How to Avoid Spamming Your Employees - Advisory · How to Avoid Spamming Your Employees Kate...

HR Advancement Center

How to Avoid Spamming

Your Employees

Kate Vonderhaar

Practice Manager

HR Advancement Center

[email protected]

©2015 The Advisory Board Company • advisory.com

6

“There’s One Thing I Hate, All the Noise, Noise, Noise”

Source: HR Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

Change Fatigue Versus Amount of Communication

Over-Communication Often a Key Driver of Change Fatigue

Level of

Employee

Change

Fatigue

Amount of Change Communication

Not enough information

triggers staff anxiety,

uncertainty, distrust,

and resistance to

change…

… but too much

communication leads to

information overload,

confusion about priorities,

and additional stress


7

Avoid Three Common Mass Communication Pitfalls


Common Mass

Communication

Pitfalls

Emails Don’t Have

Clear Action Steps

Organization Sends

Overwhelming Number

of Emails

Leaders Aren’t

Prepared to Answer

Staff Questions

1.Communication

Hierarchy

2.Mass

Communication

Cap

3.Directive Email

Color-Coding

4.Tiered Leader

Communication

Best Practices to

Overcome Pitfalls


8

Building a Change Communication Hierarchy

CHOMP’s Tiered Communication Channels

Email

Intranet

All Other Channels (e.g., posters, table tents, flyers)

Organization sends only most

important information via mass

email; in turn, staff expected to

check email as regular part of job

Centralized intranet hub captures

and stores key change information

for quick, on-demand staff access;

many emails link back to intranet

Other channels used to reinforce

key messages, ensure widespread

staff awareness of priorities

Source: Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula,

Monterey, CA; HR Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

Practice #1: Communication Hierarchy


9

Source: Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA;

HR Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

Case in Brief: Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula

• 207-bed community hospital located in Monterey, California

• Winner of 2011 Advisory Board’s Excellence in Engagement Award

and consistent industry leader in sub-set of engagement questions

about communicating with employees

• Leadership recognized over-reliance on mass emails to communicate,

felt too much information lost in employees’ inboxes

• Decided to limit mass emails by blocking access to organization-wide

distribution list and rigorously vetting mass emails before sending

• Organization-wide emails convey only most urgent and important

information; intranet used to disseminate supplementary, non-urgent

information for employees to access as desired

Building a Change Communication Hierarchy


10

Dialing Down the Email Noise

Executive Gatekeepers Permit Only High-Priority Mass Emails

Source: Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA;

HR Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

CHOMP’s Vetting Process for Organization-Wide Emails

Block Distribution

List

Standardized

Request Protocol

Evaluate Message

Content

Make “Go/No-Go”

Decision

1

2

3

4

Organization blocks staff from using employee-wide

distribution list; only communications department

and six executives have access

Staff required to submit formal request for any

employee-wide emails to their respective executive

Gatekeepers make final call; if approved, requestor

granted one-time permission to send organization-

wide email

Executive gatekeepers evaluate message content

for importance and “necessity to send”

Nu

mb

er o

f Mass E

mails


11

Establishing a Standardized Email Request Process


Organization-Wide Email Request Form

Organization-wide email requests must be submitted to VP

overseeing your function. Please use the template below to

format requests. All fields are required.

Today’s Date:

Intended Audience:

VP to Approve/Disapprove:

Subject Line:

Date Email Should Be Sent:

Message Purpose: Explain the purpose of this email and

why it needs to be sent to all employees.

Alternative Communication Modes: Detail other methods of

communication utilized and explain why inadequate.

Message Content: Include key dates/deadlines and bulleted

action steps. Use clear, concise language. Provide a

link to further information on the intranet (if applicable)

or your contact information in case of follow-up inquires.

Consistent format

allows for quick

evaluation, processing

Requestors must justify

need for all-employee

email; encourages self-

screening of email

requests to drive down

number of submissions


12

Driving Intranet Utilization

Proven Intranet Improvement Tactics

Strategies for Improving

Intranet UtilizationCapsule Description

Link all channels

back to intranet

Newsletters, emails, text messages, etc. all provide brief snapshot of

information, but also include links back to intranet for more

House role-critical

tools and resources

Intranet only means to access EMR, employee time and attendance

tracker, benefits information, and other key employee resources; this

ensures all employees visit intranet at least sporadically

Highlight most

urgent information

New and important information presented in eye-catching, prominent

location on webpage; all information organized intuitively for easy

navigation and searching

Make it fun

Fun employee hooks such as daily polls, quizzes with prizes, videos,

and “pictures of the day” encourage regular intranet use; consider

incorporating interactive social media to improve knowledge sharing

and appeal to staff’s social side



13

Ahead of the Pack in Communication Effectiveness

Source: Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA; Advisory Board Survey Solutions,

Employee Engagement Initiative Database, 2013; HR Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

1) Staff responding “Agree” or “Strongly Agree.”

Percentage of Staff Agreeing1 with the Statement “I Am Kept

Informed of the Organization's Future Plans and Direction”

n=257,837

National Benchmark CHOMP

58%

67%


14

Enforcing a Hard Cap on All-Employee Emails

Barnett1 Limits Mass Emails to Three Per Week


Practice #2: Mass Communication Caps

Number of Corporate Emails by Week

Week of

Mar 31

Week of

Apr 7

Week of

Apr 14

Week of

Apr 21

Barnett1 enforces

strict three corporate-

email-per-week limit

to reduce noise; cap

relaxed only in cases

of emergency

1) Pseudonym.


15

Enforcing a Hard Cap on All-Employee Emails

Case in Brief: Barnett Corporation1

• Large retailer with over 2,000 stores across North America

• In 2008, instituted hard cap of three corporate-wide emails per

week after store managers complained of too-frequent messages

disrupting workflow

• Corporate-wide emails only sent on Mondays and Tuesdays to

respect store managers’ busy end-of-week schedules

• Caps resulted in 60% reduction in number of company-wide emails


1) Pseudonym.


16

A Strict Timeframe for Corporate Emails

Isolating the Most Advantageous Time for the Recipient


Sample Barnett1 Email Calendar

April 2013

Sun Mon Tues Weds Thurs Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

Corporate-wide emails

sent on Mondays and

Tuesdays only; timing

reflects business rhythm

and shelters managers’

typically hectic end-of-

week schedules

Health care leaders

may opt to send emails

at fixed time of day or

certain day of week,

based on patient flow;

aim to establish clear

routine so clinical staff

proactively check email

at these times

1) Pseudonym.


17

Applying Email Restrictions at Two Levels

Corporate-Level Email Caps Store-Level Email Caps

• All corporate employees, including

C-suite, must adhere to three

corporate-email-per-week maximum

• Strict cap and day-of-week restriction

prevents information overload and

allows for more consistent manager

workflow at downstream offices

• Although not required, many

directors also apply email cap

within individual stores

• Cap typically set at three or four

store-wide emails per week



18

Crafting Action-Oriented Emails

Source: UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA; HR Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

Practice #3: Directive Email Color Coding

Excerpt of UPMC “Nursing Weekly” Email

Dear Colleagues: Here is the Nursing Update for the week of

September 5, 2012

As a reminder, Red means action; Green means for your information

and exploration; and Black is communication.

Central Sterile Processing Career Ladder update: Attached are all of

the updated Central Sterile JDs and a summary chart of the minimum

requirements required for each of the positions in the ladder. Please

review and send any comments/feedback that you have by September

19, 2012.

Peer review forms: As discussed in the CNO meeting, attached are the

paper/email versions of the peer review forms. If you are not using e-

performance for peer review, these are the only other acceptable

documents to use.

Articles from NEJM and RWJ: Sharing two articles; the first is by Zeke

Emanuel et al. in the NEJM on cost containment that includes removing

practice barriers for APRNs and the other is from RWJ and is an update

on advances on IOM recommendations in the area of primary care.

Includes limited

number of brief,

important updates

Color-coded to

differentiate action

items from FYIs


19

Crafting Action-Oriented Emails

Source: UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA; HR Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

Case in Brief: UPMC

• 4,500-bed, 20-hospital integrated health system headquartered in Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania

• Chief nurse executive established email color coding system to delineate

types of information and call attention to most important updates

• Red indicates action items, green indicates items to share with staff, and

black communicates any other information

• Emails with red action items require nurse managers to respond to Director of

Strategic Initiatives; director follows up with non-compliant nurse managers


20

Indicating Email Priority in the Subject Line

1) Pseudonym.

Priority Color Coding Scheme at Fowler Corporation1

Color Capsule Description Example Content Sample Subject Line

WhiteGlobal message, highly important

and relevant to all staff

CEO announces

financial results,

strategic plans

WHITE: 2012 Accomplishments

and 2013 Priorities

Red

Message highly important and

relevant to all staff but required

follow-up may vary by department

Changes to culturally

sensitive corporate

policies

RED: Important HR Policy Update

Regarding Gift Acceptance

Yellow

Message requires action or follow-

up but relevant only to particular

business unit

New process roll-out

in R&D

YELLOW: R&D Managers Must

Attend Process Training on Friday

Green

Message includes nice-to-know

information; no action or follow-up

required

Reminder about

employee volunteer,

social opportunities

GREEN: Optional Employee

Volunteer Day on Thurs, Apr 25



21

1) Pseudonym.

Indicating Email Priority in the Subject Line

Case in Brief: Fowler Corporation1

• Global pharmaceutical corporation with over 50,000 employees,

headquartered in Europe

• In 2008, head of internal communications created process for

triaging organizational emails based on content type, urgency,

and intended audience

• Urgent emails marked “White” or “Red” depending on level of

follow-up required; non-urgent emails marked “Yellow” when

pertaining only to specific business units, or “Green” when

providing simply nice-to-know information

• Message “color” clearly specified in email subject line



22Practice #4: Tiered Leader Communication


Giving Leaders a Weekly “Heads-Up”

Components of Tiered Communication

Communications

team consolidates

need-to-know

information for

leaders in one

email at same time

each week

Email uses consistent

structure and color

scheme, making it

easy for leaders to scan

Managers equipped

with “frontline version”

of message to share

with staff

Leaders find out first

so they can share

information with their

staff before all-staff

announcement is made


23

Source: Scripps Health, San Diego, CA; HR Advancement center interviews and analysis.

Make It Easy for Leaders to Share Information

with Staff

Information to Share Directly with Staff

5-Minute News to Know

(Week of March 23, 2015)

All staff will soon be evaluated according to Teamwork, Accountability,

Service, Innovation, Integrity, Excellence, Efficiency and Compliance. The online

Scripps Career Center (SCC) includes an improved performance management

process and one set of performance elements based on Scripps’ Principles.

• To align all work with Scripps strategic objectives, staff, have been assigned

two performance objectives for FY15. These performance objectives are

directly aligned to Scripps strategic objectives, and are reflective of

performance objectives assigned to your manager. The performance

objectives results will NOT be used to calculate your merit increase in FY15

(performed August-September 2015), but will be incorporated into staff

performance evaluations for FY16 (performed August-September 2016). Your

manager will review your performance objectives and the performance

elements with you, but you may also log in to the SCC to review.

• As published last month, the performance management module will be

available July 20 – Aug. 15 for self-assessments and Aug. 1 – Sept. 30 for

your manager to complete your performance evaluation.

Go to the Performance Management website for more information. Additional

training and information will be available in the HR Hubs before the self-

assessment process begins July 20.

Information maps to

weekly manager

email topics

Consolidates all

need-to-know

information for staff

to easily digest in

five minutes

https://scripps.taleo.net/smartorg/iam/accessmanagement/login.jsf?redirectionURI=https://scripps.taleo.net/smartorg/smartorg/common/toc.jsf?lang%3Den&TARGET=https://scripps.taleo.net/smartorg/smartorg/common/toc.jsf?lang%3Den

https://insidescripps.org/SiteAssets/documents/corp-departments/hr/performance-management/Perf_Elements_Staff.pdf

https://insidescripps.org/SiteAssets/documents/corp-departments/marketing/brand-center/ICOM-0672PrinciplesHandbook5x7 5Rev3 mk FINAL.pdf

https://scripps.taleo.net/smartorg/iam/accessmanagement/login.jsf?redirectionURI=https://scripps.taleo.net/smartorg/smartorg/common/toc.jsf?lang%3Den&TARGET=https://scripps.taleo.net/smartorg/smartorg/common/toc.jsf?lang%3Den

https://insidescripps.org/pages/corp-departments/hr/performance-management.aspx


24

Source: Scripps Health, San Diego, CA; HR

Advancement center interviews and analysis.

Make It Easy for Leaders to Share Information with

Staff: Case Study Details

Case in Brief: Scripps Health

• Four hospital, five-campus, 1,343-bed system based in

San Diego, California

• Communications team sends out weekly manager email

to all leaders, weekly emails include Five-Minute News to

Know a streamlined version of need-to-know information

to be shared with all staff

• For complex or sensitive announcements leaders receive

resources to help them share information with staff;

resources may include PowerPoint template, talking

points, Q&A, or infographic


25


Give Leaders Time to Share Information with Staff

M

M T W Th F

Send weekly

leader email

Send housewide

communication

Leaders ask clarifying questions

and share information with staff

Recommended Timing for Regular Tiered Communication


26Bonus Practice: Evening Email Blackout

Source: Edelman, Toronto, Canada; HR Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

Establishing a Realistic Email Blackout

Edelman Toronto’s 7pm-7am No-Email Rule

MEMO

To: Edelman Toronto Office Staff

From: Lisa Kimmel, President

Re: 7pm-to-7am No-Email Rule

Do not send e-mails between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m., UNLESS it is an absolute

emergency. If you must get in contact with someone, please do so by phone

as we do not expect for employees to be checking e-mail from home during

these hours. If you are working during these hours, and need to

communicate via email, please delay delivery until the following morning.

The Toronto Leadership Team has committed to abiding by this new rule, so please

call us out if it's not being followed.

We recognize that this e-mail rule does not apply to other Edelman offices, our

clients or agency partners, so it may not always be possible to follow it. That said, if

we all do it the majority of the time, it should help to minimize stress to a certain

extent.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Lisa

Employees can

work after-hours

but should delay

email delivery until

the morning

Executives

acknowledge rule

cannot always be

followed but

encourage good-

faith effort


27

Source: Edelman, Toronto, Canada; HR

Advancement Center interviews and analysis.

Establishing a Realistic Email Blackout:

Case Study Details

Case in Brief: Edelman Toronto

• Toronto, Canada office of the global public relations

firm Edelman

• Implemented 7pm-7am email blackout in 2010; rule still

in effect

• Edelman offices around the world beginning to adopt

similar email blackout rule


28

Avoid Three Common Mass Communication Pitfalls


Common Mass

Communication

Pitfalls

Emails Don’t Have

Clear Action Steps

Organization Sends

Overwhelming Number

of Emails

Leaders Aren’t

Prepared to Answer

Staff Questions

1.Communication

Hierarchy

2.Mass

Communication

Cap

3.Directive Email

Color-Coding

4.Tiered Leader

Communication

Best Practices to

Overcome Pitfalls


29

Source: Advisory Board

A Handy Reminder About How to Keep

Your Inbox (More) Manageable

Download the infographic

https://www.advisory.com/research/hr-advancement-center/resources/posters/how-to-be-an-inbox-ninja


30


Build Your Own Custom List of Tips for Your Team

Customizable Reminder Card with Email Tips

Reminder Card Available

https://www.advisory.com/research/hr-advancement-center/events/webconferences/2017/how-to-avoid-spamming-your-employees-q4-17


31

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