Nicole Christie
Employee Communications Consultant

NICO, Inc.

Websites:

• http://www.nicolechristie.com

I help companies tell their story to the people who matter most.

No, not the customer.

The employee.

A company's employees are its greatest ambassadors. All of us marketing folks know that one of the most effective ways to reach people and achieve results is by appealing to them on an emotional level; because most employee communications revolve around HR, health & wellness, and other personal issues touching employees' lives, effectively communicating with them on this level helps create trust and loyalty within the workforce, which in turn breeds increased productivity and profit.

I'm a strategist and writer, and work with a fantastic network of designers, web developers, printers, and other creative professionals on:

• Internal program, product, and initiative launches
• Benefit communications
• Executive communications (speeches, e-mails, talking points, messaging, and the like)
• Brand development and implementation
• Communication planning

Online, offline, events - I've done it all: web and intranet content, newsletters, brochures, e-mails, letters, direct mail, posters, presentations, videos, promotional products, focus groups, surveys, town halls, all-hands meetings. I handle "soup to nuts" rollouts (from market research through fulfillment), as well as stepping in to simply put together a communication plan or take on the writing portion of a project.

My clients include Microsoft, Pfizer, WebMD, Kraft, American Express, Ingersoll Rand, and CIT.

Well-written, superbly designed, totally awesome employee communications that:

• Don't make you yawn.
• Speak to employees in Real People's Language - no HR jargon, no legalese.
• Are always transparent - no spin, no sugar.
• Hit their mark with respect to ROI, success metrics, and all that quantitative stuff many creative types disregard.

To do all of the above, I develop custom strategies and communications for each client, for each project. Best practices? Yes. Templates? Never.

• Creative partners who want to bring their savvy to this interesting and important niche of the corporate communications world! Come one, come all - writers, designers, developers, filmmakers.

• Clients who need an internal communication plan/strategy, someone to take HR comms off the HR generalist's plate, or a fearless communicator to spread the good - or bad - news to the workforce.

• B.A., Sociology, University of Washington (1994)
• Nonfiction Writer's Program, University of Washington (1999)

Before striking out on my own in 2005 (in Manhattan, of all places to test your start-up muscles), I spent 10 years on the other side of the corp comm table, including:

• Communication Consultant, Watson Wyatt, NYC (2004-2005)
• Manager, HR Communications, Microsoft (2000-2004)
• Communication Specialist, Vulcan Inc. (1997-1999)

And before all that, I worked in radio promotions for two years. In the soft rock universe of WARM 106.9, if you must know. Nothing like crooning some James Taylor over the intercom with co-workers and walking around the office on stilts to completely warp your sense of corporate America. Man, that was fun.