Internal relations are important too!

As I near the end of my junior year as a public relations major at Temple University, I am trying to learn as much as possible about the different opportunities within the industry. One area that has recently caught my attention--and is often neglected in discussions of the overall PR industry--is internal relations.

This past week, the beginning of a new fiscal year was observed at the company for which I work. One neat thing that my boss--the company owner--did to keep the company moving forward into the new year was to have all employees write a list of the top ten goals they have for the company (a jewelery store) for 2010.

We then had a meeting at which employees were encouraged to share their goals/ideas with the rest of the work force. Goals and suggestions were then discussed amongst the other employees and managers, as well as the company owner. This discussion served several important functions:

• It helped employees understand the reasons for why some things are done the way they are.
• It helped management gain insight into problems and glitches that are happening on the ground level.
• It brought forth several new ideas that could benefit the company in the long run.
• It made employees feel as if they had a voice and a hand in the direction of the company.
• It helped address and clear tension stemming from unaddressed problems within the company.
  

This meeting really drove home the importance of internal and employee relations for me. After all, happy employees that feel appreciated are more likely to strive to make customers happy, too. They are also more likely to stay with the company for the long haul.

Have you ever been asked for your open and honest feedback? I think that more companies would thrive and would develop a more loyal work force if they adopted a feedback system like this one.

Especially after this experience in my own life, I am really interested in learning more about internal and employee relations.