Julie O’Neil, strategic communication professor and Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Administration
Dr. Julie O’Neil will deliver a research presentation on her recent quantitative and qualitative research about using internal social media platforms with employees to listen, build relationships and increase employee engagement.
O’Neil will present “Connecting the Heart to Science: Internal Communication to Cultivate Compassion, Culture, and Community” on Dec. 2 at the Institute for Public Relations Research Symposium in New York City.
“I find the most exciting part about doing research to be the sharing and dialoguing with others about future possibilities,” O’Neil said in an email.
Funded by a grant from the Arthur W. Page Center, O’Neil worked with colleagues from the University of Florida and Kent State University “to study how corporate communicators can engender engagement and identification among employees through communication strategies used on internal social media platforms, among other considerations.”
“Given that many employees today are grappling with the lingering effects of COVID-19 on work life and choices, the increasing polarization of our society, the growing importance of the Black Lives Matter Movement and other important societal issues, it is imperative that companies listen and authentically dialogue with employees to help build trust and engagement,” O’Neil said in an email.
A nonprofit foundation, the Institute for Public Relations is “dedicated to fostering greater use of research and research-based knowledge in public relations and corporate communication practice,” according to their website. O’Neil has been involved with IPR’s Measurement Commission for 14 years and serves as the Senior Associate Editor for the Public Relations Journal, an academic journal presented by IPR and the Public Relations Society of America.