The way you communicate, and what you communicate, shapes how your employees feel about working there. Yet organizations often fail to prioritize corporate communication, to the detriment of their entire workplace culture. Regular communication with employees sends the message that you value them as whole people. And consistent, meaningful communication can strengthen the employee-employer relationship. And when that relationship is strong, everyone wins: the employees, the employer, and the customers, clients, or patients. You’ll come away from this webinar with immediately-useful tips and insider tricks from our 30+ years of experience producing engaging employee communications and leave with a blueprint of how to produce your own communications, or evaluate a vendor’s options, plus creative options.

1. HopeHealth.com
Strategies for
Creating Fun, Effective,
& Engaging
Employee Communications
Jen Cronin, Managing Editor

2. 4 Common
Challenges in
Promoting
Health at the
Workplace
HopeHealth.com
1. Budget
2. Time & resources
3. Lack of participation
and engagement
4. Under utilization

3. 6 Costly
Practices of
Traditional
Wellness
Programs
HopeHealth.com
1. HRAs
2. Biometric screenings
3. Extrinsic incentives
4. Wellness portals
5. Coaching
6. Wellness vendor fees

4. HopeHealth.com
• Overcomes these
obstacles
• Changes your
perspective
A
Better
Way

5. Embrace a
Communications-First
Philosophy
HopeHealth.com

6. Prepare to
Have Fun!
HopeHealth.com
Talk & work WITH employees
not
AT employees

7. HopeHealth.com
Regular, positive
communication with
employees sends the
message that you value
employees as whole
people.
The
Principles
are
Simple

8. HopeHealth.com
Strengthens the employee-
employer relationship.
The
Principles
are
Simple

9. Everyone wins –
employees, employer,
customers, clients, and/or
patients
The
Principles
are
Simple
HopeHealth.com

10. The Benefits
Are Many
HopeHealth.com
Engages and excites
employees

11. The Benefits
Are Many
HopeHealth.com
Helps employees
appreciate and
understand the
benefits you offer

12. Provides a way to update
employees about company
news and events
HopeHealth.com
The Benefits
Are Many

13. The Benefits
Are Many
Fosters trust and openness
HopeHealth.com

14. • Develop a
communication strategy
• Evaluate resources
HopeHealth.com
Where to
Begin

15. Develop a
Strategy
Look at wants and needs
from the employees’
perspective – not
management’s.
HopeHealth.com

16. Evaluate
Resources
HopeHealth.com
• Cost
• Time
• Employee commitment

17. Set
a Budget
HopeHealth.com
• Writing
• Editing
• Design
• Implementation
• Print – printing & mailing
• Digital – web hosting fees &
software costs (including
subscriptions to cloud-based
services)

18. Time
HopeHealth.com
Keep in mind the amount of
lead time required for
consistent, polished
communications.

19. Employee
Commitment
HopeHealth.com
• Determine the number of
people who will need to
be involved.
• Break down the project
into components.
• Figure out manageable
time periods for each task

20. HopeHealth.com
5-Person Employee Communication Team
Monthly 8-Page Newsletter
Action No. of Team Members Time
Planning of content 5 1-2 hours
Research 2 4-6 hours
Writing & editing of content 2 8-10 hours
Medical review by experts 1 3-5 days
Layout & design of content 1-2 6-8 hours
Proofreading & link checking 1-2 8-10 hours
Project Manager 1 20-25 hours
Distribution 1 2 hours
Wrap up and review of employee feedback 5 1-2 hours

21. HopeHealth.com
Employee Communications…
To Outsource or Do Insource?
Here’s how to decide.
Outsource In-House
You have limited staff time available to dedicate to communications. 
You need ready-to-use content that has been vetted, written for a
consumer audience, and medically-reviewed.

You want the confidence of knowing the communications you send
are done by an organization specializing in employee concerns and
issues.

You want a professional team of writers and editors to conduct
interviews, use credible sources for research, write, and edit your
content.

You want a multi-media approach (newsletters, posters, brochures,
blogs, videos, and/or social media, etc.), but lack the skills to
deliver.

You seek the confidence of having seasoned professionals handle
all of the details for you.

You have an in-house design and communications team that can
assist with your communications.

You have writing and editing experience, and feel comfortable in
this role.

You have access to a medical review team to review all medical
information.

You have a dedicated project manager or team to handle the day-to-
day duties and distribution of the content.

You know exactly what you want and have a strategy.  
You have a generous budget for producing your communications. 
You have a seamless distribution system in place at your company. 

22. • Know your audience
• Create schedule
• Plan content
• Determine formats
• Repurpose content
• Create an editorial calendar
• Craft content
• Design
• Distribute
HopeHealth.com
The Nitty Gritty
of
Content
Creation

23. Know
Your
Audience
HopeHealth.com
Address employees as
whole people

24. Know
Your
Audience
Create content in
partnership with employees
HopeHealth.com

25. Know
Your
Audience Offer relevancy
& respect
HopeHealth.com

26. Customize content for
your culture
HopeHealth.com
Know
Your
Audience

27. HopeHealth.com
• Physical wellbeing
• Emotional/mental
wellbeing
• Financial wellbeing
• Community wellbeing
• Career wellbeing
Address
Employees
As Whole
People

28. Create Content
in Partnership
with
Employees
HopeHealth.com
• Feature employee
success.
• Hold mini-focus groups.
• Use employees as topic
experts.
• Ask for feedback.

29. Offer
Relevancy
and
Respect
HopeHealth.com
• Ask, “Why would an
employee want to
read/view this?
• Offer short articles, tips,
and information with links
to addition content
online.
• Remember that people
are motivated in different
ways.

30. Customize
Content
For Your
Culture
HopeHealth.com
• Free, generic content is not
specific to your organization.
• Employees are not part of
creating it.
• It lacks company branding.
• It may not be accurate.

31. Create an
Editorial
Calendar
HopeHealth.com
Determine how often you
want to communicate with
employees.

32. Create an
Editorial
Calendar
HopeHealth.com
Keep in mind that you need
to include scheduling for
communications in different
formats & distribution.

33. Content
Planning
HopeHealth.com
• Think seasonally and
seasons of life.
• Consider company
events and important
deadlines.
• Plan for the unforeseen.

34. Determine
Relevant Media
for
Your Audience
HopeHealth.com
• Newsletters
• Posters
• Email & Texts
• Blogs
• Social Media
• Videos

35. Your
Newsletter
HopeHealth.com
• Ownership
• Familiarity, brevity & focus
• Relevancy & ease-of-use
• Regularity
• Inexpensive
• Multi-media friendly
• Production
• Customization

36. Repurpose
Content
HopeHealth.com
• Allows you to get out
messages several times in
different ways.
• Use newsletter content
throughout the month on
posters and social media,
and in emails & texts.

37. www.HopeHealth.com

38. Employee-
Volunteer
Powered
HopeHealth.com
• Ask employees for help.
• Provide a forum,
structure, tools, and
working philosophy that
makes participation
natural, time commitment
minimal, and experience
rewarding.

39. 6 Ways to
Unlock the
Talent & Energy
of Employees
HopeHealth.com
1. Sell the purpose
2. Provide structure &
autonomy
3. Empower
4. Mastery
5. Social connections
6. Celebrate &
acknowledge

40. Wellness &
Wellbeing
Programs
Need Not Be
Expensive
HopeHealth.com
• Focus on social
engagement –
relationships, events
achievement, & support
• Access free resources –
at work, in the
community, at the state
level, and from the
federal government &
national organizations

41. Evaluate
Efforts
Using
“ROAR”*
HopeHealth.com
• Return
• On
• Allocated
• Resources
*Michael O’Donnell, president and editor in chief,
American Journal of Health Promotion

42. HopeHealth.com
• Feeling great
• Helping other people feel
great
• Utilization of assets
• Participation
*Michael O’Donnell, president and editor in chief,
American Journal of Health Promotion
Evaluate
Efforts
Using
“ROAR”*

43. HopeHealth.com
• Figure out how much you
could save
• Form a small group
• Recruit employee volunteers
• Use an editorial calendar
• Evaluate available resources
• Evaluate media
• Use ROAR
Action
Steps
to
Consider

44. 2 FREE
eBooks:
Download at
HopeHealth/Reports
HopeHealth.com

45. Contact
Information
• Jen Cronin, Managing Editor
• jcronin@HopeHealth.com
• 616.610.2546
• HopeHealth.com
• blog.HopeHealth.com
HopeHealth.com