Starting An Employee Newsletter
Question:
My CEO would like HR to publish an employee newsletter. What should I include in the newsletter?
Answer:
The first question I would ask is ‘what is the purpose of the newsletter?’ Why does your CEO think a newsletter is needed and what is the goal? You will select topics and include articles that reinforce that purpose. The second question to ask is ‘what would your employees feel is valuable to them?’ Be sure to sprinkle in topics that are of particular interest to your readers. A short survey or focus group can help you determine what topics would be of interest to your employees. A good balance of the two will help make sure you are communicating what management needs while keeping the interest of your readers. For example, if the sole purpose of the newsletter is to communicate benefits to employees, your newsletter will incorporate the needed benefits information in addition to other related topics of interest that might engage your employees, such as wellness as it relates to benefits.
Once you determine the overarching purpose of the newsletter you’ll need to develop a newsletter calendar, to schedule out the different issues and topics, and can start to curate content. You’ll want to include company-related information as well as general or industry-wide information. The articles can be internally written and/or used with permission from other sources. It’s always a great idea to enlist writing help from your employees. One final tip, while the purpose may be to share company ‘news’ be sure to keep the newsletter engaging and provide some interesting and perhaps unique value to readers. If your employees can always count on reading something fun or unique in your newsletter they are more likely to read it and absorb the company news as well.
We’ve never heard employees complain that their employer communicates “too much”. Communication is the backbone of a satisfied and productive workforce. Strategic HR has years of experience creating written communication for employees – including employee newsletters. Visit our Communications page to learn how we can assist you with various communication-based projects.
