• Levi Strauss & Co.: Red Tab Scholars Communication Plan
• Caring.com: Expert Program
• Pollack Silva Pollack: Web Site Launch
• U.S. Cellular: Business Services Information Architecture & Content Strategy
  (this project is still in production; please contact Jill for more information)

LEVI STRAUSS & CO.
Red Tab Scholars Communication Plan

In late 2007, the Red Tab Foundation approved a need-based scholarship program for Levi Strauss & Co. employees’ dependents. The foundation had the budget to award 100 scholarships and wanted to target the company’s lower-income employees who worked in sewing factories, distribution centers, and retail stores around the world. Only 40% of targeted employees had internet access, and most of those working outside the U.S. did not speak or read English.

Solution

The solution centered on four strategies:

• Work with local HR personnel to overcome language and technology barriers. We developed materials to train the local HR staff and help them spread the word, including:
  • A program overview presentation
  • A colorful promotional poster that HR staff could edit in PowerPoint, translate and print locally
  • An application form and detailed FAQs, translated into the local language
• Leverage existing electronic communications to reach employees with Internet access. We reached the majority of LS&CO. employees through an email from the CEO and a series of feature articles and promotional graphics on the company Intranet.
• Develop “first-wave" and “backup” communication materials. This communication program was the first of its kind for Red Tab Scholars, so we weren’t sure how employees would respond. If necessary, we were ready to insert a program flyer insert into employees’ paychecks and deploy a promotional event toolkit and a second promotional poster for local HR staff.
• Visually brand the program to draw attention and increase awareness. We created a program logo and used a distinctive, colorful graphic style to attract employees’ interest.

Result

The foundation received 200 applications—twice as many as there were scholarships available. There were so many qualified applicants that the foundation’s Board of Directors agreed to funnel more money into the program, funding 34 additional scholarships in 2008.

Applications came from 16 countries, including Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Greece, Hungary, India, Japan, Mexico, Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, and the United States.

Initial communications efforts were so successful that the backup strategies outlined in the original communication plan were not needed.

This project won two 2009 Gold Quill awards from the International Association of Business Communicators in employee/member communication and multilingual communication, as well as a 2009 Silver Anvil award from the Public Relations Society of America.

Caring.com
Expert Program

Caring.com’s experts provide direct answers to visitors’ questions about aging and eldercare. Experts commit to answering 1 or 2 questions a week, and most are not compensated for their time. A few experts regularly answered the questions assigned to them, but many lacked motivation and would stop posting answers within a few months of signing on with the program.

Solution

• Some experts had stopped receiving notifications for new questions due to a technical glitch.
• Many experts didn’t understand how to craft a good answer or weren’t sure how to post their answers on the site.
• Several experts or were inappropriately promoting their services and publications within their answers.

We set up a training program and documented the processes for bringing a new expert on board, describing everything from the questions to ask during initial phone call with a new candidate to the technical process of setting up a new expert’s account. New experts received editorial and technical training calls along with quick reference guides they could refer back to.

We also created clear, written guidelines on how and when experts could promote their services or publications on Caring.com. To make the program enticing to new experts, we made a point of including links to the experts’ web sites in the short bios that appear at the top of each of their answers.

We also changed the experts’ workflow process so that they could easily find all of the program documentation and see all of the unanswered questions assigned to them, ensuring that questions didn’t fall through the cracks.

Result

By creating scalable, documented processes, we improved the quality and quantity of expert answers on Caring.com. At the end of the four-month project we saw the following results:

• We brought 27 new experts on board
• We re-trained 12 experts who needed guidance or had dropped out
• Only 7% of the questions submitted to Caring.com went unanswered because we didn’t have an expert available.

POLLACK SILVA POLLACK
Web Site Launch

Pollack Silva Pollack (PSP) is a consulting firm focused on leadership and organizational development training. Due to their success and thought leadership, they were chosen to lead the 2010 Association for Psychological Type (APTi) conference.

Just a few months before the 2009 conference, where their new role would be announced, they asked me to develop the information architecture and content strategy for their new website.

Solution

PSP’s clients are Human Resources executives and managers who need to solve personnel problems quickly and develop their top performers into strong leaders. To speak directly to those needs, we developed the “Your concerns, our solutions” structure for the PSP home page. Prospective customers can immediately see how PSP can help them solve specific problems.

Links throughout the site point to PSP’s case studies. These real-world examples show how PSP’s training and coaching programs have improved team dynamics, developed insightful leaders, and facilitated a merger transition.
View the site map

The site’s narrow right column provides a space to showcase client testimonials, the team’s achievements and a blog where the partners can post the latest news and share their insights.

Result

http://www.pollacksilvapollack.com