Write On Target Blog

Hola. Salut. Hallo. Привет. Hej.

Most of us will recognize one of the above as meaning “Hello.” Albeit the Russian one stumped a few of us; but with an accompanied wave of the hand, we would have figured it out.

Would the translation of HR buzz words hold up as well? Many terms are barely in the English dictionary. And what gesture could possibly make “coinsurance” understandable?

In honor of February being the month to celebrate diversity, we’re wondering how you handle communicating with your diverse workforce. Whether it’s a mix of races, cultures or generations, you have communication barriers that may interfere with understanding.

Translating is great…unless deductible means pig in Spanish. Take the extra step to ensure your translations are accurate. Find someone within your organization who understands the native language and culture to review the piece you’ve translated. Not everything translated stays in the same context. Some pieces may have to be rewritten even after translation to ensure the message is truly accurate and understandable.

Consider your communication vehicles. We all read messages through different avenues – some like electronic messages through email or posted online; while others prefer a printed piece that they can take home. Get a pulse of what your employees prefer. You don’t have to use every single communication vehicle available to you, but consider what’s out there and repurpose your messages to reach the majority of your audiences.

Embrace the diversity of your workforce and try new ways of communicating to your employees.

Coinsurance, out-of-pocket maximum, deductible, oh my!

Write On Target is in the throes of picking its health plan for 2012. And although we pride ourselves on knowing a lot about health care, we are having trouble deciphering some of the jargon-ridden materials. Imagine how your employees feel. Remember: Confusion leads to frustration which leads to a low opinion of valuable benefits.

 So how do you get away from jargon?

 Write it the way you’d say it… in plain English. (Or, in the dialect most common to your audience.)

 The more complex the information, the more important it is that you speak clearly in plain language. Ask yourself these two questions to avoid falling into the jargon trap:

1. Does the average person know the terminology being used?
2. Is this how I would explain it in a normal conversation?

 If you answer no to either or both questions… rewrite until you get it right.

 Tip: Whenever you grapple with writing a particularly complex section, sit down and explain the concept to someone outside the HR department. Play with the wording until it makes perfect sense to your volunteer, and then write down what you said.

 More tips on how to write in plain language to come in future blogs.

Over the past year, we’ve attended many HR functions and conferences. Even spoke at a few of them. And we noticed some recurring themes as to the challenges that HR folks are facing, namely:

1. Dealing with multiple generations in the workplace;
2. Retaining talent;
3. Becoming less tactical and more strategic and;
4. Adapting to new technologies.

Since we’re all about supporting HR professionals to be as successful as possible, we put on our thinking caps and developed some ideas as to how communications can help. You can read our article at http://www.writetarget.com/top_four_challenges_HR_is_facing_in_2012.pdf. Hope our tips and examples help you to make 2012 one of the best ever!

After the rush of Annual Enrollment, next on our “to do’s” is updating new hire and onboarding materials. This got us thinking about the idea of “keepboarding”… trying to keep the employees you have by reminding them of why they came to work for the company in the first place. You invest such time and energy in talking to new hires. When do you retell the story to veteran employees?

Help employees retain what you told them day one, so you help the company retain the employee long term.

 Two ideas…

• 90-day check-up: The typical probationary period has ended; the manager is reviewing performance and revisiting expectations. What if this time was also used to see if the new employee has any questions about how his benefits or other HR programs work? Understanding leads to appreciation.
• Re-orientation: Once a year, every year, hold a Company-wide (or location-wide/plant-wide) meeting to re-orient employees with your benefits and HR programs. Just use a skinny-down version of the onboarding presentation. Plus, take the opportunity to spotlight some of the under-used programs and address common questions or misunderstandings.

We understand we may be over-simplifying the idea of employee retention. A lot more goes into it than just benefits. But it may be an overlooked piece at your company. Keepboarding is something you can start doing today.

By Elizabeth Borton

You might ask yourself, “What does living on a boat have to do with HR communications?” Well, I gave a speech on just that topic last week at a joint meeting of the Indiana Compensation & Benefits Professionals and the Indy SHRM. (Great group of folks! Really enjoyed it.)

As I prepared, I looked back at the blog I wrote while my husband and I cruised on our 42’ sailboat for nine months (billandboop.blogspot.com). The blog brought back a lot of great memories and reminded me of many lessons I learned along the way that absolutely apply to HR communications. The most important lesson was simply this: “less is more.”

You see, when you live on a boat you have to prioritize and limit what you bring aboard. You have no car, so you can only buy the amount of groceries that fit into a backpack or on the handlebars of your bike. Your wardrobe (if you can call it that) is limited to what can fit in one drawer and a two-foot closet. You get the picture.

The same is true with your HR communications. Less is more. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen folks try to stuff everything about a subject into a simple brochure. The result? Employees get confused and overwhelmed and toss it aside. Then HR wonders why “no one reads anything we send out.”

Hey, I’ve been a writer all my life. I would love to think that everyone hangs on my every word, but they don’t. Keep in mind that whenever employees see something from your HR group, they only want to know three things:

1. What’s this about?
2. How’s it impact me?
3. What do I need to do, by when?

So the next time you’re putting together a communication, think like a cruiser: prioritize your messages and limit the content. It will help your employees to navigate through the information much quicker to answer those three burning questions.

Wishing you smooth sailing in the coming year!