Congratulations to Bob Hastings, APR , vice president of public affairs and communications at BAE Systems, Inc., for winning an IABC Gold Quill Award for Excellence in the category of Member/Employee Communications. The Gold Quill Award is a mark of global distinction, and the highest level of professional acknowledgement within business communication today.
The company’s award-winning communications plan encompassed a major reorganization of BAE Systems, the concurrent acquisition and integration of United Defense and its 8,000 employees, the branding campaign for former United Defense sites and employees, and the planning and execution of 15 on-site Day One events. The communications plan addressed planning and scheduling, budgeting and asset allocation, creative and production execution, and measures of effectiveness based on quantitative evaluation. Deliverables included internal and external press briefings and releases; customer communications and advertisements; and employee presentations, cascade briefings, and newsletters. The award-winning entry included all results measured on the basis of both employee cascade briefings and the 100 Day Survey conducted in the fall of 2005.
“We position all our communications activities as part of a larger strategy or plan,” said Bob Hastings, “but this was by far our largest and most complex undertaking in terms of scope, number of moving parts, and time compression. The overall project involved several operating groups and business units, along with various functions, including employee communications, media relations, and marketing communications.”
Hastings said the communications initiative was successful “because we are accustomed to working together across business units and functions, and because all activities supported one integrated and overarching plan that we all signed off on and supported.”
