EKOL LOGISTICS
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL
COMMUNICATIONS POLICY
1. Introduction
Ekol Logistics (Ekol) latches on to corporate behavior standards with high values towards all employees, customers, governmental organizations and institutions, suppliers, social stakeholders, on which it operates, and all stakeholders, to which it is connected, in its body. Ekol commits to stick to the principals of “truthfulness, transparency and honesty” and to be always responsible, ethical and open in all activities with all social stakeholders within the sphere of influence of all of its operation fields.
The establishment and existence of a corporation depends on maintaining the internal and external relations in a certain structure and order. This structure can only be established by means of an effective communications system. An effective communications system influences the culture and strategy of a corporation. The importance of communications for an organization is better understood when productivity, quality and profitability are concerned. Communications as a system has importance in bringing order to corporate affairs and establishing a conscious balance between the goals of the corporation and the goals of its employees. The existence of an effective communications system which is carried out internally and externally in the corporation, contributes to the establishment of corporate culture and integrity, strengthens its prestige before the stakeholders. The base of the prestige process, which is the entire perceptions of the internal and external stakeholders, is build up by the employees. The internal and external communication processes, in which the employees are involved, play an important role in the establishment of the corporate prestige.
2. Purpose
Attention should be paid to the dimensions of communications between the employees within the corporation and the dimensions of communications of the corporation with the external circles, in order the corporation to have a healthy and effective communications process. The behavior of the employees at the points of interaction with all associates like customers, suppliers, business partners, 3rd party service providers, governmental organizations and institutions influences the appraisals and perceptions about the corporation. The Internal and External Corporate Communications Policy is prepared within the frame of ethical rules, in order to demonstrate the employees the points to be attended while using the oral, written and/or face to face communication channels.
3. The rules which must be attended in internal and external communications
General Communications Rules
The employees of Ekol must be objective in communications with the stakeholders and should not use an accusing language. They should behave professionally, and should not forget the elocution of the service sector.
A formal language should be used, the dose of the acquired coziness should be scaled well, and impudence should be avoided.
It needs to be thought about and decided upon which subjects should be communicated in written form, which ones orally and which ones in face to face manner.
Unnecessary adjectives and adverbs should be avoided in communications. (‘very, low, bad, good, un/satisfactory, convenient, ever, always, in general’ etc.);
Unnecessary emotional expressions should be avoided (‘we are upset, heartbroken, angry, the wind is taken from our sails...’ etc.)
One should be objective and numerical if possible.
It should not be forgotten that Ekol is represented in all internal and external communications; behavior, which might harm the corporate prestige of Ekol, should be avoided.
The general approach is the one in which “how can we do?” is searched, “how can we proceed?” is questioned instead of defense.
a) Written Communications (e-mail, document, letter, report)
The recipient(s) of the message should be addressed with a proper wording, before presenting the content of the message. The expressions, which may recall personal relationship and familiarity, should be avoided in addressing and “Mr-Ms” should be used.
Basic grammar rules (punctuation, spelling, affixes, capitalization, abbreviations, etc.) should be obeyed. Unnecessary notations, like ‘interjections', showing extra emphasis/emotion should also be avoided.
The web link of Turkish Language Organization www.tdk.gov.tr should be referred, in case of uncertainty about the spelling of a word.
The capital letters should not be used in the entire message.
Turkish characters should be used when writing a message in Turkish. One should be attentive to the proper usage of the language in the messages; all the words in the message should be in the same language for the sake of integrity.
One should be comprehensible by paying attention to plainness and shortness by using a clear language in the message. One should pay attention to a deliberate expression and contextual integrity.
Corporate language integrity should be considered when writing the message.
Abbreviations should be avoided; the subject should be delivered to the relevant person with clear statements.
“Subject” in e-mails should not be left blank, the subject should be written in three or four words, at most. E-mails with only subject and no text in the body should not be sent. Greeting or addressing words should not be written in subject.
The e-mail addresses of the recipient(s) should be written in “To” field. The persons, who are thought to be informed about the subject, should be written in “Cc” field. Only the persons who are relevant should be included in Cc field; pile of irrelevant names should be avoided in this field.
One should pay attention to kindness, respect and greeting. The message should end with a greeting expression like “Best regards”, “Have a nice working day”.
One should pay attention to the used words and sentences; the message should be read once more before sending, in order to avoid misunderstandings.
It shouldn't be thought that the message is read only by you and recipient. The message should be written with the awareness that it will be (also legally) considered as a ‘record’; it should reflect this solemnity.
Unnecessary e-mail traffic should be avoided.
Telephone communications should be preferred if possible.
Due to apparent communication rules both internal and external, “bcc” shall not be used when sending an e-mail. Bcc holds the right of reply to each behalf and thus results against the communication ethics for the “unaware behalf”
The question ‘Is it really necessary?’ should absolutely be asked before adding ‘Cc’.
b) Oral and Face to Face Communications (calls, meetings, one to one talks) The speech might make a difference in the perception of the person to whom the
message is given. Hence, one should pay attention to the speaking rules, diction and accents. The expressions, which may recall personal relationship and familiarity, should be avoided in addressing and “Mr-Ms” should be used.
One should be comprehensible by paying attention to plainness and shortness by using a clear language during the speech.
It should not be forgotten that it is most important to deliver the message to the other party in a very fast manner, in the communications by phone.
The other party should be listened to. A professional language should be used.
One should pay attention to using gestures and mimics in face to face communications; and tone of voice in communications by phone.
One should stick to times and agenda of the meetings. Time should be used economically, by paying attention to not going off the subject.
One should pay attention to appearance and dressing for a positive impression; code of dress should be obeyed.
One should obey the Code of Corporate Principals, in presenting and receiving gifts. Long speeches, time losses with disputes should be avoided.
Imposing sanction and disciplinary measures are under the will of the company management, in case of noncompliance with the determined rules.
