Newsletter

borntexan

Hello Again!

I am wondering if anyone has some samples of their newsletters that they would be willing to send me. After several suggestions from ya'll, I think a newsletter is a great idea.

What do you include in yours? What program are you using to create it? How often is it produced? Who has input as to content?

Thanks to All!

Leslie
[email]Leslie.I.Johnson@acs-inc.com[/email]

mrsbowden

I too am extremely interested in any information about a newsletter. I have worked here for 5 months and when I started I asked around about a newsletter and it seemed to be a pass the buck thing. So the President is stiring the pot again, and I decided a newsletter was important and I think I am going to hold on to that buck for a while and try and put one together myself. This would be my first newsletter, so any help will be appreciated.
Thanks a bunch!
[email]casseybowden@ucwv.edu[/email]

deniseE

Leslie,

Ours is published as often as we have news to put in it! Usually about quarterly. Our Press Office is responsible for the Newsletter. I think Microsoft Front Page is used to design it. Since nearly all of our staff is on a PC we've been using the email system to send it out and it's also posted on our Intranet site.

The newsletter includes summaries of any press releases, photo ops, agency events. It also has a section for healthy workplace tips. A new department or person is highlighted in the "spotlight" section. We also used to announce marriages and births...but have since stopped doing so.

I enjoy the newsletter, it's usually a nice warm fuzzy view of the agency and the things that we're doing right.

System

I do our newsletter. I run a series of articles. One series was on health care that provided information in lay terms for employees. Another series was on Fair Labor Standards - in lay terms. Those types of articles are good tools for communicating management's position and, sometimes quandary, to employees.

We also do birthdays, employment anniversaries, welcome new employees, and post current openings.

Be careful of personal announcements - not all employees are happy about that and others are offended if you overlook them.

From time to time I do a feature article on a specific department.

Occasionally someone will submit a puzzle or saying.

I like reading newsletters from other entities. Let us know what you come up with. Personally, I think a 2-pager in the paychecks is plenty.

"Sam"

jrzgrl

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-23-03 AT 01:26PM (CST)[/font][p]I don't do the newsletter, but I do send that person blurbs to include about voluntary benefits the company offers (credit union, supplemental life insurance, etc.). It is printed about every quarter, and the entire company (375 EE's) is encouraged to submit items, including marriages, engagements, births and even recipies. The announcement of such personal information would come directly from the EE, so there's no worry of including the information in the first place.

I think a newsletter is a great idea because it can be used to give recognition for years of service or a special accomplishment someone has done for the company. It can really give a sense of community to the company. Our company is broken up into 50 sites throughout an albeit small area in Philadelphia. So a lot of the EE's don't know what's going on in other divisions, and this helps connect them.

ray a

Our newsletter is published by HR monthly. We include the typical birthdays (some people DO NOT want theirs published, so we keep a list of those and check it every month), 1 year - 3 year - 5 year employment anniversaries, company announcements such as blood drives - Heart Walks - etc., interesting anecdotes... We have a customer corner where each month we highlight a different customer so our employees know more about the people they are buiding product for. There is a section on computer tips that the IS department submits with little hints on special features or shortcuts to use with MS Office applications. Then there will be a human interest article related to safety or with a seasonal message or whatever.

We use Desktop Publisher.

scottorr

Our newsletter comes out once a month. Our communications department produces the document. The front page is always a letter from the CEO. We announce new hires and terminations. I have created a section called Benefits FAQ. In this section we try to answer general benefit questions or we address and changes in regulations that affect employee benefits. We also announce any upcoming events that we are sponsoring. It is usually about 6 to 8 pages long.

HRQ

Scottorr - how do you announce terminations? Leave out the involuntary terms? I'd never thought of including terms regardless of the reason.

Our newsletter was monthly - coming back soon. One page, two sided. Topics included;
- Benefits: reminders of phone #s/websites to contact for general info, open enrollment reminders, qualifying event explanation (they never get it!), how PTO works, holiday pay, reminders of bene's that are FREE to employees
- Policy reminder: each month I included a policy and explanation of how it can apply to every day working life
- W/C - info on that month's safety topic and how it applies to work and home
- big projects happening in the company
- Employee suggestions solicitation
- employee referral bonus reminder
- whatever else is hot at the moment
- landmark employment anniversaries. Recognize the Decade Club - all employees who have been with us a decade or more

I agree with James - keep it simple or you'll never be able to keep it up.

Lola815

I use Microsoft Publisher for our monthly company newsletter. Our newsletters are usually one page (front and back) and put in with the paychecks. We list anniversaries, b-days, new employees, etc. We try to add pictures of employees when available. We have articles on safety, health, insurance and what is happening within the company. The last few months I have added a quiz section and those with the correct answers have a chance at winning a prize. The employees love it and it is fun for me also.

Miriam George

We strive to do a weekly letter called the "Blitz Update." We feature an employee, give some pertinent business information such as sales for the week and what is driving those sales numbers, maybe include a corner on wellness-related topics, etc. We post on bulletin boards in every department but do not actually make a copy for every employee. If you would like to see what we do, email me and ask for a copy: [email]mgeorge@blitzusa.com[/email].

marc

We have several different newletters, all come out monthly, except our fundraising letter, which comes out quarterly. The monthly newsletters are client driven. The one that is more employee driven is our wellness newsletter, which highlights good health choices around nutrition, exercise, etc. We list contest winners (most weight lost, most inches lost, most paces above base line), success stories, healthy recipes, motivational statements and the like.

System

Since I'm in the newsletter biz, I have some suggestions:

- Keep it simple! If it takes too much time to make the newsletter look pretty or follow a certain format, don't bother with these frills.

- Keep it current. Something that happened two months ago isn't news. I'd prefer two pages every month instead of four pages every two months.

- Involve lots of people. Invite managers to write short updates about their department. Ask ees to tell your about their kids' accomplishments, their own off-duty activities, or a co-worker who did something wonderful. Some people hate writing, so you might want to volunteer to write what they tell you. Little photos are nice, especially new ees.

- Stick to your deadlines.

Do-it-yourself newsletters are fine for most companies. Someone in your office probably can put it together in Word, Framemaker, or lots of other programs. If you want your newsletter to look real nice, you can get it professionally typeset and/or printed at a local company. For big jobs, you might want someone that specializes in newsletter publishing, like the company I work for, M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC:
[url]http://www.mleesmith.com/publishing/index.shtml[/url]

Just remember to start off simple. It's probably a lot more work than most people would expect.

James Sokolowski
HRhero.com

HR in NY

We have a monthly newsletter which our Marketing Department produces. I supply at least one article. Currently each month we are profiling a department. "What does your department do". We have 18 departments so this will last a while. We also do "Who am I". I list 5 facts about an employee and the rest have to guess who it is. It's alot of fun and we all get to learn about one another. I also supply a birthday list, an anniversary list and new employees. The rest is articles written by various employees, announcements, events, etc. The employees really look forward to it. I hand it out with the first paycheck of every month.

hrbanker

We do a newsletter every other month. It begins with a column from the CEO, generally about new products, good news, or just general pep talk. We include birthdays & anniversaries and "around the bank" with personal items sent in by the different departments & branches. These might welcome new employees to their area, congratulate new parents, etc. Our retail sales manager includes info on a new product or upcoming promotion. We also include pictures from events such as the bank picnic, special customer days, etc.

Our marketing department puts it together, copies and sends to all employees, retired employees and directors. To save postage costs, current employees receive theirs through inter-office delivery.

At one time we took pictures of new employees to include in the newsletter. We might start that again since digital cameras make it so easy.