Want to motivate your staff? Make your message stand out!

Reaching staff is often not the problem. Getting them to actually take action, however, is. An email is quickly dismissed, a message on the intranet gets lost amongst other updates, and a poster on the wall is barely noticed after a few days. Yet the whole point of internal communication is to get staff to take action: to complete a survey, sign up, give feedback or take part in a campaign.

That is why it helps to make internal communications not only digital, but also physical and eye-catching. A physical communication captures attention in a different way and can also remain on display for longer on a desk, counter or workstation.

The most important rule when it comes to employee engagement is simple: Make it clear straight away why the message is relevant and what you expect from the other person. Keep the call to action brief and specific. “Have your say”, “Scan the QR code”, “Sign up” or “Get involved” work better than a long explanation without a clear next step.

Repetition also plays an important role. A message that appears just once is easily forgotten. An eye-catching card, cube, pop-up or other direct mail item can remain visible for days or weeks and therefore serves both as a means of communication and as a reminder.

Breman: motivating staff with a cube

For Breman, we created an eye-catching cube to promote the staff satisfaction survey. The aim was to encourage staff to share their views and take part in the survey.

The different aspects of the Pop-up Cube were used to convey the key messages briefly and clearly. For example, it was emphasised that the survey takes only about 15 minutes, is completely anonymous, and that staff feedback helps to further improve the organisation.

Messages such as “"Say what feels right, say what could be improved" and “At Breman, we want to keep developing” made it clear that it was not just a matter of filling in a questionnaire, but above all about giving staff a real say.

By presenting this communication in a physical mailing As a result of this approach, a tool was created that literally remained visible to staff. The message did not disappear after the email had been opened once, but remained visible, constantly reminding staff of the campaign.

More than just a study

Such an approach can, of course, be applied more widely. Think of onboarding, safety programmes, change processes, wellbeing campaigns, training courses, staff events or the introduction of a new way of working. At LocoMail, we therefore don’t just think about what you want to say, but above all about what you want staff to do next. The right shape helps to make that step just that bit easier.