Newsletter

TN HR

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-22-05 AT 04:06PM (CST)[/font][br][br]What sort of ideas can you guys give me on what to include on a one-page monthly company newsletter. I would like to keep it as brief as possible, yet have it jam-packed with meaningful information.

This would be an in-house job (so, Don, the Pulitzer-prize winning publication you sent me would be too much), easy to maintain, update and manage.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

EDIT:

I accdientally posted this in HR HAR HAR and have subsequently asked the editors to move it.

HRCalico

Since this is still here, I think my post will move when it moves. It depends on what you want to accomplish with your newsletter. We use ours to talk about projects we're working on to help people have a big picture view of work. I like to use it to give kudos - this person did well on this, etc. Also I like to include some personal stuff - these people have birthdays this month, these people are celebrating their work anniversaries. And I like to include tidbits like so and so is in the local opera house's play on these days or this 2nd shift employee just became a grandma.

If you're looking for websites from which to quote meaningful motivational information or safety facts, I don't have those. Sorry, Gene. Hope the rest is vaguely helpful.

Whirlwind

Don't forget despair.com for motivational material.

LivindonSouth

The best thing you can do is delegate it, or at best, give it life and then 'get away from it'. Have someone volunteer or come up with a committee to keep it going unless you want to be saddled with yet one more thing that manages your time and 'whispers deadline' at you on a recurring basis.

My suggestion would be to ask other HR professionals in your local circle to send you over a copy of theirs to take a look at. Maybe your SHRM counterparts will have newsletters that they'll bring to the next luncheon. Seriously.

System

I would farm it out, as Don suggests, but keep a column for HR. I ran a series on FLSA - in fun, lay terms. I ran another series on the group health with articles about pre-authorizing, what is 'reasonable and customary' fees, etc. You have to be a little creative or no one will read it and understand it. Submit your article to someone else to include in the newsletter. If you take on the project, it will bloom and in no time you'll be saddled with another 'drainer.'

lorrie

Ours is a pretty basic one-page monthly newsletter. I print employment anniversaries and employee birthdays. I also print a few sentences about each new employee that month. (I now have new employees sign a form during orientation stating that it is ok for me to print this info.)

Then I include info about current issues: 401(k) enrollment/change period, health insurance enrollment or benefit information, holiday schedules, company events, etc.

I usually copy some safety information on the backside. Topics include warehouse safety, driving safety, or even reminders on general stuff like the importance of seatbelts or sunscreen. I've also done health topics such as reminders on healthy eating, exercise, etc.

HRLASS

I like the one page idea and the KISS principle - keep it short! Our is four pages and I rarely get through it on a timely basis. I suggest employee kudos or features (ask dept. employees to report on each others interests???); health/weather info (stay hydrated in heat and wear gloves in cold - sometimes we all forget); company promotions as in walks for charity or clean-ups; FLSA/FMLA/ADA/etc mini-facts/definitions/reminders, i.e. don't forget to report all your time on a timely basis, no overtime without approval, etc.; dress code reminders; computer frustration items, etc. Keep a file of trivia and pull things out when you see them. Good sources are SHRM newsletters, HR Hero This Week, the daily paper and the Forum. Watch for copyrighted material, but there are enough things to summarize you should be able to do it, and ask for contributions.

System

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 08-24-05 AT 10:08AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Our company newsletter is longer than one page, but here are ideas for copy:

- note from CEO or president on what's going on in the company

- promotions, employee anniversaries, new employees (New Kids on the Block), employee birthdays, new babies born to employees, marriages

- Peer Praise - praising co-workers for going the extra mile

- Family Affairs - employees writing about their vacations, family events, etc.

- Q&A section for answering questions submitted by employees

- Classifieds for employees to list items they'd like to sell

Since we're a publishing company, we have someone in the editorial department coordinate getting all the copy and getting it set up and printed. HR submits information but they aren't responsible for the newsletter.

Leslie

Ours is biweekly, 4 pages. We produce and print it ourselves, 1200 copies. It's a pain. We have a lot of what Christy stated, plus, as part of an entertainment/hospitality industry we advertise the special events, new happenings, etc.

I created the darn thing in October 1994 and didn't find someone to delegate it to until October 2001! She went on vacation today, so guess who gets it back for tomorrow's distribution? Be careful what you begat!

gismo

Good Morning, I don't see how you would be able to keep a monthly company newsletter to one page. We are in our 3rd month of production for our companys newsletter. Everyone loves it. But, ours is running about 4 pages. We do the same as some have already mentioned, b-days, employment milestones, CEO/President updates, new EE's (I too, get auth from new EE at orientation)department updates. We have 5 seperate locations so when one office has a party we have taken pictures and include the pictures along with the write up of the party. (For our summer picnic, we created our own Survivor contest, and had a blast!)

It originally took 3 of us to get this newsletter formatted and going but need the continue help of everyone to keep the information coming in.

Good Luck, It can be a fun experince if you can get more help in the production of the newsletter, without that it will be very overwhelming.

PS: We needed a name for our newsletter and decided because it is for all EE's we wanted to include all EE's in naming the newsletter. We had everyone submit a name and gave a deadline for the submissions, then I sent all the names back out to everyone and had them vote for their favorite, majority ruled and we now have a newsletter name. It was fun and really got people involved in the process.