If you’re launching a new share plan, don’t leave your communications to the last minute. Having a structured, holistic approach will ensure you maximise your share plan’s impact.
It’s an exciting time! You’ve gone through the legal, tax and administration components of setting up your plan, and you’re almost ready to launch. But have you invested enough time and thought into your communications? It’s the key to unlocking your share plan’s full potential.
Having a great share plan is redundant if nobody knows about it or how it works. It’s an opportunity for your colleagues to be part of your organisation’s future success, so you need to engage, educate and empower them to get on this journey with you.
So, what does a fail-safe approach to share plan communications look like? Let’s look at the key steps involved.
Discovery phase
If you’re working with an external communications agency to deliver your campaign, arrange a discovery call. This may involve your reward or share plan managers and internal communication team. Use this opportunity to discuss your share plan, explain your needs, and give an overview of your organisation and colleagues. This will ensure both parties understand the deliverables and are on the same page. You may want to consider:
- The design and components of the plan
- Why it’s being offered – purpose and employer proposition
- Who it’s for – senior leaders or all employees
- Your existing communications – audit, tone of voice and brand guidelines
If you’re doing this in-house, you can still do your own discovery phase. These initial conversations will save you time in the long run.
Devise a strategy
This is when your employee journey and narrative come to life. It’s important to cover absolutely everybody, so they have the information they need about their share plan to make an informed decision. Your aim is to provide regular information in bite-sized chunks to guide, not overwhelm them.
Show your people that your share plan is one of the many benefits designed to support their financial wellbeing. Once your colleagues are emotionally invested, they’ll want to spend more time absorbing the information.
Whether it’s an all-employee or discretionary plan, your communications need to work for colleagues who are:
- Online or offline
- New to share plans, or already involved
- English-speaking or not
- Across all pay scales – especially important if there’s a purchase element
Once your strategy is in place with clear objectives, you’re ready to start creating amazing content!
Create your assets
Your brand identity is a representation of you, and it builds a strong bond between your reward and your people. There are countless ways you can inject personality and tell a story through your brand design.
Think about where your colleagues are based and how they search for information. Meeting your people where they are is key to getting them onboard with your message, ensuring they feel seen and heard.
Our talented team of designers work their magic every day, turning mundane communications into beautiful, functional assets. In our experience, you may need:
- Posters and emails
- Interactive brochures and Q&As
- Videos or digital solutions
- A microsite
- Presentations
If you have colleagues in multiple countries, consider what translations and printing and mailing services you’ll need.
Stay on the journey
Maximise engagement with your share plan by communicating with colleagues before, during and after enrolment. Keep them informed throughout the lifecycle of the plan with regular communication to build trust and engagement. Remember to avoid jargon and complicated language, too. You can link your communications to key events in your calendar, such as your AGM, or economic trends like changes in inflation.
Bite-sized communications are effective at engaging your audience, and it means you can have regular touchpoints along their journey. Think about how underwhelmed and disengaged you’d be if you joined an exclusive club and never heard from the founder again!
Measure your success
At the end of your launch period, you need to analyse your results. What’s most appropriate for your organisation will depend on the context. But however you choose to measure your success, use this data to inform your next move.
We recommend getting qualitative and quantitative data to give you a well-rounded insight.
Qualitative data
- Feedback from focus groups – engaged and disengaged employees
- In-person interviews
- Employee awareness and understanding
Quantitative data
- Survey results
- Participation data
- Email open and click-through rates
- Video engagement
Give this method a go and see how you can improve your processes! You can learn more about effective communications in our comprehensive share plans explainer.
Need expert guidance? Our award-wining team will ensure you deliver a successful communications launch.
