Frameworks over formulas: Minimizing political polarization internally

When Ragan’s Internal Communications Conference went down at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, WA last month, the US Presidential election was understandably on everyone’s mind. How can communicators effectively engage employees during moments when every word is scrutinized under a partisan microscope?

Amy Morris, director of employee & executive communications and employer brand at Microsoft, and Sarah Shahrabani, senior manager of communications and reputation management, teamed up to address the elephant (and donkey) in the room.

Embedding values in the communication framework

Microsoft doesn’t have a formula for responding to sensitive issues, but it does have a framework made up of multiple values and guidelines:

Using data-driven feedback to manage shifting challenges

With over 200,000 employees globally, Shahrabani’s team must constantly adjust to address evolving concerns and issues.  They accomplish this through data-driven feedback.