Taking Care of the Amazon Family A-Z - WordPress.com · SWOT ANALYSIS Through in-depth secondary research, the following situation analysis outlines Amazon’s strengths, weaknesses,

Running Head: Cunningham, Drilling, Phelps & Weisman 1

Internal Communications Strategy

Taking Care of the Amazon Family A-Z

Marlene Cunningham Lindsey Drilling Tatyana Phelps Mike Weisman

Cunningham, Drilling, Phelps & Weisman 2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3

SWOT ANALYSIS 4

SITUATION ANALYSIS 6

CHALLENGE / OPPORTUNITY 6

GOALS 6

OBJECTIVES 7

KEY PUBLICS 7

Audience 1: Amazon Warehouse Employees 7

Audience 2: Tenured Employees 8

Audience 3: Women / Minorities 9

Audience 4: Amazon Contract Employees 10

BIG IDEA 11

KEY MESSAGES 11

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS 12

STRATEGIES AND TACTICS 14

Strategy 1: Increase employee awareness of Amazon’s industry-leading pay and benefits. 14

Strategy 2: Leverage relationship with veteran employees to serve as spokespeople for the tenured employee population at Amazon. 15

Strategy 3: Show that Amazon wants women and minorities in leadership roles. 15

Strategy 4: Create a sense of community and pride amongst contract employees to strengthen employee morale by highlighting the stories of contract employees. 16

COMMUNICATIONS CALENDAR 17

EVALUATION 24

APPENDIX A: EXPANDED SWOT 26

APPENDIX B: ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES 30

APPENDIX C: REFERENCES 31


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Though Amazon is a leader in the online market and customer experience, the

company doesn’t excel in public perception of how the market titan treats its employees.

Several of Amazon’s employees have detailed stories to the press about oppressive

working conditions, to include: not getting holidays off, being deprived bathroom breaks,

a points-based attendance system, and high reports of on-the-job injuries.

Competitors to Amazon in the online retail space such as Target (which recently

launched Shipt, an annual membership that provides same to two-day shipping), Etsy,

Ebay, and even traditional department stores may present other options for Amazon

employees with the offer of a perceived better work environment, compensation, and

benefits.

For Amazon to retain its market position, it will need to create a better overall employee

experience. This plan presents a six-month communications campaign to improve

Amazon’s relationship with its employees, and their perception of the company.

The overarching focus of this strategy is to launch a campaign tailored to identified key

publics across a broad swath of Amazon employee groups including warehouse

workers, tenured or contract employees, as well as women and minorities within the

company. This plan includes objectives, messaging, communication channels, and

strategies tailored to each of these identified key publics, rather than attempting a one

size fits all approach.

In implementing this communication strategy, Amazon has the opportunity to retain

more of its employees and create an overall better employee experience. Customer

experience is always important, but it is the employees that keep the organization

running and make Amazon special.


SWOT ANALYSIS

Through in-depth secondary research, the following situation analysis outlines

Amazon’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats as it relates to the

company’s corporate culture. For a more thorough and comprehensive SWOT analysis,

including information on the broader industry, competition, and market research, refer to

Appendix A.

Strengths Weaknesses

● World’s leading online retailer (MSG

Management Study Guide, n.d.)

● Top-of-mind brand recognition / recall

from consumers (MSG Management

Study Guide, n.d.)

● Strong and consistent leadership from

founder, Jeff Bezos (Dudovskiy, 2018)

● Highest revenue in its industry

(Greenspan, 2017)

● Current and former employees have

publicly praised Amazon’s intense

performance culture and said it helped

make them better professionals

(Maylett, 2017)

● With nearly 600,000 employees,

Amazon is the second largest private-

sector employer in the U.S. (Anders,

2018)

● Amazon has improved its workplace

culture, as suggested by its positive

ratings on Glassdoor and its LinkedIn

ranking as the most desirable

employer in the U.S. (Kim, 2018)

● Comprehensive benefits package for

both full and part-time employees,

often regardless of position, such as

tuition reimbursement, adoption

support, etc. (Kennedy, 2018)

● Shrinking margins (Bhasin, 2017)

● Lack of focus on a specific product

(Dudovskiy, 2018)

● Amazon shares have recently been

reported as sinking, as profits fell 75

percent (Boland, 2017)

● Amazon reportedly has high turnover,

with the median tenure at just one

year (Johnson, 2018)

● Negative publicity over inability to

keep racist groups from using market

platform (Lecher, 2018)

● Perceived as not gender-friendly, only

34% of female employees would

recommend Amazon to other women

(Fairygodboss, 2018)

● Men make up 73% of Amazon

employees, and 78% of senior

executives / managers (Hale, 2018)

● 25% of workforce are Black/ Hispanic,

they make up only 10% of executive/

technical jobs (Greene, 2015)

● Only 1 of 18 top executives is a

woman (Del Rey, 2017)

● Sexual harassment scandal involving

former Amazon Studios head (Del

Rey, 2017)

● Employees upset over company’s


● Amazon received praise for raising its

minimum wage to $15 (Salinas, 2018)

resistance to adding diversity to its

board (Del Rey, 2018)

● Employees complain of poor work

conditions, including high tempo and

management surveillance culture

(Ghosh, 2018)

Opportunities Threats

● Amazon is continuing to grow and has

thousands of employment

opportunities. Each week, it onboards

hundreds of new corporate hires

(Anders, 2018)

● In 2017, Amazon rolled out a daily

Q&A program, called Connections, to

better understand its large workforce

(Kim, 2018)

● Amazon’s People Science team

launched a monthly newsletter and a

webinar, called ChimeIn, where

employees can ask additional

questions they might have (Kim, 2018)

● Amazon’s revamped employee review

program, called Forte, simplifies the

employee review process and focuses

on employees’ strengths versus

weaknesses (Kim, 2018)

● The search for a second Amazon

headquarters has led to mostly

positive national coverage as cities vie

to woo the company (Kennedy, 2018)

● CEO Jeff Bezos detailed plans to take

Amazon into space with ‘Blue Origin’

(McKay, 2018)

● An intense work environment where

employees are constantly challenged

and pushed to their limits (Anders,

2018)

● Despite increasing its minimum wage

to $15, disgruntled employees

criticized the move as a publicity stunt

and are unhappy because bonuses

were removed, and perception they

will actually make less (Lee, 2018)

● Amazon previously suffered negative

media attention after New York Times

painted a picture of an environment

where employees were pushed

beyond their limits and encouraged to

sabotage each other (Maylett, 2017)

● Other Bezos-led companies claiming

poor work conditions; Washington

Post employees called out Bezos over

pay and benefits in open letter (Levy,

2018)

● President Trump has targeted

Amazon and Bezos, alleges Amazon

weakens postal system (Lecher, 2018)

● Criticism over Amazon CEO’s

philanthropy/CSR (Salmon, 2018)


SITUATION ANALYSIS Amazon is well positioned as the world’s leading retailer, and the second largest private

employer in America. The company is poised to continue its dominance with even more

planned expansion, with major U.S. cities lining up pitches for a chance to host its next

headquarters.

However, Amazon’s reputation for a relentless pace that burns out employees, and

accusations in the media over harsh working conditions and lack of diversity, might

mean that Amazon will fail to attract and retain top talent needed to continue its

reputation for innovation.

CHALLENGE / OPPORTUNITY

Amazon needs to rebrand itself to employees as a company that cares about its people

in the wave of a series of negative stories about its corporate culture.

GOALS

● Improve the perception amongst company employees that Amazon is committed

to improving employee morale.

● Regain support and trust from employees by creating a comprehensive and

robust communications strategy that engages employees.

● Position Amazon as a top employer of choice amongst internal and contract

employees in the e-commerce and retail industry.


OBJECTIVES

The following objectives were created as outcomes that will be accomplished to reach

the goals outlined above.

1. Increase positive opinion of Amazon pay and benefits amongst warehouse

employees by 25% in six months.

2. Increase awareness of the benefits of long tenure by 15% within six months.

3. Reinforce the belief that Amazon wants to hire and promote women and

minorities amongst these audiences by 20% in six months.

4. Increase the likelihood of Amazon contract employees to apply for a full-time

position by 20% within three months.

Key Publics With nearly 600,000 employees, there are several key publics Amazon needs to target

and engage in order to improve its overall corporate culture. For the purpose of this

communications plan, we have identified and decided to focus primarily on the following

four target audiences, as they represent the biggest and most immediate opportunities

for Amazon.

Audience 1: Amazon Warehouse Employees

● Demographics: This group consists of an estimated 250,000 full-time, part-time,

and seasonal workers at Amazon warehouses, or fulfillment centers, not in

supervisory roles (Salinas, 2018). These employees conduct tasks such as

processing and packing orders, unloading and distributing shipments, and

typically work shift hours as some warehouses operate 24 hours a day

(Payscale, 2018). This group is likely to have a high school diploma or

equivalency, although it may not be required (ibid).

● Psychographics: Workers in these types of jobs will work hard and want to

contribute directly to company success when treated with respect, are

empowered to make decisions, and feel like their voice is heard (Zamolo, n.d.).


● Motivating Self-Interest: The more employees understand about the

competitiveness of their pay / benefits in comparison to competitors, the more

likely they are to form a positive view of Amazon as an employer.

● Relationship to Organization / Issue: Reports from disgruntled employees at

Amazon warehouses have surfaced for the past five years, with some employees

telling stories of employees using the bathroom in dumpsters to avoid being

timed for lengthy bathroom breaks (Ghosh, 2018).

● Influencer / Intervener: Line managers

● Target Objective: Objective One

● Viable Channels: Direct meetings, videos and images posted in common

spaces, printed materials.

Audience 2: Tenured Employees

● Demographics: Amazon does not provide specific information on its tenured

employees. As far as general employee tenure information in the United States,

the median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their

current employer was 4.2 years, as of January 2018 (Bureau of Labor Statistics,

2018). However, this number is lower for Amazon employees (Kamentez, 2013).

Older employers also tend to work longer tenures than younger employees

(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018). Thirty percent of male employees were

reported to have 10 or more years of tenure with their current employer,

compared to 28 percent of female employees who had more than 10 years of

tenure (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018).

● Psychographics: Employees in management positions typically have the

highest median tenure (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018).

● Motivating Self-Interest: Tenured employees should be informed of the benefits

of staying with the same employer for more than 10 years. Also, the benefits

offered to employees, such as retirement plans and wellness programs, drive

loyalty (Melmed, 2011).


● Relationship to Organization / Issue: Amazon has an issue retaining its

tenured employees. According to a Fast Company article, Amazon ranks

second-worst for large companies in terms of employee loyalty (Kamentez,

2013). The majority of Amazon’s employees stay with the company for a tenure

of only one year (ibid).

● Influencer / Intervener: Human Resource professionals and hiring managers.

● Targeted Objective: Objective Two

● Viable Channels: Since tenured employees vary in age, it is essential to use a

variety of channels. Automated voicemails, emails, town hall meetings, and

company newsletters are viable channels.

Audience 3: Women / Minorities

● Demographics: According to Amazon, 40 percent of Amazon employees are

women, but make up only 26 percent of managers (Gillespie, n.d.). In the U.S.,

Amazon employees are 42 percent White, 22 percent Black, 14 percent Asian,

and 14 percent Hispanic (14 percent identified as other). In the U.S. managers

at Amazon are 63 percent White, 21 percent Asian, 6 percent Black, and 5

percent Hispanic (Gillespie, n.d.).

● Psychographics: Despite unequal numbers in terms of representation, women

earned 101.5 cents for every dollar that men in the same job earned, and

minorities earned 100.5 cents for every dollar compared to White employees in

the same job (Gillespie, n.d.).

● Motivating Self-Interest: In a New York Times article, Amazon employees

expressed frustration: that the company pushed them past their limits; at the

invasive nature of company culture into their home life; that the company wanted

employees to be vocal about their own shortcomings; and felt like work was

never good enough and that those unwilling to work 80-hour weeks were

perceived as sub-par performers (Kantor & Streitfeld, 2015).

● Relationship to Organization / Issue: Amazon has received negative coverage

because it lags behind other companies when it comes to having women and

minorities in leadership roles (Del Rey, 2018).


● Influencer / Intervener: Family and managers (Kantor & Streitfeld, 2015)

● Targeted Objective: Objective Three

● Viable Channels: Email, staff meetings, social media, and workshops should be included as channels (Wingfield, 2017).

Audience 4: Amazon Contract Employees

● Demographics: Amazon releases little to no specific information about its

contract employee population. However, from a broader perspective, according

to LinkedIn, most contract employees are in their middle to late careers (Furze,

2017). Males make up 65 percent of contract workers, and 62 percent are under

the age of 45 (Noguchi, 2018).

● Psychographics: A majority of contract employees take on flexible work to meet

their current needs and see contract work as a stepping stone to a full-time

position with a company.

● Motivating Self-Interest: In addition to wanting good pay and benefits, Amazon

contract employees want to ultimately become full-time employees to receive

better pay and benefits from the company.

● Relationship to Organization / Issue: Each year, Amazon hires thousands of

seasonal “temp” employees, who help with Amazon’s peak season during the

holidays. While many sources are predicting the retailer will hire approximately

100,000 contract employees this holiday season, in years past, Amazon has

hired upwards of 120,000 contract employees (Phillips, 2018). Typically, these

employees perform the same duties as full-time employees, but do not have the

same pay or benefits offered to full-time Amazon employees (Griswold, 2018).

● Influencer / Intervener: Interveners are the staffing agency and recruiters that

hired them. Influencers include reviews from other Amazon contract employees

on Glassdoor or Google Reviews.

● Targeted Objective: Objective Four

● Viable Channels: Email, team meetings, fliers in common areas in the

workplace (i.e. communal kitchen, lobby, etc.)


BIG IDEA

Customer service will always be our focus, but we take care of the Amazon family A-Z.

KEY MESSAGES

The purpose of the following key messages are to persuade the key publics listed

above that Amazon is a great place to work, and the company is committed to

improving employee morale. These messages will be consistently applied throughout

all communications to the identified target audiences.

Primary Message 1: Amazon is leading the way nationally in raising wages.

● Secondary Message 1: Amazon is among the first companies to raise its

minimum wage to $15, and working to increase it an additional $1-2 per hour,

along with cash bonuses for warehouse employees (Lieber, 2018).

● Secondary Message 2: Amazon will lobby the federal government to raise the

minimum wage universally from $7.25 (Campbell, 2018).

Primary Message 2: Long tenure benefits everyone -- employees and Amazon.

● Secondary Message 1: Long-tenured employees are more likely to become

leaders within the organization because of the knowledge and experience they’ve

gained overtime (HR Development Info, 2010).

● Secondary Message 2: Employee turnover costs companies a lot of money,

which is avoided with the loyalty of long-tenured employees (Ferguson, n.d.).

Primary Message 3: Amazon has women and minorities in leadership positions.

● Secondary Message 1: Teresa Carlson, vice president of Amazon Web

Services, is at Amazon to break the rules in the computer technology scene

(Furrier, 2018).

● Secondary Message 2: Babak Parviz, VP of Grand Challenge, is working on a

top secret project that will change the healthcare industry (Kim & Farr, 2018).


Primary Message 4: Contract employees are valuable members of the Amazon family,

and Amazon is committed to investing in and developing contract employees to help

them become full-time employees.

● Secondary Message 1: During the 2017 holiday season, Amazon hired 120,000

contract employees and converted over 10,000 of those temporary workers into

full-time employees (Phillips, 2018).

● Secondary Message 2: All Amazon employees are encouraged to take

advantage of learning opportunities and internal resources for self-development,

participate in a mentorship program, and find ways to make their jobs more

productive and efficient (“Growth & Development,” n.d.).

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

This strategy will leverage a variety of different communication channels to target the

identified key publics and promote the key messages outlined above. Specifically, we

will use the following channels for our target audiences:

Warehouse Employees

● Direct meetings

● All-hands meetings

● Videos and posters

Tenured Employees

● Automated voicemail

● Email

● Town hall meetings

● Company newsletter


Women / Minorities

● Email

● Staff meetings

● Social media

● Webinars

Contract Employees

● Contract employee newsletter

● Mobile app

● Podcast

● Intranet

In addition to the communication channels outlined above, we will also use the following

channels to communicate at a broader level to all employees and external audiences:

● Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and SnapChat

● Company Newsletter

● Automated Voicemail

● Mail

● Company Television

● Video Podcast

● Webinars

● Town Halls

● All-Hands Meetings

● Direct Meetings

● Special Events

● Blogs

● Posters and Fliers (in break rooms)


STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

Strategy 1: Increase employee awareness of Amazon’s industry-leading pay and

benefits.

● Tactic 1: Create videos and poster content that highlight Amazon’s recent

decision to increase hourly minimum wages to at least $15, as well as offsetting

stock offers with cash bonuses (Lieber, 2018). Creating infographics that show

total pay and benefits, as well as wages compared to competitors such as

Walmart, to inform employees of the very real efforts Amazon has taken to

demonstrate it values its workforce. These should be refreshed every one-two

months to continue to be visually interesting and engage viewers.

● Tactic 2: Distribute these videos and posters around common traffic areas in

Amazon workspaces. There have been several articles that reference

employees standing in line to both enter and exit facilities, presumably because

of very real security concerns. Videos and well-placed posters in these areas

give employees something to watch or read in areas where they may not have

access to their mobile devices. These can be interspersed on video screens with

recent favorable video news stories about the wage increases, as well as

headlines from print and online stories, another key reason to refresh these every

one-two months.

● Tactic 3: Hold all-call meetings with representatives from HR and Accounting to

explain the new wage and benefits increases. Line managers should also be

present for these meetings where employees are encouraged to ask questions.

These meetings should be timed to the beginning of employee shifts, and

account for swing and night shifts. Setting these meetings at the beginning of the

shifts has multiple benefits, primary being that employees are on company time,

their attention should be fresh, and they won’t be concerned about not asking

questions so they can hurry and head home for the day. As an added benefit,


employees can then think about the presentations during their shift and then ask

follow-up questions after work once they’ve had time to process the information

more thoroughly. This should be done early in the plan, and again at the two-

three month mark to catch new employees or those who might have otherwise

missed the first window.

Strategy 2: Leverage relationship with veteran employees to serve as

spokespeople for the tenured employee population at Amazon.

● Tactic 1: Create a video series consisting of videos of tenure employees who

have been at Amazon for ten years or longer. In the videos, tenured employees

can discuss how long they’ve been with the company, what they do, and what

they love about their job. These videos would be used for internal purposes only.

● Tactic 2: Host monthly meetings with veteran employees to make sure their

(reasonable) needs are being met. Keeping veteran employees satisfied and

engaged will help build and maintain relationships with managers, resulting in

employee satisfaction and retention.

Strategy 3: Show that Amazon wants women and minorities in leadership roles.

● Tactic 1: Create a monthly webinar that is available to all women that work at

Amazon that teaches women leadership skills in the workplace.

● Tactic 2: Design a poster that features Teresa Carlson, vice president of

Amazon Web Services, as a successful woman in a leadership role at Amazon.

(Poster will be displayed at common areas in the workplace and promoted as a

post on social media).


● Tactic 3: Design a poster that features Babak Parviz, VP of Grand Challenge, as

a successful woman in a leadership role at Amazon. (Poster will be displayed at

common areas in the workplace and promoted as a post on social media).

● Tactic 4: Host a monthly company-wide staff meeting that highlights diversity at

Amazon, and discusses how minorities and women have contributed to the

success of the company.

Strategy 4: Create a sense of community and pride amongst contract employees

to strengthen employee morale by highlighting the stories of contract employees.

● Tactic 1: Create a monthly contract employee newsletter with stories and

resources specifically geared towards contract employees (i.e. career

development programs available to them, feature stories of successful

employees who started off as contract employees with Amazon).

● Tactic 2: Establish a monthly recognition program where top contract employees

(nominated by their managers) are featured in a story on the company’s intranet

and social media. Along with a picture, the stories will highlight the contract

employee’s Amazon journey and share some personal information (i.e. interests

outside of work, their family, etc.) to help make contract employees more

relatable. In addition to celebrating contract employees, the recognition program

will help garner exposure of the great work contract employees are doing

amongst internal employees and leadership.


● Tactic 3: Develop a mobile app exclusively for contract employees, where they

can access pertinent information (i.e. pay stubs, benefits links, etc.), view

Amazon full-time job postings, read updates and intranet stories, and connect

with each other via a social media network for contract Amazonians. Since the

majority of contract employees are constantly on the move and do not have a

desk, a mobile app will be beneficial for these employees to access information

they need.

● Tactic 4: Launch a bi-weekly Amazon podcast where the host interviews

different contract employees. Questions will be centered around what the

contract employee does, what they love most about Amazon’s culture, and what

their goals and aspirations are for their future. The podcast will be available on

Amazon’s intranet as well the contractor employee mobile app, so it is easily

accessible for employees to listen to when and where they choose.

COMMUNICATIONS CALENDAR

The calendar below outlines a timeline for the implementation of the outlined goals and

objectives for each target audience.

Key

Warehouse Employees Tenured Employees

Women and Minorities Contract Employees


January 2019

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1 Initial Warehouse Surveys Begin Poster/Video design work Select contract employees for focus group Pull stats on number of contract employees

2 Begin Poster Design Work Initial Warehouse Surveys Initial tenure survey Solicit nominations for contract employee recognition program

3 Initial Warehouse Surveys Solicit dates for All-Hands meetings Begin development of mobile app for contractors

4 Post contract employee spotlight on social media Design contract employee newsletter email template

7 Publish and Display Posters Host town hall meeting

8 Share social media content about women & minorities leadership Draft contract employee newsletter content

9 Production Day: Begin filming veteran employee videos Conduct contract employee focus group (baseline)

10 Women’s Leadership Webinar Meet with HR and Accounting to synch All-Hands dates

11 Show Posters to HR/Accounting/Executives for approval Record automated voicemail

14 Distribute Posters nationally Draft contract employee spotlight article

15 Distribute company newsletter via email

16 Automated voice calls to employees Post contract employee spotlight article on intranet

17 Start Execution of Round 1 All-Hands Meetings

18 Send out veteran employee video

21 Posters on display in Warehouses Senior leadership approval for contract newsletter

22 Production Day: Film more veteran employee videos

23 Show videos to execs for Approval Brainstorm topics / interviewees for podcast

24 Host Diversity in the Workplace Staff Meeting

25 Share social media content about women & minorities leadership

28 Distribute first contract employee newsletter

29 Display videos at warehouse

30 Production Day: Film more veteran employee videos

31 Collect monthly tenured employee data Track contract employee to full-time employee rate


February 2019



4 Draft contract employee spotlight article


6 Post contract employee spotlight article on intranet

7 8 Post contract employee spotlight on social media

11 Host town hall meeting

12 Interview contractor for podcast

13 14 Women’s Leadership Webinar Launch first podcast episode


18 Share social media content about women & minorities leadership Senior leadership approval for contract newsletter

19 Begin Poster/Video creation Round 2

20 Automated voice calls to employees

21

22

25 Host Diversity in the Workplace Staff Meeting Distribute contract employee newsletter


27 Round 1 All-Hands Meetings Complete Track contract employee to full-time employee rate

28 Show Posters to HR/Accounting/Executives for approval Collect monthly tenured employee data


March 2019


1

4 Distribute Posters nationally Draft contract employee spotlight article

5 Draft contract employee newsletter content Record podcast episode

6 Share social media content about women & minorities leadership Post contract employee spotlight article on intranet

7 Show Round 2 videos to execs for Approval Pilot mobile app for contract employees Launch podcast episode

8 Post contract employee spotlight on social media

11 Round Two Posters on display in Warehouses Send out veteran employee video

12 13 Display R2 videos at warehouse

14 Women’s Leadership Webinar


18 Senior leadership approval for contract newsletter

19 Automated voice calls to employees Record podcast episode

20 21 Launch podcast episode

22




28 Mid-Point Warehouse Surveys



April 2019


1 Draft contract employee newsletter content

2 Draft contract employee spotlight article Record podcast episode


4 Launch podcast episode



9 Begin Poster/Video creation Round 2

10 Launch mobile app for contract employees


12

15 Distribute company newsletter via email Share social media content about women & minorities leadership

16 Record podcast episode

17 Start Execution of R2 All-Hands Meetings

18 Automated voice calls to employees Launch podcast episode

19 Show Posters to HR/Accounting/Executives for approval


23 24 Distribute Posters nationally


26 Show R3 videos to execs for Approval

29 Host Diversity in the Workplace Staff Meeting Distribute contract employee newsletter Track contract employee to full-time employee rate

30 Share social media content about women & minorities leadership Collect monthly tenured employee data Record podcast episode


May 2019


1 R3 Posters on display in Warehouses Draft contract employee newsletter content Draft contract employee spotlight article

2 Display R2 videos at warehouse Post contract employee spotlight article on intranet Launch podcast episode

3 Share social media content about women & minorities leadership Post contract employee spotlight on social media

6 7

8 Update contractor mobile app content



13 Automated voice calls to employees

14 Pull metrics on contractor mobile app usage Record podcast episode



17 Round 1 All-Hands Meetings Complete



22 23

24


28 Record podcast episode





June 2019


3 Draft contract employee newsletter content

4 Share social media content about women & minorities leadership Draft contract employee spotlight article


6


10 11 Record podcast episode

12 Automated voice calls to employees Update contractor mobile app content

13 Women’s Leadership Webinar Launch podcast episode


17 Distribute company newsletter via email Senior leadership approval for contract newsletter

18

19 Host town hall meeting

20



25 Send out veteran employee video Record podcast episode

26 Conduct contractor focus group

27 Closeout Warehouse Surveys Final tenured survey Launch podcast episode

28 Closeout Warehouse Surveys Conduct analysis of all monthly tenured employee data collected over past six months Track contract employee to full-time employee rate


EVALUATION In order to measure the success and results of this communications plan, the following

evaluation methods will be used.

Objective 1: Increase positive opinion of Amazon pay and benefits amongst

warehouse employees by 25% in six months.

● Conduct a survey to assess warehouse employee attitudes and opinions on pay and

compensation at the beginning of the period. These surveys can be done at the

aforementioned security line or as employees check in to work.

● Conduct follow-up surveys at the halfway point to assess not only overall success but

also which individual tactics are performing best, by testing message recall from videos

and posters, as well as their impressions of the all-hands meetings.

● Conduct a final survey amongst warehouse employees at the six-month mark to assess

overall increase versus the baseline to quantify success.

Objective 2: Increase awareness of the benefits of long tenure by 15% within six

months.

● Conduct a survey to gauge tenured employees’ understanding of the benefits associated

with employee loyalty. The survey should be conducted at the beginning of the six

months and again at the end of the six months.

● Amazon also needs to start keeping data on tenured employees, because there is no

data as of right now. Tenured employee data should be collected at the end of each

month for a six-month period. Increased awareness could result in an increase in

tenured employee retention.

Objective 3: Reinforce the belief that Amazon wants to hire and promote women

and minorities amongst these audiences by 20% in six months.

● Conduct a survey at the beginning and end of the Women’s Leadership Webinar to

baseline and measure the perception among women employees that Amazon desires to

build leadership skills in women.


● Conduct a survey at the beginning and end of the Diversity in the Workplace meetings to

baseline and measure the perception amongst minority employees that Amazon is

serious about increasing diversity in company leadership.

● Baseline and measure engagement associated with social media content on women and

minorities in the workplace.

Objective 4: Increase the likelihood of Amazon contract employees to apply for a

full-time position by 20% within three months.

● Conduct a focus group at the beginning and end of the project with a random sample of

contract employees to gather direct feedback. To gather quantifiable data, conduct a

short survey during the focus groups.

● At the beginning of the project, conduct a baseline of how many contract employees

there are and each month thereafter we will track how many of those contract

employees apply to and receive a full-time job with Amazon. At the end of the project,

measure how many former contract employees apply for full-time positions.


Appendix A: Expanded SWOT

Strengths

● World’s leading online retailer (MSG Management Study Guide, n.d.)

● Top-of-mind brand recognition / recall from consumers (MSG Management

Study Guide, n.d.)

● Low cost structure, largest merchandise selection and a huge number of third-

party sellers (Jurevicius, 2017)

● Consumer centric customer relationship management has created customer

centric processes to carefully record data on buying behavior (Bhasin, 2017)

● Strong distribution network (Bhasin, 2017)

● Strong and consistent leadership from Jeff Bezos (Dudovskiy, 2018)

● Highest revenue in its industry (Greenspan, 2017)

● Current and former employees have publicly praised Amazon’s intense

performance culture and said it helped make them better professionals

(Maylett, 2017)

● With nearly 600,000 employees, Amazon is the second largest private-sector

employer in the U.S. (Anders, 2018)

● Amazon has improved its workplace culture, as suggested by its positive

ratings on Glassdoor, its LinkedIn ranking as the most desirable employer in

the U.S. (Kim 2018)

● Amazon ranked number one U.S. employer by LinkedIn (Brinded, 2018)

● Comprehensive benefits package for both full and part-time employees, often

regardless of position, such as tuition reimbursement, adoption support, etc.

(Kennedy, 2018)

● Amazon received praise for raising its minimum wage to $15 (Salinas, 2018)


Weaknesses

● Diversification strategy considered spreading itself too thin as it has moved

away from core product, selling books (MSG Management Study Guide, n.d.)

● Shrinking margins (Bhasin, 2017)

● Negative publicity based on tax avoidance issue in the U.K. and the U.S.

(Bhasin, 2017)

● Amazon products Fire Phone and Kindle Fire unsuccessful (Bhasin, 2017)

● Lack of focus on a specific product (Dudovskiy, 2018)

● Business model can be copied (Greenspan, 2017)

● Not pursuing developing markets (Greenspan, 2017)

● Lack of physical stores (Greenspan, 2017)

● Amazon shares recently reported as sinking, profits fell 75% due to heavy

spending on overseas investments (Boland, 2017)

● Amazon competes in tech with Google and Apple, which have bigger customer

bases. Amazon is not capturing its share of the market. (Deagon, 2017)

● Amazon has high turnover, median tenure at one year (Johnson, 2018)

● Negative publicity over inability to keep racist groups from using market

platform (Lecher, 2018)

● Image as not a gender-friendly employer, only 34% of female employees would

recommend to other women (Fairygodboss, 2018)

● Men currently make up 73% of Amazon employees, and 78% of senior

executives/managers (Hale, 2018)

● While 25% of Amazon’s workforce are Black or Hispanic, they make up only

10% of executive or technical jobs (Greene, 2015)

● Only 1 of 18 Amazon top executives is a woman (Del Rey, 2017)

● Sexual harassment scandal with former Amazon Studios head (Del Rey, 2017)

● Amazon employees upset over company’s resistance to adding diversity to its

board (Del Rey, 2018)

● Amazon employees said high tempo and management surveillance culture as

examples of poor work conditions (Ghosh, 2018)


Opportunities

● Create more of its own products instead of being a forwarding site for third

party products (MSG Management Study Guide, n.d.)

● Open its site to more emerging markets (MSG Management Study Guide, n.d.)

● Acquire other e-commerce companies to decrease its competition (Bhasin,

2017)

● Opening physical stores outside the U.S. to help grow its brand recognition

(Bhasin, 2017)

● Developing more local sites in international markets (Dudovskiy, 2018)

● Amazon is continuing to grow and has thousands of employment opportunities.

Each week, it onboards hundreds of new corporate hires (Anders, 2018)

● In 2017, Amazon rolled out a daily Q&A program, called Connections, to better

understand its large workforce. (Kim, 2018)

● Amazon’s People Science team launched a monthly newsletter and a webinar,

called ChimeIn, where employees can ask additional questions they might

have (Kim, 2018)

● Amazon’s revamped employee review program, called Forte, simplifies

employee review process and focuses on employees’ strengths versus

weaknesses (Kim, 2018)

● The search for a second Amazon headquarters has led to mostly positive

national coverage as cities vie to woo the company (Kennedy, 2018)

● CEO Jeff Bezos detailed plans to take Amazon into space with ‘Blue Origin’

(McKay, 2018)


Threats

● Online shopping can lead to identity theft and hacking consumer data (MSG

Management Study Guide, n.d.)

● Loss of profitability due to low profit margins (Dudovskiy, 2018)

● Competition with large retail stores (Greenspan, 2017)

● An intense work environment where employees are constantly challenged and

pushed to their limits (Anders, 2018)

● Employees have openly and publicly criticized Amazon for selling its facial

recognition software to police (Leskin, 2018)

● Despite increasing its minimum wage to $15, several disgruntled employees

have criticized the move as a publicity stunt and are unhappy because their

bonuses were removed, which means they will actually make less because of

this change. (Lee, 2018)

● Previously, Amazon suffered from negative media attention after a New York

Times article painted a picture of an environment where employees were

pushed beyond their limits and encouraged to sabotage each other (Maylett,

2017)

● Other Bezos-owned companies complain of employment treatment;

Washington Post also called out Bezos over pay and benefits in open letter

(Levy, 2018)

● President Trump has targeted Amazon and CEO, alleges Amazon weakens

postal system (Lecher, 2018)

● Criticism over Amazon CEO’s actual philanthropy/CSR (Salmon, 2018)


Appendix B: Roles & Responsibilities

Role Responsibilities

Warehouse Employees Target Audience Coordinator

Oversees the strategy and tactics directed to warehouse employees. Builds, distributes, and assesses survey data. Leads the content creation process, including consultation with graphic designer and oversees outside videography contracting, for posters and videos targeting warehouse employees, from design to approval to production and distribution. Schedules and coordinates participation in all-hands meetings.

Tenured Employees Target Audience Coordinator

Oversees the strategy and tactics directed to warehouse employees. Coordinates communication sent out to tenured employees, as well as meetings. Communicates with media team, which will be responsible for the production of the veteran employee videos. Responsible for developing company newsletters.

Women / Minorities Target Audience Coordinator

Oversees all employees working with this target audience segment, ensures team stays on budget, creates leadership building curriculum.

Webinar Coordinator Plans webinar, invites women to participate in event, hosts all webinar events.

Graphic Designer/Photographer Designs posters, takes all pictures to be featured on posters, disseminates images to proper personnel.

Social Media Agent Posts all relevant information about programming on company social media. This includes answering questions sent via social media and creating promoted content. Creates content weekly about building leadership skills in women and minorities at Amazon.

Contract Employees Target Audience Coordinator

Oversees the strategy and tactics directed to contract employees. Coordinates communication sent out to contract employees, as well as meetings. Responsible for producing the contractor newsletter and podcast, as well as managing the contractor recognition program.


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Taking Care of the Amazon Family A-Z - WordPress.com · SWOT ANALYSIS Through in-depth secondary research, the following situation analysis outlines Amazon’s strengths, weaknesses,