2021 SGA Award Finalists

Corporate Communications

2021 SGA Corporate Communications Award Finalists

SGA Awards recognizes companies whose communications response improve corporate effectiveness.

 

Category: Corporate Communications

Energy Worldnet

Coffee with Jim & James

Program Description

Weekly Industry Podcast that interviews thought leaders across the industry. The podcast brings technical, leadership development, and thought leadership to the industry. Energy World Net was the first to look inside after the shutdown of COVID-19 on how they could do outreach to connect. They sought out ways for each person on their team and people in the industry to stay connected, feel seen, continue to level up their technical skills, to enhance their leadership skills, and almost as important as all of that: weekly, they brought a sense of normalcy, humor and familiarity to all who tuned in.

Results/Response to the Program

Jim and James have a gift. Coffee with Jim and James powered by EWN feels like you are sitting down and watching a comedy/education program. They have a unique blend of humor and engage with the guests in a manner that is genuine. This is exactly how leadership within the industry looks like when someone new enters. This is a prime example of how we get additional people to join the energy industry. We welcome them, just as Jim and James do on their program.

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Category: Corporate Communications

ONE Gas

Be a Dig Hero: Safe Digging Month & 811 Day

Program Description

Every year, ONE Gas and its divisions highlight safety as our top core value with safe digging messaging throughout the year and during April and August. With Safe Digging Month and 811 Day, we raise awareness and educate customers about the importance of calling 811 before any digging project.

Results/Response to the Program

In April 2020, our team created a campaign around Be A Dig Hero with an emphasis on three microsites (beadigherooklahoma.com; beadigherotexas.com; beadigherokansas.com). The microsites house useful information, an animated video and an educational quiz that users could take.

Through our social media push, we were able to garner 32K impressions and almost 700 engagements on all owner social channels. While the COVID-19 pandemic consumed much of the media and online conversations, we were still able to get good coverage (9 placements) and traffic to the microsites with engaging creative and a clear CTA.

We also focused on our efforts on Excavator messaging by sending 90,000 letters (mailed and emails) with a 64% email open rate.

Employee communications was also critical to our success with a weekly message posted every week on our intranet. In total, Safe Digging Month stories were read more than 800 times.

In August, we counted down to 811 Day (August 11) with 11 Days of Giveaways. For each post, we asked our followers to engage with us and answer questions by commenting to enter in the drawing for numerous giveaways like a Nest Thermostat and Yeti coolers. With the social campaign, we received more than 66K engagements and received 4.7 million impressions. This was a 434.8% and 1,923.6% increase compared to our 2019 results.

Our Public Relations team also worked to get 13 earned media placements. Our Kansas team also created a video that they shared with multiple cities in the state which was shared on their government’s social channels.

An internal contest was also created asking employees to take a quiz about Safe Digging. Almost 200 employees took the quick with 97% getting a perfect score.

Category: Corporate Communications

Spire Energy

Spire's Natural Gas Champions Program

Program Description

Spire’s Natural Gas Champions Program is an employee development, education and training program created to help Spire employees understand the benefits and value of natural gas and our industry. Using insights from proprietary qualitative and quantitative research with employees, customers and the general population to assess people’s current understanding of important topics such as forced electrification, the benefits and facts about natural gas, we created a program with a goal to rally our employees around a common goal, educate and inspire advocacy and action. Originally meant to launch with in-person events, our plans shifted to accommodate virtual learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Launched in fall 2020, Spire’s executive vice president and chief operating officer Steve Lindsey and team hosted six, live online/virtual Champions Rally sessions to talk about natural gas and the growing voices challenging our industry — and all employees were invited. The Rally was also recorded and placed online at a newly created employee Champions website for on-demand viewing. After completing a Rally, employees were asked to Step Forward and learn more about natural gas by attending Training Camp, an immersive learning experience that includes an animated educational video about the facts around natural gas that mattered most to customers and consumers and an interactive game to challenge their knowledge of what they had learned.

All employees have access to a Champions Toolkit which provides information and graphics to use on social media and in presentations. After completion of the online Champions Challenge game, those interested in doing even more were encouraged to Step Forward and participate in the Step Forward class experience. A 12-week, group learning-based experience created with the goal of improving the communications skills of participants. During the weekly sessions, participants learn active listening skills, techniques for effective social media advocacy, presentation skills and how to craft a persuasive narrative and more. At the completion of the class experience, graduates receive a special Certified Natural Gas Champion designation to append to their email, a diploma/certificate of completion and some Champions swag.

In March of 2021 — to keep the momentum going and to offer our employees even more relevant information — we launched the Champions Channel on inSpire, our internal social media communications platform (similar to an internet). Anyone can subscribe to the Champions Channel, where we post topical articles and information about the natural gas industry, including news articles, research study summaries, and information from industry associations such as the AGA and SGA. The entire program was designed to encourage employees to Step Forward and be a Champion of natural gas, while allowing for deeper engagement along the learning path.

Results/Response to the Program

To date, nearly 1,600 Spire employees have attended a Rally and participated in the Training Camp, and close to 500 participants have stepped forward to raise their hand to enroll in a current or upcoming Step Forward class experience. Response from the initial Rally events was so strong, that the Rally was incorporated into our onboarding plan for new employees to help them understand the benefits and value of natural gas and other content within the program. Because we’ve created digital assets (website, Rally video, Training Camp video and Champions Challenge interactive game), we’re able to promote our Natural Gas Champions Program on an ongoing basis.

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