Deleting that employee newsletter before reading could be a FAIL
Most employees think that reading their employee newsletter is a waste of time. With so much work to be done on a daily basis, who has time to read a newsletter? But as someone who has been on both sides, an employee newsletter is one of the most important communications between staff and employer. Why, do you ask? Because most of the important information and work related news alerts and employee updates are probably enclosed inside. And even if it may seem as though it is a waste of your time to read, your employer isn’t creating the newsletter for it not to be read.
When I was a HR manager, I worked for a well-known franchise operation located here in St. Louis. And since there was a communications breakdown and division between both sides of the company (the customer service side and the sales side), it was my job to make sure that we worked in a more unified way. One of the items I created was a monthly newsletter—it included a calendar for events and special hours/days off, meeting notes, company policy changes, and anything else that would be beneficial for the employees to know.
And despite the fact that this well-detailed newsletter hit everyone’s inbox on a monthly basis, I found myself answering questions that were already addressed in the newsletter—are we having Good Friday off? When is the next team building meeting? Is the OSHA training mandatory?
All of this information was included in the newsletter but yet, no one really bothered to read it.
I met with the owners one day and devised a plan—in order for people to really see the importance of reading the newsletter, I put some very beneficial information inside of it. And sure enough, no one (NOT ONE) got the hint.
In a bold headline, I typed the words: WANT A DAY OFF FROM WORK?
And under it, I explained that anyone who emailed me before a certain day and time would receive a paid day off that would not be docked from their PTO and a $100 AMEX gift card.
Yes, this was in the newsletter, the first article and no one took me up on it because they didn’t read it.
When I pointed it out in our next staff meeting, people were really upset. But they only had themselves to blame because no one took the time to read the newsletter. Of course, the owners were happy because they didn’t have to ante up any money for a gift card.
So, keep this in mind. Before you delete that newsletter from work or throw it in the trash before reading, think again. You should read it because there may be some important information that you need to know enclosed. And you could be missing out on something special.
Do you read your company’s newsletter?
RT @dannigyrl: New Blog Post-: The Importance of Your Employee Newsletter: Do Not Delete http://bit.ly/fzjXm4 #cubiclechick
@AcuteConsulting Great Article from @TheCubicleChick Employee Newsletter is an important tool, dont delete it. http://bit.ly/f8b337
RT @thecubiclechick: The Importance of Your Employee Newsletter: Do Not Delete: When I was a HR manager, I worked for a well-known fr… http://bit.ly/f8b337
So were you talking to me? Girl, I don’t delete them but I do about the same damage – I have them automatically go to a separate folder that I almost never read LOL.
And you’re right, as soon as someone mentions a company topic/idea/plan, I wonder where they get it from… Duh, the newsletter. 🙂
Okay, thank you for reiterating the importance of actually reading those newsletters (or corporate bulletins as we call them) because they do contain some gems of information that affects me or my role every now and then and I don’t need to be caught in the dark!
Kesha, that is what I am here for. LOL. I think companies are also trying to step up their game with innovative ways to present the newsletters as well as creating killer content that is not boring. I have seen some company newsletters recently that are very entertaining. I hope more companies will embrace this! 🙂
In one of our companies, when we had divisions around the globe, we employed newsletters to keep everyone appraised of what was going on. (This was before eMail; the procedure was to transfer the document to the recipient computer, where it was printed and then posted on the bulletin board.) We were never sure folks read it. (Oh, we knew the managers would- we spoke to them daily.) So, we would put various notes within the document that let folks know if they responded to the query therein, they could get a free lunch or dinner, or an occasional night off. (They had to use their own words to respond to the query- which also required them to read the rest of the newsletter to tell us something about it.)
Amazing how the employees began reading- and taking to heart- the newsletter.
Roy, wow, there was life before email? Who knew? LOL. I think that even with the advancement of immediate technology, employees should want to know what is going on in their companies. I used to feel like I was missing out on something when I would receive company news and transmittals. Thanks for commenting!
I guess part of this comes down to what content is in the newsletter. If the content is full of self exploiting information about the boss or un-realistic information about how well everything is going, then it will likely get binned. I’m thinking that we can apply the same principal to our blog page. It has to be eye catching and have value.
The CEO at my workplace sends out a quarterly newsletter that he writes in a personal manner detailing specific and relevant information about what is occurring within the organisation. That includes new contracts won and those that may have been lost. It is pretty readable. It is not too glossy. Just straight forward.
Whether people read a business newsletter or not I guess records a good marker upon the motivation of the staff. Interesting blog. Thank you.
Marty, I like the fact of your CEO writing personally in the newsletter to the employees. I think it adds value to the newsletter and employees feel that he actually takes time to reach out to them. I wish more CEO’s would do this. Thanks for commenting 🙂
RT @TheCubicleChick The Importance of Your Employee Newsletter: Do Not Delete http://bit.ly/gzVvgw
Aloha Danyelle, great post and gosh reading the news letter is worth reading, but I agree most don’t. In fact, I had an experience were there was a position open in our corp. office and I applied for it and got it,then the other guys ask me how I got it and I said the news letter had it noted. So again you just never know what is available in a news letter until you pick it up and read it. Glad I came by and thanks for sharing! Mahalo, Lani 🙂
PS..glad we are connected with a great team on fb, Blogging MM. Come by and visit me. Sharing is Caring!
Lani, thanks for reading. Your example is a just another reason why people should read their company newsletters. There are many golden nuggets included, that may improve their life at work and personally. I will be visiting your blog 🙂
There are a lot of gems in a newsletter. Problem is that we
are somtimes lazy. So we dismiss it. Everyone should have some
interest in the we work for, if not we should not be there
When I worked for Walgreens, they had a weekly newsletter out every week. They even give employees a handbook. However, when HR would make rounds, people asked questions, some that they could log in and manage their employee account to see their points, how many vacation days left they have to spend, and even 401K and VIP benefits.
I was not in HR, but I kind of felt sorry for them as when I was on the fund raising committee, the ladies would get bombarded with questions, most of which were the same. Perhaps in their case they should have a weekly FYI added to their newsletter? Well, I do not work there…lol, but it was always a thought.
Sometimes employee newsletters can be as difficult to read as they are to write. If you are one of those people who would rather have a root canal than sit in front of the computer screen thinking of witty and readable articles for your newsletter you may want to give Frontline Employee a try. Whether you need a newsletter in English or Spanish we have you covered.
http://www.workexcel.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=24
If nobody is reading it, maybe management is missing the point that newsletters are self-serving (look at me!), obsolete, and a poor use of resources. Instead of enticing personnel to read you email, why don’t you present your information where it will be read? Blogs, micro-blogs, email, and the company communicator?