Communicating your Wellbeing Strategy

Written on the 22 October 2015

Visual Reminders - New Zealand telecoms company ihug wanted to communicate to its young Gen Y workforce, who said in a staff survey they needed to feel valued and suffered "email overload" with 50-100 each day. The company had recently experienced significant growth but also the high staff turnover common to the industry. ihug put new systems in place including desktop reminders, screensaver images and news tickers reminding staff of their great wellbeing initiatives in an eye- catching and fun way.

Microsite/company intranet - Lots of people find it easier to consume information via video rather than reading lots of text. If you have a company intranet, or you're able to invest in an employee wellbeing microsite, consider getting staff to upload videos of themselves talking about your wellbeing strategy and how it benefits them. This insight will sound much better coming from them, and you could even offer a prize for the best one.

Website - US healthcare company Ardent were introducing a new system of allowing employees to offset rising health premiums against healthy choices they made. Worried the scheme might not get very good take-up, and also wishing to put their company benefits into one easily accessible place, they launched an enrolment programme and set up a "wellness" website with social media features which anyone could access. The scheme was a great success with a 91% staff take-up.

Internal newsletter/email/magazine - An internal newsletter, either printed or online, would be a good place to remind staff about your great wellbeing initiatives. You could do it in a newspaper-style with stories about staff members who've been benefiting from their gym membership or private health cover etc. Alternatively, consider sending a few dedicated employee wellbeing communication emails, which detail things like what employee benefits you provide, but remember that just because you send them out, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll be read!

Noticeboards - In a digital age, you may not even consider your noticeboard as a good way of communicating. But with people receiving more and more emails each day, it can be a way to stand out! Whilst not everyone will read it, it's a great place to catch people's eye with something visual (e.g. a poster).

Presentations - You could ask your employee benefit providers to come in and give a presentation. There may be a cost associated with this but sometimes, having an external representative can make people sit up and take notice.  Presentations can be particularly useful if you have a complicated subject like superannuation, and a company representative who is able to bring the subject to life. It's generally best to keep any presentation under 30 minutes and be sure to leave time for Q&As at the end.

Staff meetings - This is a great opportunity to showcase any new employee wellbeing initiatives you've introduced, or new employee benefits you're providing, and to let them know where they can find more information.

Handbook - And let's not forget the trusty staff handbook. Make sure your benefits are clearly listed within its pages, and that everyone's got one!