March 13, 2025 • 21 mins
Tammy Zollner, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at RPM International, shares her journey of transforming internal communications and fostering a culture of engagement and understanding among a diverse workforce, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. She outlines the process of centralizing RPM's communications, transitioning from a company where many weren't even aware of the parent organization, to one with a connected culture.
Tammy emphasizes the importance of understanding the audience and tailoring communications to ensure the workforce is informed and aligned with the company's overarching goals. She shares strategies her team has implemented, including leveraging AI tools to ensure effective communication among thousands of associates worldwide.
About the Guest
Tammy Zollner is senior director – corporate communications of RPM International Inc. She oversees internal and external communications, including employee communications, corporate branding, media relations, and social media. Tammy leads a team of communications professionals who create content that enhances RPM's reputation and strengthens relationships with key stakeholders. She has been with the company for over two decades in various operational and management roles. RPM owns subsidiaries that are world leaders in specialty coatings, sealants, building materials and related services. Among its leading brands are Rust-Oleum, DAP and Zinsser. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange, ranked on the Fortune 500 and employs 17,200 individuals worldwide.
Brad Kostka is president of Roopco, a strategic marketing and PR agency for B2B companies seeking to amplify their communications. The firm specializes in crafting and disseminating compelling content that drives measurable business impact. For nearly three decades, Brad has provided strategic communication counsel to organizations ranging from local startups to global, publicly traded corporations.
About the Host
Abbie Fink is president of HMA Public Relations in Phoenix, Arizona and a founding member of PRGN. Her marketing communications background includes skills in media relations, digital communications, social media strategies, special event management, crisis communications, community relations, issues management, and marketing promotions for both the private and public sectors, including such industries as healthcare, financial services, professional services, government affairs and tribal affairs, as well as not-for-profit organizations.
PRGN Presents is brought to you by Public Relations Global Network, the world’s local public relations agency. Our co-host and executive producer is Adrian McIntyre with Speed of Story, a B2B communications firm in Phoenix.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
From the Public RelationsGlobal Network, this is PRGN Presents.
I'm Adrian McIntyre.
And I'm Abbie Fink, presidentof HMA Public Relations in Phoenix,
Arizona, and a founding memberof PRGN. With public relations leaders
embedded into the fabric ofthe communities we serve, clients
hire our agencies for thelocal knowledge, expertise and connections
(00:24):
in markets spanning sixcontinents across the world.
Our guests on this biweeklypodcast series are all members of
the Public Relations GlobalNetwork. They will discuss such topics
as workplace culture, creativecompensation and succession planning,
the importance ofsustainability and environmental,
social and governanceprograms, crisis communications,
(00:44):
and outside of the boxthinking for growing your business.
For more information aboutPRGN and our members, please visit
prgn.com. And now let's meetour guest for this episode.
Hi, I'm Brad Kostka, Presidentof Roopco. We're a public relations
and marketing firm located inCleveland, Ohio. We provide B2B communication
(01:08):
services to help our clientsamplify their messages. And I'm happy
to have on the podcast with ustoday, Tammy Zollner. Tammy is the
senior director of corporatecommunications with RPM International.
Thanks, Brad. RPM is a globalpaint and coatings company, leaders
(01:28):
in specialty coatings,sealants, and building materials
and services. We havecompanies like Rust-Oleum and DAP
that you may see in Home Depotor have in your home today.
I love conversations withinternal communications folks. I
love talking with someone thatetswhatwe do andthe roleof,youknow,havinganexternalcommunicationspartner.But
(01:52):
partner. Buttocorporatecommsthenormalway,soyou,youstartedinit,is that
correct?
That's correct.
So how did that come about?
Yes, so I was, I had, at thetime, I had been with RPM about over
19 years. I held various roleswithin it throughout that time. And
(02:13):
when we were faced with theglobal pandemic, I was charged with
the technology side ofexecuting some of the large internal
meetings and conferences andthat kind of morphed into getting
involved in the messaging forthose meetings. And at the time I
just, I was having fun. Ithought it was great and it was something
different and exciting for me.And so, you know, then we kind of
(02:35):
started having conversationsabout, oh, you know, we there, there,
we, we need to formalizecorporate communications at RPM.
You know, are you interestedin doing this? So it was just more
of a morph into it. And, youknow, it was also, you know, something
I think I needed in my careerat the time. Something different
and change and very exciting.
What did it look like beforeif it was the ... assuming you had
(03:00):
some internal communicationsefforts. You're a large global brand,
so there must have beensomething. So what was some of that
transition that happened? Youknow, there were some positive things
that came out of thatpandemic. Right. So how did you evolve
the department and kind ofthink about it differently?
Sure. So before that, thestate of internal communications
(03:21):
at RPM was very minimal anddirect communications from RPM to
all associates wasn't verycommon. We didn't have many means
to do that given ourdecentralized structure and to give
a little history there too.Historically, we were much more decentralized
over time. We had, you know,in order to get to the next growth
(03:43):
point at RPM, we needed tocentralize certain functions. So
as part of the formal, youknow, part of the strategy, bringing
in corporate communications.So communicating from RPM was important
to us and that then helped us,you know, bring a focus to communicating
with all associates.
So you are a global company,you have a workforce around the world.
(04:07):
Correct.
It's difficult enough tocommunicate when they're across the
desk from you. The challenge,when you have, you know, different
time zones, differentlanguages, different cultures, you
know, what, what is it daily,what does it look like in terms of
getting that messaging intothe hands of the individuals across
the organization?
(04:29):
Daily, we have a lot ofdifferent tasks we do, but we kind
of, we try to keep the focusin taking, we think of three to five.
Our CEO always preaches threeto five, you know, as a rule. And
so if you go beyond that inyour focus points, then you' there's,
there's just too much to doand not as, not as much happens.
So we keep it down, I thinkthree to five focus areas. So that,
(04:52):
that's, there are big areas,but that's then how our team then
goes out and tries to captureour audience, tries to communicate
with everyone, trying tocreate what I call the connected
culture. So reaching globalaudience. You know, we've had to
do a lot of connecting withdifferent people throughout the org
(05:12):
to help disseminate ourinformation. So it's also building
a. Using a tool that canemail, you know, tens of thousands
of associates at once. Forthose who are on email, using all
those different tools,translations is another one. Translations
we've really had to focus on.And we weren't doing money for translations
(05:34):
from the RPM perspectivebefore, unless it were policies or
something. But now it'stranslating our core communications,
translating where we'retalking about our values of transparency,
trust and respect. So it comesdown a lot to culture but the day
to day is very busy and tryingto use all those the new tools we
(05:56):
have to get the message across.
Now do you have members of thecommunications team dispersed around
the the company in othermarkets or is it all based there
in your office?
It's all based in our officehere. Our team is structured. We're
very lean and small. We justhave four people including myself
(06:17):
on the team. But we also havein our IT team we leverage their
creative services team. Theyhave a digital marketing and creative
services. So we partner withthem heavily. It's kind of like you
know, we consider each otheron the same team because we work
day to day together heavily.We don't have communications folks
(06:41):
as part of RPM corporatespread throughout. Just because that's
our intent isn't to replacethe communications at our companies.
So we at RPM we focus oncommunicating specifically RPM communications
that are overarching throughthe whole company. So our goal, company
goals that everyone's strivingtowards are which is our, you know,
(07:05):
organizational improvementprogram, also our building a better
world which is sustainabilityand also our values. So it's more
of the communications that areoverarching including benefits as
well. If it's company specificlike you take Rust-Oleum they have
their own communications teamto speak to the Rust-Oleum associates.
(07:25):
So we, we do have a focusthere that it's, it's just about
the what they need to knowaccording to rpm.
And I think the, thecommunications previously were, it
was more top down from some ofthe senior leadership at at RPM to
then senior leaders at, atthe, you know, 50+ operating companies
that RPM has. And now there'smorelikeTammyhadtobuild had to build
(07:51):
a network of internalcommunications folks at the operating
companies of who handlescommunications. And I think it could
be some people in HR foremployee communications or it could
be some people in marcomm thatthen also help to disseminate some
of the RPM overarchingcorporate messaging to the operating
(08:14):
co
Yeah. And that was key toreaching associates throughout the
entire org. So you know,people on the plant floor who don't
have access to or companyaccess to computer emails. So that
right there we'repartneredwitheitherthecomms ormarketingorHRfolks,itdependsonthe
companywhotheyhave,youknow,feeton thefloororatthe
(08:37):
facility.Buttheyhelp us getthemessage.Whether wedo us get the
message. Whether we do posterswith QR codes for plant associates
or simply a post, or they can,Itdepends.Youknow, somehave digitalsignage.
Ilovetechnology,obviously,sowetrytoleveragethat whereverpossible.Butreachingthoseemployeeswasvery
(09:01):
important.Beforewe madecorporatecommunications aformalpartofourstrategy,wehadmanypeopleontheplantfloorwhodidn'tknowwhoRPMwas.NotevenjustthePlant4,butwithinourcompanieswhodidn'tknowwhoRPMwas,even
floor who didn't know who RPMwas. Not even just the plant floor,
but within tonowmakesureeveryoneknowsnotjustwho RPMis,but
whatare.What ourgoalsare,howtheycontribute toourgoals,
(09:24):
youknow,whatourvaluesare.
That leads me into thequestion I have about, you know,
as you've developed yourinternal strategy, there has got
to have been some, you know,internal changes that have happened
in terms of awareness and, youknow, maybe a different sense of
ownership from the employeesabout the company that they work
(09:46):
for and the investment thatyou're making in keeping them informed.
So, you know, kind of levelsetting from where it was to where
it is now. What have been someof the, you know, maybe the key findings
or things that surprised youabout, you know, incorporating this,
this focus in terms of itsimpact on your team across the globe.
So some of the key findings.Well, one was I was surprised being
(10:09):
at RPM, I was surprised tolearn that some didn't know who RPM
was. Right. Like, oh, my gosh.So that was surprising. But then
youonamissionwhereyouwanttofixit, andothers,someother surprisingis
surprising,maybenotsosurprising,butthatthen somearethinking,wait,we'refine
(10:29):
overhereinour littlebubble.Nowyou'retrying topenetrateourbubble,givingus
allthisinformation. Anditcould beinformation overload.Soitwaschallengingtofind
thatbalance ofhowmuch togivethem,whentogiveit tothem,howtogiveitto
them.But we'restill.It'sstillachallengeandwill continuetobe.Butwe.Wedo
some,Iguess,some measurementsthroughoutthe year tosee,youknow,gauge
(10:57):
we dodoing,whatwe'redoing.Right,howwe needtopivot.Someofthat
iswe doacorporatecommunicationssurvey each
year. It'sactuallygoing onrightnow.Andthat'soneofourbest tools
thatwegetinformationbackfromtheassociates.So that'swherewe'relearning.Whatdotheywantandwhat's.
Or whatdothey.Moreof.Whatdotheynotunderstand? It'llask Communications
aboutoraskquestionsaboutourcommunications,like how
(11:20):
they'rereceivingthem,butit'llalsoaskquestions not
understand? It'll askcommunications about questionsaboutourthenalsoweusetechnologylikesomeanalyticsto
makedecisionsandsuch.Butthosearekey,Ithink,tounderstandinghowit'sworking.
Tammy, are you involved in themarketing and brand communications
(11:40):
or is that mostly handled atthe operating company level by those
teams?
Yeah, that is mostly handledby the operating company, at each
operating company by thoseteams. I am responsible for the,
I'll say the RPM brand, but wedon't manufacture anything as RPM,
so it's unique. So and when Isay "brand," I mean both internal
(12:01):
and external. So as you cansee, we're talking about internal
communications. But as we're,you know, we have embarked on this,
a big part of our focus isinternal because in order to have
a strong external brand, youneed to be strong internally.
Brad, how does the role of anexternal agency support the work
(12:23):
that Tammy and her team aredoing internally?
Yeah, I think as I said at thebeginning, we have like, you know,
almost 30 years of arelationship with RPM and with Tammy
and, and it's been somesupport and strategy. It is some
support in some of the day today communications and materials.
(12:44):
She talked about some of theinternal communications and these
were things that we haddeveloped and built and then that
she took on and elevated thenwith her team as she started to build
the function. And she hadmentioned Covid being kind of a point
where there was a bigger driveto do some, some internal communication.
(13:09):
And so we had initiatedregular email communications and
we had, and then built outlike a PDF newsletter so that you
could reach the non desk boundemployees, that those could then
be printed and put in people'smailboxes or in the, in the lunchroom
or meeting rooms or whatever.So that, that we were really, that
(13:30):
was really important time to,as you know, everybody was scared
and didn't know what was goingon and you had to communicate protocols
around coming to work and how,you know, how you operated. And so,
so it was really, we put a lotof those foundational things in place
and then, and then we continueto support Tammy with, you know,
(13:50):
where, you know, she says shehas a lean, a lean team. And so then
we're able to be an extensionof that team where they need our
resources for. It could bescript writing for a meeting or for
video or producing somedesigns for presentations or collateral
materials or whatever. Sowe're backing up her team where they
(14:11):
need some extra muscle.
ammy,withyourbackgroundinITandtechnology,we'dberemiss if wedidn'ttalk
didn't talk about AI. I don'tthink there's that we'vehadinthelasthandfulofpodcaststhatdoesn'tsomehow
addressAI,but certainlywithintheinternal commsfunction andwithaglobalaudience,there'salot
(14:34):
and with alobaltechnologycanbring. a lot of
value in what that technologycan bring. So assuming that you're
using it, but how is AIadvancing the mission there and utilizing
Sure. So, as you say,ommunicationsarehighlydigitalnow, andweare
(15:00):
we are definitely using AI. Ialways say if we embrace technology
carefully youknow,itcanboostouremployeeproductivityandsatisfaction.Soevenonourownteam,but,youknow,thetricklesout throughout,you
know,tricklesthroughouttheorganization.So specificallyAI,weareusing
atoolforourcommunicationsteamcalledJasper.Otherthroughoutourorganizationareusingitformarketingaswell. Butit's,it'snota
(15:28):
replacementfortheexperts,butit'sa verypowerful
well. It's not a replacementfor the experts, but more,youknow,ithelps
with,with,with writingit.Youknow,Icanfeeditinformationandit'skindoflikeachatbt, butit'sa,aproprietary.Youknow,wecanuseittoputconfidentialinformation.Wedo.Wedon't.We
(15:50):
it's kind of like ChatGPT, butit's proprietary. usingAI.Theother,Imean,
to put confidentialinformation. We have, we've got our
basesdoamixofhumantranslationorAI, but
dependingon what itis,wedoa Imean, we're using it many, but another
that wesendout,wewanttocommunicatewithourassociates tool.
(16:12):
We do a mix ofwhenpossible.Soalotofthosearetranslatedusingan AI
toolaswell.Sowe'redefinitelyembracingthe technology.
And I found what wasinteresting, Tammy and I talked about
this actually just yesterdaywas as a public company, RPM is traded
on the New York StockExchange, that there's a lot of compliance
(16:35):
and reporting and riskmitigation that has to come into
place. And the fact that someof these tools have to go through
some pretty rigorous analysisby the legal team and by the IT team
in order to get, get approvedfor use. The. I think that they're,
you know, they're very, veryforward thinking and the ability
(16:57):
for her team to get someapprovals on some of these AI tools.
I was, you know, reallyimpressed with, with that and RPM's
speed to adopt it where notespecially for a patent coatings
company that maybe is not, youwouldn't presume to be on the cutting
edge of things. And so Ithought that was particularly impressive.
Are there other tools ortechnologies that you're using that
(17:21):
you feel have been reallyimpactful in the work that you're
doing and thinking about itfrom a larger context. Internal communications
is an important function nomatter what size your organization
is. You may not be multioffices, but even if you have other
people on your team, you havean internal communications need.
(17:43):
And so what are some of theother, if there are some of the other,
you know, technologies thatyou use that you found to be so helpful
or any other kind of, "Hmm,this was interesting to find out
in my journey to this role"that might be helpful for others
that are thinking about theimportance of internal communications.
(18:03):
Sure. One like there's acouple that come directly to mind
is one is Monday.com, westarted using. It really is helping
our team stay organized andcollaborate well with others as in
like the digital marketingteam, creative team. We're always
working together hand in handevery day. And Monday.comhas broughtus,it'sa
(18:24):
newleveloforganizationtothatand there's workflowsbuiltin,youknow,appro,
wecandoapprovals,wecan,youknow,reviewcontent.Sothatreallyhashelpedtheteam,internalteamworktogetherto bemoreeffective.But
then alsoinrelationto,I'llsayourcommunication,Ikeepmentioning emailcommunications,butineffect
(18:45):
findinganeffectivetooltocommunicate,sendout ouremails,butalso,youknow,maybemake
it efficient.Wherewe have,wehaveaglobal intranet, wehavesomedigitalsignage.Sowecan,we'reworking
on findingatoolthatcan,youknow,we make digital signage. So
(19:06):
we can, we'rfeedthecontenttootherplacesatthesametime.Sothat'sanotherthatwe'reusingsomewhatandaregoingtousefurtherinthefuture.
Any realizations or anyinteresting little, you know, that
surprised you or things youwere happy to have learned on this
effort. And again, I'mthinking about what's important from
(19:29):
a larger organization'sinternal communications efforts,
but really what's you know,smart lessons that all of us can
learn that, you know, haveemployees, no matter the size of
our organization.
Sure. The first thing thatcomes to mind is there's always so
much that you can do thatneeds done. You know that you need
to narrow it down and pickyour focus areas because it seems
(19:53):
like it's, it's too much to,you know, to bite off if otherwise.
So stick to three to five. Ifeel that that way you can make a
bigger impact one step at atime. And you know, if you're doing
too much at once, you, youdon't see as many as much progress.
And another is technology.Embrace the technology. It's, it
(20:17):
really helps sometimes wehave, you know, when we're evaluating
some technology, some aremore, you know, we'll jump on sooner
than the others. But wheneveryone jumps on, we're running
and going when everyone's onboard and embraces it. So it's a
huge advantage.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of PRGN Presents, brought
(20:39):
to you by the Public RelationsGlobal Network.
We publish new episodes everyother week, so subscribe now in your
favorite podcast app. Episodesare also available on our website,
along with more informationabout PRGN and our members, at PRGN.com
From the Public RelationsGlobal Network, this is PRGN Presents.
I'm Adrian McIntyre.
And I'm Abbie Fink, presidentof HMA Public Relations in Phoenix,
Arizona, and a founding memberof PRGN. With public relations leaders
embedded into the fabric ofthe communities we serve, clients
hire our agencies for thelocal knowledge, expertise and connections
(00:24):
in markets spanning sixcontinents across the world.
Our guests on this biweeklypodcast series are all members of
the Public Relations GlobalNetwork. They will discuss such topics
as workplace culture, creativecompensation and succession planning,
the importance ofsustainability and environmental,
social and governanceprograms, crisis communications,
(00:44):
and outside of the boxthinking for growing your business.
For more information aboutPRGN and our members, please visit
prgn.com. And now let's meetour guest for this episode.
Hi, I'm Brad Kostka, Presidentof Roopco. We're a public relations
and marketing firm located inCleveland, Ohio. We provide B2B communication
(01:08):
services to help our clientsamplify their messages. And I'm happy
to have on the podcast with ustoday, Tammy Zollner. Tammy is the
senior director of corporatecommunications with RPM International.
Thanks, Brad. RPM is a globalpaint and coatings company, leaders
(01:28):
in specialty coatings,sealants, and building materials
and services. We havecompanies like Rust-Oleum and DAP
that you may see in Home Depotor have in your home today.
I love conversations withinternal communications folks. I
love talking with someone thatetswhatwe do andthe roleof,youknow,havinganexternalcommunicationspartner.But
(01:52):
partner. Buttocorporatecommsthenormalway,soyou,youstartedinit,is that
correct?
That's correct.
So how did that come about?
Yes, so I was, I had, at thetime, I had been with RPM about over
19 years. I held various roleswithin it throughout that time. And
(02:13):
when we were faced with theglobal pandemic, I was charged with
the technology side ofexecuting some of the large internal
meetings and conferences andthat kind of morphed into getting
involved in the messaging forthose meetings. And at the time I
just, I was having fun. Ithought it was great and it was something
different and exciting for me.And so, you know, then we kind of
(02:35):
started having conversationsabout, oh, you know, we there, there,
we, we need to formalizecorporate communications at RPM.
You know, are you interestedin doing this? So it was just more
of a morph into it. And, youknow, it was also, you know, something
I think I needed in my careerat the time. Something different
and change and very exciting.
What did it look like beforeif it was the ... assuming you had
(03:00):
some internal communicationsefforts. You're a large global brand,
so there must have beensomething. So what was some of that
transition that happened? Youknow, there were some positive things
that came out of thatpandemic. Right. So how did you evolve
the department and kind ofthink about it differently?
Sure. So before that, thestate of internal communications
(03:21):
at RPM was very minimal anddirect communications from RPM to
all associates wasn't verycommon. We didn't have many means
to do that given ourdecentralized structure and to give
a little history there too.Historically, we were much more decentralized
over time. We had, you know,in order to get to the next growth
(03:43):
point at RPM, we needed tocentralize certain functions. So
as part of the formal, youknow, part of the strategy, bringing
in corporate communications.So communicating from RPM was important
to us and that then helped us,you know, bring a focus to communicating
with all associates.
So you are a global company,you have a workforce around the world.
(04:07):
Correct.
It's difficult enough tocommunicate when they're across the
desk from you. The challenge,when you have, you know, different
time zones, differentlanguages, different cultures, you
know, what, what is it daily,what does it look like in terms of
getting that messaging intothe hands of the individuals across
the organization?
(04:29):
Daily, we have a lot ofdifferent tasks we do, but we kind
of, we try to keep the focusin taking, we think of three to five.
Our CEO always preaches threeto five, you know, as a rule. And
so if you go beyond that inyour focus points, then you' there's,
there's just too much to doand not as, not as much happens.
So we keep it down, I thinkthree to five focus areas. So that,
(04:52):
that's, there are big areas,but that's then how our team then
goes out and tries to captureour audience, tries to communicate
with everyone, trying tocreate what I call the connected
culture. So reaching globalaudience. You know, we've had to
do a lot of connecting withdifferent people throughout the org
(05:12):
to help disseminate ourinformation. So it's also building
a. Using a tool that canemail, you know, tens of thousands
of associates at once. Forthose who are on email, using all
those different tools,translations is another one. Translations
we've really had to focus on.And we weren't doing money for translations
(05:34):
from the RPM perspectivebefore, unless it were policies or
something. But now it'stranslating our core communications,
translating where we'retalking about our values of transparency,
trust and respect. So it comesdown a lot to culture but the day
to day is very busy and tryingto use all those the new tools we
(05:56):
have to get the message across.
Now do you have members of thecommunications team dispersed around
the the company in othermarkets or is it all based there
in your office?
It's all based in our officehere. Our team is structured. We're
very lean and small. We justhave four people including myself
(06:17):
on the team. But we also havein our IT team we leverage their
creative services team. Theyhave a digital marketing and creative
services. So we partner withthem heavily. It's kind of like you
know, we consider each otheron the same team because we work
day to day together heavily.We don't have communications folks
(06:41):
as part of RPM corporatespread throughout. Just because that's
our intent isn't to replacethe communications at our companies.
So we at RPM we focus oncommunicating specifically RPM communications
that are overarching throughthe whole company. So our goal, company
goals that everyone's strivingtowards are which is our, you know,
(07:05):
organizational improvementprogram, also our building a better
world which is sustainabilityand also our values. So it's more
of the communications that areoverarching including benefits as
well. If it's company specificlike you take Rust-Oleum they have
their own communications teamto speak to the Rust-Oleum associates.
(07:25):
So we, we do have a focusthere that it's, it's just about
the what they need to knowaccording to rpm.
And I think the, thecommunications previously were, it
was more top down from some ofthe senior leadership at at RPM to
then senior leaders at, atthe, you know, 50+ operating companies
that RPM has. And now there'smorelikeTammyhadtobuild had to build
(07:51):
a network of internalcommunications folks at the operating
companies of who handlescommunications. And I think it could
be some people in HR foremployee communications or it could
be some people in marcomm thatthen also help to disseminate some
of the RPM overarchingcorporate messaging to the operating
(08:14):
co
Yeah. And that was key toreaching associates throughout the
entire org. So you know,people on the plant floor who don't
have access to or companyaccess to computer emails. So that
right there we'repartneredwitheitherthecomms ormarketingorHRfolks,itdependsonthe
companywhotheyhave,youknow,feeton thefloororatthe
(08:37):
facility.Buttheyhelp us getthemessage.Whether wedo us get the
message. Whether we do posterswith QR codes for plant associates
or simply a post, or they can,Itdepends.Youknow, somehave digitalsignage.
Ilovetechnology,obviously,sowetrytoleveragethat whereverpossible.Butreachingthoseemployeeswasvery
(09:01):
important.Beforewe madecorporatecommunications aformalpartofourstrategy,wehadmanypeopleontheplantfloorwhodidn'tknowwhoRPMwas.NotevenjustthePlant4,butwithinourcompanieswhodidn'tknowwhoRPMwas,even
floor who didn't know who RPMwas. Not even just the plant floor,
but within tonowmakesureeveryoneknowsnotjustwho RPMis,but
whatare.What ourgoalsare,howtheycontribute toourgoals,
(09:24):
youknow,whatourvaluesare.
That leads me into thequestion I have about, you know,
as you've developed yourinternal strategy, there has got
to have been some, you know,internal changes that have happened
in terms of awareness and, youknow, maybe a different sense of
ownership from the employeesabout the company that they work
(09:46):
for and the investment thatyou're making in keeping them informed.
So, you know, kind of levelsetting from where it was to where
it is now. What have been someof the, you know, maybe the key findings
or things that surprised youabout, you know, incorporating this,
this focus in terms of itsimpact on your team across the globe.
So some of the key findings.Well, one was I was surprised being
(10:09):
at RPM, I was surprised tolearn that some didn't know who RPM
was. Right. Like, oh, my gosh.So that was surprising. But then
youonamissionwhereyouwanttofixit, andothers,someother surprisingis
surprising,maybenotsosurprising,butthatthen somearethinking,wait,we'refine
(10:29):
overhereinour littlebubble.Nowyou'retrying topenetrateourbubble,givingus
allthisinformation. Anditcould beinformation overload.Soitwaschallengingtofind
thatbalance ofhowmuch togivethem,whentogiveit tothem,howtogiveitto
them.But we'restill.It'sstillachallengeandwill continuetobe.Butwe.Wedo
some,Iguess,some measurementsthroughoutthe year tosee,youknow,gauge
(10:57):
we dodoing,whatwe'redoing.Right,howwe needtopivot.Someofthat
iswe doacorporatecommunicationssurvey each
year. It'sactuallygoing onrightnow.Andthat'soneofourbest tools
thatwegetinformationbackfromtheassociates.So that'swherewe'relearning.Whatdotheywantandwhat's.
Or whatdothey.Moreof.Whatdotheynotunderstand? It'llask Communications
aboutoraskquestionsaboutourcommunications,like how
(11:20):
they'rereceivingthem,butit'llalsoaskquestions not
understand? It'll askcommunications about questionsaboutourthenalsoweusetechnologylikesomeanalyticsto
makedecisionsandsuch.Butthosearekey,Ithink,tounderstandinghowit'sworking.
Tammy, are you involved in themarketing and brand communications
(11:40):
or is that mostly handled atthe operating company level by those
teams?
Yeah, that is mostly handledby the operating company, at each
operating company by thoseteams. I am responsible for the,
I'll say the RPM brand, but wedon't manufacture anything as RPM,
so it's unique. So and when Isay "brand," I mean both internal
(12:01):
and external. So as you cansee, we're talking about internal
communications. But as we're,you know, we have embarked on this,
a big part of our focus isinternal because in order to have
a strong external brand, youneed to be strong internally.
Brad, how does the role of anexternal agency support the work
(12:23):
that Tammy and her team aredoing internally?
Yeah, I think as I said at thebeginning, we have like, you know,
almost 30 years of arelationship with RPM and with Tammy
and, and it's been somesupport and strategy. It is some
support in some of the day today communications and materials.
(12:44):
She talked about some of theinternal communications and these
were things that we haddeveloped and built and then that
she took on and elevated thenwith her team as she started to build
the function. And she hadmentioned Covid being kind of a point
where there was a bigger driveto do some, some internal communication.
(13:09):
And so we had initiatedregular email communications and
we had, and then built outlike a PDF newsletter so that you
could reach the non desk boundemployees, that those could then
be printed and put in people'smailboxes or in the, in the lunchroom
or meeting rooms or whatever.So that, that we were really, that
(13:30):
was really important time to,as you know, everybody was scared
and didn't know what was goingon and you had to communicate protocols
around coming to work and how,you know, how you operated. And so,
so it was really, we put a lotof those foundational things in place
and then, and then we continueto support Tammy with, you know,
(13:50):
where, you know, she says shehas a lean, a lean team. And so then
we're able to be an extensionof that team where they need our
resources for. It could bescript writing for a meeting or for
video or producing somedesigns for presentations or collateral
materials or whatever. Sowe're backing up her team where they
(14:11):
need some extra muscle.
ammy,withyourbackgroundinITandtechnology,we'dberemiss if wedidn'ttalk
didn't talk about AI. I don'tthink there's that we'vehadinthelasthandfulofpodcaststhatdoesn'tsomehow
addressAI,but certainlywithintheinternal commsfunction andwithaglobalaudience,there'salot
(14:34):
and with alobaltechnologycanbring. a lot of
value in what that technologycan bring. So assuming that you're
using it, but how is AIadvancing the mission there and utilizing
Sure. So, as you say,ommunicationsarehighlydigitalnow, andweare
(15:00):
we are definitely using AI. Ialways say if we embrace technology
carefully youknow,itcanboostouremployeeproductivityandsatisfaction.Soevenonourownteam,but,youknow,thetricklesout throughout,you
know,tricklesthroughouttheorganization.So specificallyAI,weareusing
atoolforourcommunicationsteamcalledJasper.Otherthroughoutourorganizationareusingitformarketingaswell. Butit's,it'snota
(15:28):
replacementfortheexperts,butit'sa verypowerful
well. It's not a replacementfor the experts, but more,youknow,ithelps
with,with,with writingit.Youknow,Icanfeeditinformationandit'skindoflikeachatbt, butit'sa,aproprietary.Youknow,wecanuseittoputconfidentialinformation.Wedo.Wedon't.We
(15:50):
it's kind of like ChatGPT, butit's proprietary. usingAI.Theother,Imean,
to put confidentialinformation. We have, we've got our
basesdoamixofhumantranslationorAI, but
dependingon what itis,wedoa Imean, we're using it many, but another
that wesendout,wewanttocommunicatewithourassociates tool.
(16:12):
We do a mix ofwhenpossible.Soalotofthosearetranslatedusingan AI
toolaswell.Sowe'redefinitelyembracingthe technology.
And I found what wasinteresting, Tammy and I talked about
this actually just yesterdaywas as a public company, RPM is traded
on the New York StockExchange, that there's a lot of compliance
(16:35):
and reporting and riskmitigation that has to come into
place. And the fact that someof these tools have to go through
some pretty rigorous analysisby the legal team and by the IT team
in order to get, get approvedfor use. The. I think that they're,
you know, they're very, veryforward thinking and the ability
(16:57):
for her team to get someapprovals on some of these AI tools.
I was, you know, reallyimpressed with, with that and RPM's
speed to adopt it where notespecially for a patent coatings
company that maybe is not, youwouldn't presume to be on the cutting
edge of things. And so Ithought that was particularly impressive.
Are there other tools ortechnologies that you're using that
(17:21):
you feel have been reallyimpactful in the work that you're
doing and thinking about itfrom a larger context. Internal communications
is an important function nomatter what size your organization
is. You may not be multioffices, but even if you have other
people on your team, you havean internal communications need.
(17:43):
And so what are some of theother, if there are some of the other,
you know, technologies thatyou use that you found to be so helpful
or any other kind of, "Hmm,this was interesting to find out
in my journey to this role"that might be helpful for others
that are thinking about theimportance of internal communications.
(18:03):
Sure. One like there's acouple that come directly to mind
is one is Monday.com, westarted using. It really is helping
our team stay organized andcollaborate well with others as in
like the digital marketingteam, creative team. We're always
working together hand in handevery day. And Monday.comhas broughtus,it'sa
(18:24):
newleveloforganizationtothatand there's workflowsbuiltin,youknow,appro,
wecandoapprovals,wecan,youknow,reviewcontent.Sothatreallyhashelpedtheteam,internalteamworktogetherto bemoreeffective.But
then alsoinrelationto,I'llsayourcommunication,Ikeepmentioning emailcommunications,butineffect
(18:45):
findinganeffectivetooltocommunicate,sendout ouremails,butalso,youknow,maybemake
it efficient.Wherewe have,wehaveaglobal intranet, wehavesomedigitalsignage.Sowecan,we'reworking
on findingatoolthatcan,youknow,we make digital signage. So
(19:06):
we can, we'rfeedthecontenttootherplacesatthesametime.Sothat'sanotherthatwe'reusingsomewhatandaregoingtousefurtherinthefuture.
Any realizations or anyinteresting little, you know, that
surprised you or things youwere happy to have learned on this
effort. And again, I'mthinking about what's important from
(19:29):
a larger organization'sinternal communications efforts,
but really what's you know,smart lessons that all of us can
learn that, you know, haveemployees, no matter the size of
our organization.
Sure. The first thing thatcomes to mind is there's always so
much that you can do thatneeds done. You know that you need
to narrow it down and pickyour focus areas because it seems
(19:53):
like it's, it's too much to,you know, to bite off if otherwise.
So stick to three to five. Ifeel that that way you can make a
bigger impact one step at atime. And you know, if you're doing
too much at once, you, youdon't see as many as much progress.
And another is technology.Embrace the technology. It's, it
(20:17):
really helps sometimes wehave, you know, when we're evaluating
some technology, some aremore, you know, we'll jump on sooner
than the others. But wheneveryone jumps on, we're running
and going when everyone's onboard and embraces it. So it's a
huge advantage.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of PRGN Presents, brought
(20:39):
to you by the Public RelationsGlobal Network.
We publish new episodes everyother week, so subscribe now in your
favorite podcast app. Episodesare also available on our website,
along with more informationabout PRGN and our members, at PRGN.com
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