“What’s New and Fresh in Employee Communications?”

My answer to a common question …

It makes sense that we get this question a lot at Smith. One of the reasons savvy leaders engage consultants is because we are exposed to many diverse challenges, ideas, and solutions in a shorter amount of time. As an example, each of my clients (typically) goes through one benefits annual enrollment each year. As I’m writing this, I’m involved in two dozen (with more to come). 

So, you would expect us to bring fresh perspectives and novel insights, and we do. But, what’s innovative and fresh for one organization might not be so special at another. 

So, my answer to the question in the headline is, “It depends …”

Will Something New Catch More Attention?

According to neuroscientist Tali Sharot, PhD, coauthor of the book Look Again: The Power of Noticing What Was Always There, humans have evolved the ability to tune out things that are constant in our environment, a phenomenon known as habituation. 

“It helps for survival by ensuring that we have more resources ready to respond to new things,” Dr. Sharot said in this interview with GQ. “Otherwise, we’ll continue responding to everything.”

We can easily recognize habituation in our daily lives. At first, we get distracted by the annoying sound of nearby construction, but eventually ignore it. After a few minutes in a pizza shop, we no longer notice the aromas. The urgency of the next alert or notification on our cell phone is dulled.

There are a number of ways communicators can work to overcome this tendency of our audiences. I think the best ways are to deliver content that the audience perceives as relevant, useful, important or otherwise rewarding.

We can also make changes in what’s typical. That might involve updating a design or launching a totally new publication. But if a bell or whistle doesn’t signal something worthwhile, the novelty will eventually wear off.  

What’s “New and Fresh” for You?

Clients usually crave innovation when whatever they’re doing feels stale or ineffective. An innovation is simply a change, something new. So, it’s relative. What’s “new” to your audience depends on what you’re doing now. 

To get a sense of what might be new and fresh for your organization, it can help to frame that question more precisely. Here are a few things to consider.

• What are your current practices? Are your strategy and tactics not keeping up with the times or is the content just not delivering something the audience finds valuable?
• How much time and money do you have to spend? Generally, communication solutions are highly scalable based on a wide variety of factors that affect production value. Let’s say you’re creating a 5-minute video about your Health Savings Account. You could provide your own voice over for no additional expense, or you could choose Morgan Freeman. Same purpose, same script same visuals — very different budget. Don’t let the slick production of a sample scare you off. Similarly, don’t underestimate the power of an apparently “simple” solution. Ask how that great idea can be adapted for you.
• Who is your audience? What is your culture? What is your brand identity? About a year ago, I worked on a highly successful campaign to launch a client’s wellness program. We surpassed the client’s goals and won several industry awards. However, I wouldn’t describe the tactics we employed as “new” or “fresh,” and the creative, quite simply, would not have worked for any of my other clients. I find that the best solutions emerge from an understanding of the client’s particular environment. The outcome doesn’t have to be the latest technological marvel to be totally new and unique at your organization. 
• What are you trying to achieve? Why is a change necessary? Are you trying to educate, inform and empower, or are you trying to bedazzle? Ongoing communications do need an occasional jolt, but it should be done with care and purpose.
• What tools and technology do you have to work with? Large organizations tend to evolve unique (and complex) communication landscapes that blend platforms and technologies, including email systems, websites, intranets, learning management systems, shared drives, portals and so on. How that needle is threaded at one organization will likely be quite different than how it’s done at another. An innovative solution should be designed with the capabilities and limitations of the infrastructure in mind. 

Let’s Do a Little Digging

I’m sometimes a little hesitant to share new and fresh ideas with clients. Getting a peek at what worked at one organization can inspire fresh thinking, yet it can also be frustrating and demoralizing. Without context, it’s not unusual for me to hear: “Oh, that’s great, but that would never fly over here!” To figure out what would fly, some discovery is helpful. If you’re trying to freshen up your communications, let’s talk about what you’re doing today and what might be new and fresh for your organization.