Who benefits?—A Case Study

Sometimes internal communications folks have a thankless job. Whenever the company rolls out a new program or process, they call on the internal comms team to explain it. And, really, how many different ways can you phrase “click on this link to register”?

When a client asked me to oversee their organization’s submission to the Fortune “Best Companies to Work For” list, I reviewed the internal programs and asked for background on the most interesting. I received a raft of “click here to register” documents—the stuff telling employees how to access the program. But I received very little information about the most important aspects of these programs—how employees benefit from them.

That’s the angle these “best of” lists want to highlight. But whether or not you’re aiming for public recognition, focusing on the end-user’s experience is a best practice every organization would do well to adopt.

Why did your company decide to create this program or adopt this procedure? Someone somewhere must have wanted it—probably a large group of “someones.” I can think of no better answer to the question “Why are you making this change?” than

“Because we heard you.”

Let your people know that their needs matter. You’ll not only drive overall satisfaction, you’ll also boost engagement with the new program. The announcement immediately becomes something people will read, not something they’ll click closed until they have some time to read it—a time you know will never arrive.