If you want your employees to get excited about the messages you’re putting out — and you want that excitement to produce better engagement — put your frontline people on the front page. Whether it’s a tangible newsletter or an annual benefits campaign, boost the impact of your messaging by leading with employees who aren’t in leadership.
Here are three ways to make frontline employees the center of your messaging:
1. FEATURE EMPLOYEE PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEOGRAPHY.
Employees want to be recognized. The best way to feature employees is to literally put the faces of frontline employees on the front page, in the hero image of your website or as the thumbnail of the video. Employee photography and videography creates heroes, and gives an authentic, friendly face to the messaging you’re putting out.
By using photos of your people, you give your comms a genuine and personal feel that stock can never replicate, making employees more likely to engage with the content you’re giving them. It’s even better if you can include some photos throughout your comms of leaders interacting with your people (which is also a great way to humanize the CEO).
2. GIVE THEM A PLATFORM.
Employees want to hear from leaders about some of the most important things happening strategically with the business, but they also want to see that the people at their level are important enough to highlight. When they see that they’re valued through these communications, you’ll improve engagement.
Make it a point to include stories from your frontline workers in your newsletters or to give them opportunities to share in town halls. These comms can be less business-focused and more personal, like holiday or diversity topics, as long as they show employees at all levels that they’re important to the company.
3. USE THEIR LANGUAGE TO SUPPORT THE VALUES.
A great way to improve the language around your values is to get employees involved in defining them. The next step is to also let them communicate the values.
Alongside quotes from the CEO and other leaders that show buy-in to the values, feature more frontline or entry-level employees sharing their take on what the values mean to them. This multiplies the effect that quotes from leaders would have on their own, showing that the values are real to your company and matter at every level and role.
All of these tips can help you engage employees who are closest to your customers and products — and better engagement brings better alignment to the vision and greater employee thriving.
Want better engagement with employees on the front line? Tribe can help.
