Download As an overarching document, the Corporate Communications Plan

City of Grande Prairie
Corporate Communications Plan
David Olinger, February 23, 2015
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Introduction
The Corporate Communications Plan is based on the 2015-2018 Communications and Citizen
Engagement Department Business Plan, 2013 Citizen Satisfaction Survey results and follow up, and
ongoing 2014 Communications Plan.
This plan is developed, managed and monitored by the Communications and Citizen Engagement
Department which provides vision and leadership on how the organization can realize communications
excellence.
The municipality distributes the responsibility for communications and marketing among departments who
plan, budget and implement their own activities. Communications and Citizen Engagement personnel
work with departments to ensure connectedness, consistency and the use of best practices.
Communications and Citizen Engagement includes the newly created Citizen Contact Centre. The
department serves as the conduit between City Council, the Corporate Leadership Team and
departments.
Focus areas include:
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maintaining a positive image with all stakeholders
fostering and deploying proactive external and internal communication
promoting the City and its brand and;
ensuring consistent and accurate corporate messages through monitoring, mentoring and
training.
These activities involve significant investments of time overseeing ongoing initiatives such as citizen
engagement, including biennial satisfaction surveys and follow up, co-ordinating community solutionsbased meetings, managing Municipal Government Day, producing the Mayor’s State of the City Address,
and partnering in municipal involvement in events such as the Home and Garden Show, the Home and
Leisure Show, Chamber of Commerce showcases, and the Connections event.
The department assists in significant corporate communication activities related to the recent annexation
project, the Downtown Enhancement initiative, budget deliberations and emergency communications.
The Department also plays a key role in:
 Advising Council and the Corporate Leadership Team on communications strategy
 Production of media releases and key messages
 Social media
 Event management and preparation
 Corporate advertising and sponsorship
 Managing corporate photography
 Emergency communications as part of the Grande Prairie Regional Emergency Partnership
(GPREP)
Communications and Citizen Engagement has a strong partnership with Corporate Web Management to
ensure the intranet (Cygnet), external website (www.cityofgp.com) and social media, (Facebook,
Twitter), remain effective communication platforms and are used consistently in concert with traditional
tools. Staff from these departments form a Corporate Communications team and meet weekly to discuss
issues and initiatives that impact all forms of communications to facilitate effective use of tactics.
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This City’s approach to Corporate Communications is successful in promoting accountability and
openness by ensuring the people who make decisions are the same ones who speak to them (subject
matter experts). Communications and Citizen Engagement ensures all communicators have access to the
tools they need to communicate effectively with the public and local media outlets, using City of Grande
Prairie branding.
Strengths of corporate communications include:
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A redesigned website that is user friendly, easy to edit and attracts a high volume of traffic
The Cygnet update in Fall 2013 makes it easier to post news, events, videos, search to find
information and stay connected with what’s going on across the organization
A strong social media presence with over 6,000 followers between the corporate Facebook and
Twitter accounts
Over 30 employees undertake some kind of communication, whether it’s through media relations,
as a web author, social media user, marketing specialist, or corporate writer
The City of Grande Prairie maintains a strong relationship with local media outlets
Several templates exist to assist writers with media relations
As an overarching document, the Corporate Communications Plan works to:
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Initiate consistent procedures and use of communication tools
Research and share best practices for corporate adoption
Ensure organizational goals and objectives are emphasized in conjunction with department
messaging and promotion of specific programs and services
Ensure departments lacking communication staff time and resources can be equally represented
in media, website, social media, on Cygnet etc.
Provide consistent training among communicators
Ensure corporately applied best practices in organizational communication and public
engagement
To address these opportunities, we will focus on:
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Finding ways to create more meaningful interactions with Grande Prairie residents
Maintaining a positive image with all stakeholders
Creating a culture of communication within the organization by providing targeted communication
training to staff and building on the established communications network.
Brand management through the development of a Communications Standards Manual
2014 Successes
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Attendance at 85% of Committee Meetings and all Council Meetings
Council Highlights
Citizen Engagement Implementation Plan
Citizen Contact Centre
Municipal Government Day
Canada Day Parade
Trade Shows
2015-18 Budget deliberations covered extensively via social media
Citizen Budget Tool
Annexation campaign
City Chat Expo
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Snow and Ice Control communication campaign
History Book completed for Centennial Spectacular Weekend
Surveys – Aquatics Needs Assessment, Secondary Suite Regulations etc.
Over 1,000 new likes on Facebook and 600 new followers on Twitter
For further development
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Communications Standards Manual to be completed in spring 2015 – this will address
inconsistency in departmental messaging, use of branding and communications templates
Emerging opportunity to provide communications support to advocacy efforts
Regular Communicators Network Meetings to be scheduled
Video to be incorporated into higher profile news releases/campaigns
Consistent use of social media in connection with other forms of communications
Routine live social media activity
Regular good news stories
Public awareness/educational campaigns
Increase in solutions-based meetings
Employee engagement initiative
Citizen Engagement training
Goal 1: Ensuring the City of Grande Prairie has a positive image with
all stakeholders
Objectives:
1. Citizen Contact Centre
2. Raise public knowledge of City Council and opportunities to voice opinion
3. Use publications, promotional material and events to increase recognition of the City brand,
services and projects
4. Use local media outlets, website and social media to promote good news stories
5. Retain positive working relations with local media
Goal 2: Recognize community interests. Respond with information
and opportunities that allow for two-way communication between
residents, City Council and staff
Objectives:
1. Use communication tools to gauge public opinion on key issues
2. Increase public participation and enhance discussion on key issues
3. Consistently provide residents with accurate and up-to-date information on City projects,
initiatives and City Council decisions
4. Create communication campaigns for large-scale projects
5. Grow the City’s reach by increasing traffic to website and social media
6. Follow up on Citizen Engagement Program
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Goal 3: Increase Capacity to communicate in meaningful and strategic
ways
Objectives:
1. Standardize procedures internally for communicating the City’s messages and receiving feedback
from citizens
2. Increase department cohesiveness to ensure communication is more proactive
Goal 4: Foster strong and effective internal communications
Objectives:
1. Host quarterly Communicators Network meetings with attendance from 80% of communicators in
the organization. Provide at least five training opportunities per year that allow staff to enhance
their communications skills.
2. Assist departments in creating communication plans, prioritizing those with the highest need
3. Provide staff with information and updates on topics of public interest
Connection to Council’s Strategic Plan
A. Guiding Principles
This plan has several touch points with the Guiding Principles.
 The plan will facilitate communications related to advocacy
 Citizen Engagement is a foundation
 Results of the 2015 Citizen Satisfaction Survey will be used to enhance Exceptional
Service
 The plan is geared to improving communication to ensure citizens, stakeholders and
employees are better informed.
B. Focus areas
1. Optimizing Existing Services
Goal 1: Develop a communications culture by increasing the capacity of the organization to
communicate in meaningful and strategic ways
Action steps
 Fully implement Citizen Contact Centre
 Attend Council and committee meetings as well as Corporate Leadership Team
meetings to distribute information to community and staff
 Help departments create communication plans, key messages as part of their
planning processes for projects, events, new initiatives
 Partner with Corporate Web Management to work with departments to ensure more
effective management of communications across all platforms
 Brand management and training as part of Communication Standards rollout
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Goal 2: Develop a greater understanding of the information and engagement needs of the
community
Action steps
 Undertake biannual Citizen Satisfaction Survey and follow-up reporting
 Assist in hosting Municipal Government Day
 Promote use of International Association of Public Participation spectrum to define
level of involvement that best suits the needs of our projects, initiatives and events
Goal 3: Deliver exceptional customer service through the Citizen Contact Centre
Action steps
 Ensure adequate staffing
 Provide training to new and existing staff
 Develop and implement an education and media campaign for the public
2. Strengthening Our Core
Goal 1: Residents are aware of and included in the plans to enhance the downtown into a
place where people live, work and play.
Action steps
 Establish a communications plan and key messages for Strengthening Our Core
activities
 Communicate events, initiatives and downtown enhancement projects through media
relations, social media and the website to promote the downtown as an active,
attractive and inclusive focal point for the community.
 Help develop a communications plan and key messages for Community Mobility
 Support all partners in engagement activities
3. Exploring New Directions
Goal 1: Explore innovative communication tactics
Action steps
 Review other municipalities’ communications models for best practices, new trends
and innovative ideas
 Increase use of video media releases on high profile projects and initiatives
 Research social media trends and develop a corporate social media plan
 Proceed with online media monitoring and analytic tools
 Explore communications policies used by other municipalities and institutions
 Explore online engagement opportunities
 Take steps to increase consistency in use of City brand
4. Capitalizing On Growth
Goal 1: Grande Prairie residents feel they receive the right amount of information from the
City about how their tax dollars are spent.
Action steps:
 Work with Tax and Finance departments to communications key messages using a
variety of communications tools, including Citizen Budget, Budget publication.
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