Five Tips to Put Some Zip in Your Employee Communications

Many utilities continue to struggle to find the single best way to communicate with employees. The employee communications challenges of a single-city municipal utility are, of course, different from a large multi-state one or even an international one. Here are five specific ways you can enliven the content and boost the readership of your employee communications. I will leave the methods (analog vs. digital vs. in-person) of that communication for another day.

What follows is largely drawn from a client engagement some years ago. All of the names and specific details have been changed.

 

 

1. Employee Milestones

This may come as a disappointment to leaders, who may want to talk about the exciting (or scary!) changes in the industry, but in my experience, rank-and-file employees first want to know about their colleagues: Who recently joined?

Who has departed? Who celebrated a milestone anniversary? Who had a baby? Can we get a softball team together?

Here are two vignettes to spark your imagination on this topic. All entries must be accompanied by a photo, either in a work setting or an out-of-work setting:

Jim Dennis joined the Customer Billing team last month, where he will work to implement the new billing software package. Previously, he worked at Amazon, where he worked to expand its web services division. Yes, Jim is the one person responsible for getting your Prime shipments delivered in 24 hours. A 20-year resident of our community, he and his wife, Jessica, were married the month before he joined our utility. In his spare time, he focuses on non-digital distractions, such as woodworking and playing the guitar.

And:

Jessica Lamb celebrated 15 years with our utility in September. She started as an engineering intern while she was completing her bachelor’s degree and was hired immediately upon graduation from Florida State University (Go ‘Noles!). She is now the Manager of Distribution System Planning, where she supervises a team of 15 trying to harden our distribution system against extreme weather. Hardening the distribution system is easier than keeping wildlife out of our equipment! During her lunch hour, you often can spot Jessica jogging around campus as she prepares for a half-marathon next year.

 

 

2. Recommended Recipes

After keeping up with work peers, employees next need to answer the age-old question: What’s for dinner? If you don’t want to nuke a frozen lasagna for your family, here are some easy recipes that are sure to bring a smile to your family’s faces.

Five-Can Taco Soup

And:

Strawberries with Brown Sugar & Sour Cream or Yogurt

 

 

3.  A Day in the Life

Next, what do my colleagues actually do in their jobs? What does an Information Security analyst do all day? Have our meter readers ever been bitten by dogs (hope not!)? What about their out-of-office time? Who’s got an interesting or unusual hobby? Here’s an idea:

The next time you catch a cold, or your allergies start kicking up, or your migraines come back, you should see Brenda Sue Jimenez. She’s not a medical doctor, a pharmacist, or a homeopathic healer, but she’s got a product that will make your day. It’s homegrown … honey!

Brenda Sue, a financial analyst, has been raising bees for nearly a decade. “I had a friend doing it, and I thought it was interesting,” she said.

She produces about 50 pounds of honey per year from the 100,000 or so bees she tends in two colonies at her home. Last year was a great year: 125 pounds! She keeps a ready stash of 1-lb and 2-lb containers at his desk in the administration building. But she said she does it for the joy, not the money.

Communications Tip: There are specific ways you can enliven the content and boost the readership of your employee communications. A better-connected workforce is a more productive workforce.

 

4. News at Your Utility

OK, now we move onto what’s happening at your utility.  Here are two ideas:

Math mavens and science superstars will be battling in this year’s STEM Bowl on January 9, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, at the administration building. Our utility sponsors this annual battle of the brains to show its support for math and science education. If employees have a student at a local middle school who knows the difference between Pi and a slice of pie, encourage them to join this year’s contest. After the competition, all participants are invited to the Recreation Center for a free swim followed by a BBQ, where their parents will staff the grill.

And:

End your year on a bright note by visiting the Health Expo at the administration building December 5 and 6, where you can visit with over 50 exhibitors showcasing the latest health, wellness, nutrition, fitness, and medical tips for living a longer and healthier life. There will be workshops on financial planning and diabetes prevention. Enter a raffle for a free pair of Hoka walking shows. Pick up some healthy snacks. Grab a free water bottle. Invest in yourself and your family. The Health Expo is open from 7:30 am to 6:30 p.m. on both days.

 

5. View from the Corner Office

Finally, no employee communication vehicle would be complete without a word from the Top Dog. Fortunately, there’s a lot going on in our industry, as well as within most utilities, so it’s really a matter of picking one monthly must-share moment from the Top Dog’s list. Here are two ideas:

“We faced some tough challenges this year, including restoring power after the derecho storm and keeping the lights on during the summer wildfires. I am really proud to say that, by working together, we were able to meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.”

And:

“Give yourself a hand, employees! Our new 25-megawatt solar generating station not only met our state’s clean power requirements, it came in at a lower cost than other options. This new power source was built following employee suggestions raised during our annual integrated resource planning workshop.”

 

You get the idea. You can insert hyperlinks in

articles to solicit feedback and suggest future article topics. The goal of employee communications is to build employee commitments to each other. A better-connected workforce is a more productive workforce. After all, isn’t that what the leaders want?

For additional resources on Employee Engagement, check out the EEC website here.

 

 

Photo credits: iStock unless otherwise noted

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EEC Survey on AI in Utility Communications

Remember the survey we sent out a few weeks ago? If you didn’t get a chance to respond then, you can do so right now here.

We would like to get some feedback from utility communicators about if, and how, they are using generative AI, such as ChatGPT, Bard, Copilot, and other platforms, in their work. So, if you have a few minutes to spare, please complete the survey! Thank you.

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