Seemingly minor changes can lead to major results, so taking “small steps” to improve your health and wellness communication is smart.
This year, you might have ambitious plans for improving employee engagement and interaction — redesigning your company’s intranet, launching a YouTube video channel, etc. — but also keep in mind 3 timeless tips. They might seem trivial, but they can help your communication triumph:
1. Headlines are critical.
You want employees to read and react — to pay close attention, understand the point, and respond accordingly. But realistically, how can you get their eyes to see (and their neurons to fire) when they’re getting bombarded with messages?
People don’t read. They scan, seeking instant gratification and simplicity. Because attentions wander, make sure your workplace messages aren’t “lost” on employees because they literally can’t be found (hidden in the body copy).
Emphasize headlines. Spend time on them so they (1) pique interest and (2) accurately reflect the main point, in that order.
Also, break up long copy by including subheads, call-outs, bullet lists, charts and graphs.
2. Don’t discount the power of print.
Despite the rise of “new media,” the print medium isn’t dead, it’s just changing. To maximize its effectiveness, you need to make print more timely and customized.
Consider print’s advantages: People trust it. They feel comfortable using it. They can’t fast-forward past it. Print doesn’t delete. It can draw the eye to content and photos with effects, and papers that make readers want to touch and feel your message.
Today, you can use print to enhance the impact of other media. Direct mail, poster campaigns and brochures can lead people to Websites, videos, and social media sites — and vice-verse.
Make print part of your media mix.
3. Simple Beats Complex. Small Beats Big. Easy Beats Hard.
Improved health and a spike in wellness program participation won’t happen overnight. Well-crafted messages can spur employees to action, but change is more realistic when it’s less idealistic — when it encourages minor changes rather than massive overhauls.
Smart wellness communication aims to move unhealthy people an inch forward on the spectrum, not push them to lose mega-inches from their waistlines. While some changes — quitting smoking, for example — are foundations of healthful living, simple lifestyle improvements such as moderate walking and switching to fat-free milk can lower weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol.
Ease instead of urge. Say it quick, and make it stick. Baby steps are fine. One thing at a time.
Want more insight? Start here:
• Download Hope Health’s free eBook, “New Perspectives in Wellness & Benefit Communications.” A treasure-trove of communication tips and tricks written in a fast-paced, easy-to-read format.
• Hope Health’s Media Planning Tool. Answer a few questions, and the tool will show you a pie chart, suggesting an estimate of how you might want to organize your workplace communication between print and electronic media.
• Post a comment or start a conversation and share your insight on communication here on our Facebook page.
