By Lenore Devore, B.S. Journalism 1984
Building upon her background in corporate communication research, Public Relations Associate Professor Rita Men went into high gear during the pandemic to study effective communications from CEOs as well as chatbots used for social listening.
In collaboration with Public Relations Department Chair Marcia DiStaso, Men developed a model to find out how executives were communicating with their employees to maintain their trust, build relationships, engage them and help improve their feeling of wellbeing during the pandemic.
Rita Men
The model examined leaders’ transparency, authenticity, empathy and optimism in communications “and how that can help reduce employees’ feelings of uncertainty and boost employee trust and engagement during the pandemic,” she said.