We’re closing off our Global Inclusion Week series with a focus on offline employees. Let’s look at how you can include everyone in the conversation.
Within your organisation, there may be a subsection of employees who are offline or have limited access to the internet outside of work. This could include field employees, factory workers and retail staff, as well as older employees who aren’t tech savvy and won’t engage with digital communications.
When it comes to communicating your all-employee share plan or rewards and benefits, you need to accommodate everyone – ensuring your communications are accessible, creative and inclusive.
Here are our top tips…
1. Print isn’t dead
You heard us right. We may be moving towards a paperless society, but there are creative ways to include printed communications to inform and engage your people.
- For your office-based employees, create eye-catching posters, recyclable coffee cups or flyers and display them in high-traffic areas. Try communal kitchens, break out areas, and bathrooms.
- If you circulate a monthly or quarterly digital magazine, create hard copies that you can post to remote employees and display in factories, warehouses and stores – wherever your employees are based.
- Instead of relying on emails to send business updates and announcements, send them as letters. You can repurpose the content and it won’t exclude your offline employees who may otherwise miss this important information.
2. The power of human interactions
People respond best to people, so it’s time to get everyone talking more.
- Encourage your leadership team and managers to interact with colleagues about their benefits and rewards, sparking new conversations and getting valuable feedback.
- Don’t rely solely on digital communications to communicate big changes, reminders and updates. Real conversations are a great way to establish what your employees think of your share plan and reward offering, and what they’d like to see more or less of.
- Give your offline employees an opportunity to have their say on important matters. Try dedicated drop-in sessions, printed surveys and in-person events. Capturing regular data will save you time figuring out how to reach specific audiences when you already know their habits and behaviours.
3. Make it personal
Personalisation is one of the best ways to engage your employees.
- Your offline employees will have access to a personal computer or mobile phone. Send personalised communications on these devices instead. They can opt-in or out at any time.
- Aim to send communications that resonate with people on an individual level and save time sending redundant communications.
- Personalisation doesn’t need to be overly complex, but it does require some thoughtful planning and resource.
If you’re unsure where to start with your offline communications, we’d love to help. Get in touch to learn more about our content and design services.
