Internal communication is frequently taken for granted in many corporate environments. There is often little to no set structure or strategy to form the backbone of internal communications.
That being said, did you know that internal communication can improve worker productivity?
Yup. The research has been done and has shown that “effective lateral and workgroup communication leads to an improvement in overall company performance.”
You should, therefore, leverage the fact that effective communication is able to boost your employee recognition programme participation, reinforce company values and improve workplace productivity.
There really is no downside to this.
Here are three reasons why you should use email communication to boost recognition participation:
1. Pre-launch email communication to encourage interest and widespread participation.
Often times, because you’ve been so involved in the development of your programme and you understand the inner-workings so intimately, you forget that your company needs to be informed about the programme in as much detail as possible to eliminate any confusion and assumptions.
How?
The best way to disseminate important company information is often through email.
Your emails should be well-thought out and perhaps even designed. Take a look at the below header design for a series of emails that went out for a top South African human performance company:
They have a quarterly theme which helps them instil core company values but also highlights the strategic objectives of their recognition programme.
A typical pre-launch email could look something similar to this:
Hi Emma,
At <Company Name> we have the vision to drive growth this year.
It is with this that we are excited to inform you that our employee recognition programme will officially kick off on the 1st of May 2019.
We’ve come to understand the value of recognition and appreciation in the workplace as it aids growth, productivity and workplace satisfaction.
We’ve selected bountiXP as our recognition software as it can help us achieve the growth and culture that we’re looking for. We’ve decided to call our programme “Going for Gold”.
We will send out another email showing you exactly how to sign up on the platform and how to send your first “thanks and appreciation.”
We’re very excited about the launch of “Going for Gold” and we hope you are too.
Please feel free to reach out should you have any pertinent questions.
Dane,
Your CEO
A pre-launch email should pique interest and questions about the programme you’re about to launch. It is quite often that organisations launch recognition programmes without the knowledge of their employees.
This lack of clarity and understanding does not bode well for a high uptake and participation rate and may ultimately impact your employee engagement scores negatively.
2. Launch emails to encourage signup and platform familiarisation.
A launch email forms only one element to an entire launch strategy. If you’re interested in developing a recognition programme from scratch you can take a look here.
Your launch email could look something like this:
Hi Emma,
Thank you for attending our launch party this morning. We hope you enjoyed the coffee and doughnuts.
This email is to proudly announce that our “Going for Gold” programme has officially launched.
Our goal this year is growth. Not only revenue growth but also the growth and development of you. Our people are equally important.
So as you head into the year we want you to be on the look-out for all those growth opportunities and own them.
Here’s to you, and to us “Going for Gold”.
Please take a minute to familiarise yourself with bountiXP, our chosen recognition software.
We will send you a few emails over the coming weeks which include announcements, interesting content and insights into who’s been leading the recognition charge for the week.
Cheers,
Dane,
Your CEO
Your launch email does not only need to be one email but could consist of a series of emails. It could take an onboarding angle, or it could communicate strategic goals and objectives. It is entirely up to you and your company to decide how you want to go about this.
3. Post-launch emails to encourage ongoing participation in your programme.
This is probably our favourite series of emails. Your programme has launched, you have a comms strategy in place and probably some nifty emails designed. A goal here could be to achieve 100% sign up rate if you’re using recognition software. Your main objective, however, is about encouraging ongoing and active participation in your recognition programme.
You know the phrase “out of sight out of mind”? Well, the success of your recognition programme cannot solely be hinged on the success of your launch strategy. You need ongoing communication and reminders for your employees.
If you are running quarterly themes as in our example above, you can structure your emails with this in mind. They could look something like this:
Hi Emma,
We know that “Going for Gold” is all about driving strategic growth for our business, but also for you. It’s about leveraging the opportunities that can be found all around us.
Growth cannot be achieved alone. We need you. As the year is well underway, let’s start by looking for opportunities for growth and success in every corner.
If you haven’t yet familiarised yourself with the “Going for Gold” platform please do, by simply clicking the button below.
Cheers to a great year!
Dane,
Your CEO
It’s important to include a series of ongoing emails that encourage programme participation, they should provide ongoing information around your programme as well as any company achievements and announcements.
Key takeaways:
Communication is still one of the most undervalued contributors to high performance and competitive advantage.
Your objective is to ensure that your email communication keeps your employees involved, engaged and actively participating. Your employees’ level of interest can mean the difference between communication that’s ineffective and not read to communication that has the ability to motivate your entire workforce.
So what are you waiting for? Get communicating.
Are you looking for a way to effectively engage with your workforce? Give bountiXP a go. The first 14 days are on us.
Click the button below to get started