In a business environment, recognizing and celebrating achievement is important to continued productivity. There are many routes to go about doing this, some more effective than others. One new option in the digital age is to launch a monthly newsletter dedicated to documenting employee success stories. This fun little digital document can boost morale every month and encourage positivity. A little recognition can go a long way towards making workers feel appreciated. A newsletter can be a great step towards building or maintaining a happy workforce.
There are Numerous Benefits to Highlighting Employee Success Stories
Staff that feel unappreciated and undervalued is unlikely to generate great work. It could be easy to fall into the position of feeling like what they do doesn’t matter, reducing initiative and drive. Employees that feel recognized for their hard work often go the opposite way. Acknowledging and celebrating effort and achievements increases motivation and commitment. More ideas get shared, and quality of work improves. A monthly newsletter serves as a reminder that their contributions are important. Better morale also means increased retention, saving money on rehiring and training.
When it comes to building comradery and mutual appreciation of peers and coworkers, sometimes it pays to lead by example. If employees see management recognizing their colleagues, it encourages them to follow suit. In turn setting a standard of acknowledging and appreciating the work of others. This can create a culture of peer recognition, where employees regularly support and celebrate one another. This can lead to increased collaboration and a more friendly work environment.
For companies that have made core values part of their identity, a newsletter could help there as well. Curate the content to highlight success stories that fit into the corporation’s identity. If teamwork is the central mission, then focus on team triumphs. Sustainability focused offices could include projects by individuals trying to reduce usage. Whatever the organization’s goal is, celebrate the employees who embrace it. It shows that these values aren’t just talk, but something the office truly strides towards.
Planning and Preparation is Key Before Launching a Newsletter
Before launching a newsletter, it’s important to plan out the format and what kind of content to feature. You’ll want to decide on what sections you want to include at this point. One of the most widespread inclusions is the classic employee of the month. This is a section featuring a standout employee and their recent achievements. It encourages great work and offers the chance to give one of your workers the spotlight. Teamwork should be celebrated in equal measure though, so including a section for team achievements as well should be a no brainer. In that section you’ll want to highlight successful teams and their accomplishments over the last month. A closely related section could be one focusing on specific project highlights. This part should give status updates on what is being worked on and who is involved. Rounding out the piece could be a section on personal milestones. These could include information on work anniversaries or promotions.
Gather Stories and Contributions to Build Your Letter Around
While you can and should try to come up with features yourself, you don’t need to do it alone. In fact, it will probably be a better product if other voices can contribute as well. Encourage all your coworkers to submit stories and nominations. One way to streamline the submission process is to create a dedicated email address or a web form. When writing the newsletter, try to focus on being engaging and inspiring. Since the goal is to highlight workers, including quotes from the featured employees can be a nice touch. Also adding visuals like photos or infographics can help bring the stories to life. Make sure to highlight not only the achievements themselves but the journey that led to them as well.
Distribute Your Letter to your Team and Be Sure to Get Feedback
If a newsletter is typed up but nobody can read it, does it really exist? Distribution is one of the last major steps towards realizing your newsletter. Digital newsletters distributed through email or company networks are the most popular, but by no means the only options. Some employees still prefer physical documents. Consider establishing a mailing list or stock printouts in the office. That way anyone who wants it in paper form can have it in their choice of format. Launching the newsletter, while a great accomplishment in and of itself, is only the beginning. The newsletter should improve overtime to meet the needs and expectations of the workplace. Improvement often requires constructive feedback so encourage employees to provide suggestions and critique. That way you can understand what they like and what could use improvement. Updating the newsletter based on this feedback will help it stay fresh and get better over time.
Keep Up the Newsletter to Further Recognize and Encourage Employees
Now that the newsletter as finally setup you now have a platform to celebrate your workers. A new tradition that acknowledges their achievements and sets an example. Highlight the newsletter further by hosting a meeting when it’s published. This meetup also gives an opportunity to congratulate featured employees in person. If you want to add some extra oomph to the proceedings, consider offering small personalized gifts to employees featured. This could take the form of little souvenirs or even an engraved plaque in some cases to make things even more special. It can even be an engraved pen that you give to your top three performers every month or add a perpetual plaque to your office for a permanent celebration of your team.
Improving morale and company culture, engaging employees, these are all important causes to take on. An employee success newsletter is a great way to tackle all three goals at once. Such a project requires careful planning at every step. Choosing the right setup, stories and distribution strategy will set your project up for success. Finally taking on feedback and turning it into an event will solidify it as a core company tradition. A tradition that will help staff become happier, more positive, and motivated.
