WHAT DOES A COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT MANAGER DO?

Published: July 30, 2024 - The Communications and Engagement Manager oversees the planning, coordination, and implementation of internal communications across the Americas, aligning with global strategies to enhance organizational cohesion. They develop and manage key communication channels like newsletters, internal videos, and townhalls, ensuring consistent and effective dissemination of content. Additionally, they lead community engagement partnerships and employee-focused initiatives, fostering a vibrant corporate culture and driving change within the organization.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Communications and Engagement Manager

1. Communications and Engagement Manager Duties

  • Social Media Management: Manage NMSDC’s Social Media Plan by creating copy for scheduled posts, maintaining social media channels and calendar in accordance with NMSDC’s Social Media Plan policies.
  • Social Media Analytics: Monitor and analyze metrics and make recommendations to improve social media engagement.
  • Website Content Coordination: Maintain NMSDC’s Website Guidelines including coordinating website content updates and functionality enhancements.
  • Press Release Management: Maintain NMSDC’s Press Guidelines by assisting in the development and distribution/placement of press releases/association news.
  • Media Relations: Develop and maintain a contact list of key organizations and press contacts, pitch stories to various outlets, match press inquiries with relevant members, and issue press passes to secure media placements at events and conferences.
  • Community Management Oversight: Maintain NMSDC’s Community Management Plan by providing oversight into communities, including identification and training of moderators, providing resources, guidelines, policies, and engagement strategies.
  • Innovative Communication Strategies: Experiment with new, creative ways to reach employees and contractors with relevant news and information, driving engagement in prioritized company initiatives.
  • Content Development: Research, write, edit, and publish communications with an obsession for quality and accuracy.
  • Internal Communication Metrics: Create and implement metrics reports to measure the effectiveness of internal communications channels in the spirit of continuous learning and improvement.
  • Public Relations Support: Assist with occasional public relations or external communications related tasks.

2. Communications and Engagement Manager Details

  • Employee Engagement and Survey Leadership: Lead and launch employee engagement and pulse surveys globally.
  • Cross-Departmental Strategy Development: Work across departments, including People, IT, Operations, Finance, Growth, and Marketing, to develop and maintain an internal communications and engagement strategy and editorial calendar based on quarterly programs and priorities.
  • Internal Consultation for Best Practices: Consult with internal groups and committees, including Social, Professional Development, and DEI, to provide best practices and strategy for communications and engagement channels and cadence.
  • Collaboration on IT Solutions: Collaborate with IT and Operations to launch and maintain a Microsoft Office 365-based Intranet, ensuring that employees can access the information and resources they need with ease and confidence.
  • Crisis Communication Consultation: Consult with executive leadership to handle the internal communication and engagement response to crisis situations that affect organizational perception and/or employee experience.
  • Executive Communication Writing: Write compelling employee-facing executive emails, announcements, and blog posts.
  • Support for Executive Presentations: Support executive leadership with crafting messaging and presentations for global meetings.
  • Creative Campaign Coordination: Coordinate with studio or external vendors to develop creative deliverables to support internal campaigns, employer brand, and/or global meetings.
  • Content Moderation and Editing: Monitor discussions and resource posts, address infractions of user rules, and moderate posts; write/edit marketing and membership copy, collaborate with departments on copy, copyedit in accordance with publishing style guidelines, and coordinate placement.

3. Interviewer and Internal Communications and Engagement Manager Responsibilities

  • Comms and Engagement Strategy Development: Develop a comms and engagement strategy for both the internal Public team and for the interviewer panel, working closely with key stakeholders to increase both internal and interviewer engagement.
  • Consistent Strategic Messaging: Ensure that key strategic messages are delivered consistently to both internal and interviewer teams.
  • Communications Channel Input: Provide key input into all communications channels required to help deliver the interviewer strategy.
  • Communication Tools Implementation: Champion and support the implementation of Email and Teams with the interviewer panel.
  • Presentation Creation: Creation of ad hoc PowerPoint presentations.
  • Meeting Coordination: Coordination of bi-weekly ‘Huddles’ and Monthly Strategy Updates (all staff meetings) and sets up and ensures the smooth running of tech in Teams calls.
  • Marketing Collaboration: Liaise with the Marketing team.
  • Wellbeing Communications Design: Support in designing communications for the employee wellbeing program and adapting relevant employee communications for the interviewer panel.
  • Video Production Support: Support on filming and editing high-quality videos.

4. Employee Communications & Engagement Manager Accountabilities

  • Internal Communications Strategy: Plan and implement clear and compelling internal communications to inform, align, and engage people around important campaigns, announcements, and changes.
  • Executive Collaboration: Work closely with the CPO, Head of CCC, and People Leadership Team.
  • Cultural Initiatives Communication: Lead the internal communications of ‘people and culture’ initiatives and calendarized activity e.g., wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, recognition, values, career development, performance, cyclical talent processes, etc.
  • Strategic Communications Leadership: Provide thought leadership and communications support for important projects and activity such as New Ways of Working, Employee Value Proposition, strategy comms, etc.
  • Event Management: Working on key internal communications events both virtual and physical (Town Hall, Senior Leader Calls, Lunch & Learns, Ask the Chief, celebration events, etc.) to engage and inform various audiences.
  • Capability Support Communication: Providing communications support to the Capability team on key initiatives e.g., annual engagement survey, subsequent pulse surveys, leadership program, induction program, Nippon Global Leader Program, etc.
  • Innovative Communication Tactics: Identifying new communication tactics to amplify business initiatives and announcements and support employee engagement.
  • Intranet Content Development: Deliver engaging intranet content and communications.
  • Social Media Engagement: Help to bring to life EVP through ‘People’ team’s LinkedIn presence.

5. Communications and Engagement Manager Functions

  • Strategic Communications Planning: Planning, coordination, and implementation of internal communications in the Americas.
  • Internal Communications Development: Development of the annual internal communications plan for the Americas, based on the global internal communications strategy.
  • Content Management and Channel Oversight: Development and dissemination of internal communications contents, and management of all key internal communications channels (e.g., newsletter, internal videos, townhalls, notes from the leadership, Yammer, and global intranet articles).
  • Event Management: Organization and coordination of internal events in the main Fiskars Group locations.
  • Community Engagement Management: Management of community engagement partnerships and activities for the Americas, with external partners.
  • Employee Engagement and Culture Management: Management of employee engagement and corporate culture initiatives and activities, including the roll-out of the Fiskars Group corporate identity, D&I events, and employee recognition programs.
  • Project Leadership: Lead and execute on projects as assigned by the America’s Management Team (MT) organization.
  • Change Management and Network Building: Build strong internal networks and drive change management and change communication.
  • Communications Leadership: Leadership of communications and engagement initiatives.
  • Global Communications Participation: Participate actively in the development and planning of global internal communications initiatives as part of the global Brand Portfolio & Communication team.