recorded an interview with  Dr Rajiv Kumar. He is one of the top management officials in the Tata Group handling Corporate Communication.  He is presently the Director in the Accreditation Committee of IABC.  He supervises the Accreditation process of Asia Pacific, Europe, South America and Africa.

Please watch this interesting and informative podcast (12 minutes). If anybody wants to get more information and guidance, they can send mail to Mr Bish Mukherjee at bmiabc@hotmail.com.



This podcast can also be watched in YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHYSgH0jZEk
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Sunday, 12 August 2012

Seminar on Education Loan by Puthiya Thalaimurai Foundation

(L to R) Pon Dhanasekaran, Prime Point Srinivasan
R Ramkumar, N Bhuvaneswari
Puthiya Thalaimurai Foundation (PTF) organised a Seminar on "Education Loan" at Sri Sankara Vidyalaya Metriculation Higher Secondary School, Urapakkam, Chennai on Saturday the 11th August 2012.  The programme was attended by the senior students and their parents.

Mr R Ramkumar, Advocate and Special Officer of PTF explained the salient features of Right to Education Act.

Mr Pon Dhanasekaran, Joint Editor of Puthiya Thalaimurai - Kalvi Magazine explained the various opportunities and scholarships available for higher education in India.  He suggested to students to look for other higher education courses, instead of flocking towards only engineering courses.  

Mr K. Srinivasan of Prime Point and Convenor of Education Loan Task Force (ELTF) explained the various aspects of Education Loan scheme available with Public Sector Banks.  He also explained about the latest IBA guidelines on providing education loan to vocational courses.  He clarified the doubts of the parents.

The programme was organised by Mrs N Bhuvaneswari, Principal of the School. Earlier, Mr Abdul Kareen, Deputy General Manager of PTF made a presentation on the various activites of PT Foundation.

Please see the pictures.

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Friday, 10 August 2012

Seminar on Cyber Security at Panimalar College

Cyber Security workshop at Panimalar College, Chennai
Cyber security workshop

Panimalar Engineering College, Chennai organised a two days workshop on "Cyber Security" jointly with Cyber Society of India on 10th and 11th August 2012.  The workshop was inaugurated by K.  Srinivasan (Prime Point), President of Cyber Society of India on 10th August 2012. Engineering students, faculty members of their college and other colleges participated.

Inaugural function

Dr K. Mani, Principal of the College during his welcome speech expressed concern over the increasing cyber frauds.  Dr Sankara Gomathi, Dean emphasised the importance of creating awareness about the cyber security and cyber laws.

Inaugural speech by K. Srinivasan

While inaugurating the Workshop K. Srinivasan, President of the Cyber Society of India explained as to how the internet and online activities were on increase.  He said while the growing technology offered lot of advantages to manking, the same technology also posed greater challenges to the society.  He insisted that students and faculty members should spread awareness about the cyber challenges, so that the technology was used with greater care for the maximum advantage.  

He also appealed to youth to use the social media with responsibility.  "There is no absolute freedom for writing in social media.   Nobody can claim more freedom than allowed by the law", he cautioned the youngsters, so that they do not get caught by the cyber law implications. 

Student chapters in colleges

Srinivasan also announced that Cyber Society of India would encourage student chapters in every college, to enable  the students interact with external experts  and gain more knowledge.  For such student chapters, Cyber Society of India would provide all technical assistance.  He appealed to the representatives from other colleges to write to info@cysi.in, if they were willing to start a student chapter in their colleges.  He said that this should be volunteers based without any membership fee.

Principal of Panimalar College also assured that they would soon start a student chapter in their college, so that the students could organise quiz, seminars, present papers on cyber related issues.

Dr. S Kannan, Head of the Department of ECE propsed vote of thanks.

About the workshop

Two days programme include discussions on cyber law, cyber security, testing technologies, Credit cards/ATMs related issues, implications of cyber crimes, data security in cloud computing, cyber crime investigation, virus meance, etc.  

Experts from Cyber Society of India Mr V Rajendran, Mr J Prasanna, Mr Shanker Kumar, Mr S N Ravichandran. Dr B Muthukumaran, Mr N Ramamurthy, Mr Kapaleeswaran and Mr R Ramamurthy share their views on different topics.

Dr Sankara Gomathi, Dean is personally coordinating the organisation of this workshop.  Please see some of the pictures taken during the inauguration.

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Prime Point Foundation

Prime Point Foundation is a non-profit Trust incepted in December 1999, to create Communication awareness among all the people.

K Srinivasan (Communication Strategist ) is the Founder and Chairman the Trust.
  • The Foundation offers Training, workshop on all Communication related subjects, including Image (Perception)  Audit.
  • The Foundation publishes a monthly eMagazine PreSense since March 2006.
  • The eMagazine PreSense has five initiatives. viz (1) Education Loan Task Force (ELTF), (2) Sansad Ratna Awards, (3) Next Gen Political Leaders (NGPL), (4) Digital Security Association of India (DiSAI) and (5) Digital Journalists Association of India (DiJAI).
  • Every year, the Foundation honours the outstanding Parliamentarians with Sansad Ratna Awards
Profile of K. Srinivasan may be downloaded from http://www.prpoint.com/profile/srinivasan.pdf

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