Keeping employees properly informed is always a difficult task. New processes, procedures and initiatives need to be communicated clearly.
Important accomplishments of staff members should be shared company-wide, as should promotions, births, marriages and other major events in the lives of employees.
While smaller organizations can rely on word-of-mouth, Southern Pharmacy’s situation has hundreds of staff spread out over hundreds of miles, so the task of sharing timely information becomes more difficult.
To help solve this challenge and aid in creating a better informed workplace, Southern is relying on a tried and true method, with a modern twist.
SPS has resurrected the monthly corporate newsletter, and it’s being delivered to our employees via our newly installed company intranet set up using Microsoft’s SharePoint system.
Named”the SPS Employee Monthly Refill,” the newsletter displays the Rx subhead: “Sig: Take 1 O.U. QM For Information Replenishment” (Take 1 in both eyes each month for Information Replenishment).
Each month, supervisors and managers from all three Southern locations submit the information they want to communicate, which is then edited and formatted into a master document, ready for distribution at the end of each month.
The articles, which include both text and pictures, provide a full-color way for staff to communicate their information. The benefits of online distribution include a reduction in the use of paper and printing resources, a built-in archival system and the fact that the newsletter is available to everyone simultaneously since all employees have access to the company intranet.
Reaction to the project have been very positive and stories with accompanying pictures are being submitted frequently.
Bob Saturn, Southern’s Corporate Communications Manager commented, “We feel this way to communicate works quite nicely with Southern’s motto of “Old Fashion Values…Innovative Ideas.”
