Is the employee magazine uncool in the world of IC?

When I network with other communicators and they discover that I work for easyJet, the most frequently asked question is, “How do you communicate with a remote workforce like pilots and cabin crew?”

I’m always stumped when I get asked this as the truth is, we are always trying out different things to find out what works. We’ve had some successes and some failures, some of which I will no doubt cover over the next few weeks in my guest blogger role.

One of our biggest successes at easyJet is our employee magazine called ‘Fresh’.

There is no doubt in my mind that it can be seen as a little uncool in the world of IC to say that you communicate with your people using a magazine or newsletter. However, I tend to view it as retro-chic and the truth is, our people love it so I make no apologies for it. I believe that sometimes, in our roles as communicators we can be in danger of disappearing up our own backsides (I mean that with love).

In our efforts to remain at the cutting edge of an ever-developing field, we can sometimes forget the basics. We want to be seen by our peers and potential employers to be early-adopters of new technology in our field…and there’s nothing wrong with that. Where I believe it becomes an issue is when we try to shoe-horn a new method of communicating into our organisations. One of the most important messages I took away from the recent Black Belt course was that not every method of communicating works at every organisation.

Up until last year, our magazine was a fairly tired old affair. Called ‘Plane People’ (see what we did there?) it was a big, glossy affair with lots of pictures of our people but not much in the way of real news. Our people made it clear in a survey on our communications channels, that they didn’t like the size of the magazine (A4). They also had the perception that it was expensive to produce (a big no-no in the low-cost world of easyJet). Then to top it all, it was non-recyclable, sent in a plastic sleeve and contained no real content. So in a nutshell, they hated it.

We went back to the drawing board, brought in a new designer and produced what we have now. Fresh magazine has been designed around the readership feedback. It’s small enough (A3) for our crews to carry in their flight bags, printed on recyclable paper, sent in a paper envelope and contains content that straddles a fine line between good, people focussed stories to the latest challenges facing us in the industry. In recent focus groups, feedback has been excellent (except from the CEO, but more on that in another blog).

I like to think of myself as an early adopter of technologies such as Facebook, LinkedIn and even Second Life (I dread to think what I’ve been up to since I last visited me), but I had to learn a harsh lesson in the world of IC. It’s ok to be uncool if your audience demands it.

Comments

[Sue]

Hi Steve,

Magazines and newsletters are not uncool in my book - except when the magazine gets produced for the sake of it 'because we always have done' or project managers think a fancy newsletter will miraculously transform the way people think and behave. (Then they're not uncool. They're just pointless and a waste of money.)

I recently worked on a research report about communicating with 'hard to reach' employees - so people on trains, planes, on the road, in factories, etc., often without access to technology, very infrequently in the same place at the same time for face to face sessions.

Over and over again in the case studies, print was really popular. Both magazines and - even more 'uncool' - the humble poster. For these types of audiences posters seem to go down extremely well - and as a main channel, not just a supporting one.

Regular readers might remember a post last year from Paul Massie which had, shall we say, 'a bit of a go' at social media (and received the most comments I think we've ever had!).

One of his fundamental points was that his employees had no access to technology, didn't use computers at home and had no interest in using them at work, either, so he wasn't about to force social media on them just because it was 'cool' ...

[Alex Manchester]

Intriguing stuff, Steve. I don't think it's uncool at all, given the nature of the workforce. Not everything works for everyone or every company, particularly with technology.

Something as simple as changing the paper and delivery enclosure of the newsletter to better reflect the values of the company is also so simple, but I completely see why it would work.

[Mark Mazza]

Hi Steve

Good point, well made. It's so true that we're often desperate to be seen to be cutting edge. Innovation is a great thing but not for innovation's sake. In my comms role I specialise in online media. My 'customers' often appear surprised when I challenge why they want to do something online. Quite often the reason that 'the audience prefers to receive it in this way' is towards the bottom of the list.

As communicators we should be aware of the possibilities of the online world but not let that distract us from what is the best solution.

Cheers

Mark

[Indy]

Good post Steve. Reminds me of discussions about the future of the book in our digital world. If you aren't at a desk, paper is still the best way to read things at the moment. And reading is still the easiest way to catch up with some news in between your daily tasks.