Some clarity. I want to stop using the work fluff, because I don't think what I'm talking about is fluff. I'm not going to print that Jim in Materials Management won the tennis tournament - an actual request I had for inclusion in last month's bulletin. But I will put in an introduction of new employees, who was promoted, fundraising activities, etc. If we stop doing these bits of "news" then what have we gained? We might have managers reading it, but they should already be in the loop. There are still thousands of employees who we are trying to reach.

So my question is how does that make us, the communicators, any better than the ivory-towered administrators who remain untouchable to the masses? I don't get it.

I don't know about this one, Steve. I think we have to work with the kind of people that make up our organization, and many times that is a simple lot.

Yes, I think we should encourage them to want more than The National Enquirer, but I also think we run the risk of losing them altogether if we speak to them on a plane that is not even close to their level. Isn't it okay to have a happy medium with the fluffy stuff to draw them in and the hardball stuff in the midst of it all?

That's what seems to work at the hospital - which is a mix of nurses, doctors, housekeepers and cafeteria workers.

DATE: 04/28/2005 01:62:2P PM
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I suffered through 20 years at two different companies where I lost pages each month in the employee publication to the fluff stuff. It gets a little discouraging when you have to cut strategic stories and interviews to make room for the service anniversaries, birthdays, classifieds and new hires.

This is valuable real estate and it's a tough fight, but I finally work for a company that doesn't include these things in our flagship publication.

My boss tells people that employee communications is not about communications, it's about cultural change and driving company objectives forward. You don't do that with fluff.
We just finished profiling each of the members of our board of directors so our employees a) have confidence in our board b) understand what they do and c) learn that the board has a healthy respect for the employees and the work we do. We've done some huge Q and A's with a couple of our subsidiary presidents to show what those companies do and what their goals are. We showed how employees are saving the company money through innovation, are working safely, getting involved in the communities we serve through volunteer efforts and how we're preparing to serve our customers this summer.

Cutting out the service anniversaries etc. is not a fight you are going to win every time, but it's always worth the effort to try to gain the extra space.

DATE: 04/28/2005 02:40:6P PM
*such as sitting in a closed conference room with two IT people as they talk about bandwidth.*

HEY now...if I was going to force you to listen to me talk about bandwidth (which I would never, ever do, because I don't like talking about it) - there would have to be drinks and maybe some cheese involved. Not very scary at all!!

I always like the fluff - and sometimes, at other companies that actually HAVE newsletters, I've been sucked in by the fluff and actually read something important. Everyone likes to see their name in lights, Steve, and that comes from my rock star side. Getting that fluff recognition for your birthday, your special hobby or years of service can make your day...and if the facing page has a really good article on it, the readers MAY just turn to the next page to see what else there is. And so on, and so on...but I'm just a geek.

It's like saying that people only read the newspaper for the comics and the sale ads, and granted some people do. But the paper isn't going to stop having those items. I may go for the sale ads first, but I'm probably going to find something else readworthy while I'm at it.

Are you going to gain any readers by killing those items? Are there actually people out there who say "I'm not going to read that publication because I might have to see a page about birtthdays!!" But there might be people who pick it up to see who is having a birthday and stumble onto a real business article that they like, and so they pick up the pub the next time to see if there's something else valuable. I'm just sayin'...

DATE: 04/28/2005 10:23:0P PM
Longtime reader, first time replier. Steve, I agree...as a current internal comms practitioner -- and former yearbook editor (although happy to report that I drew the line at including the baby pictures of the grads).
In my past position, we knew from the stats that people liked reading about their colleagues. So we chose to write profiles of employees with somewhat subtle corporate messages woven into the cool, fun stuff. For example, a story about a champion windsurfer mentioned our work/life balance program. An award winner talked briefly about how we supported studying. And superstar volunteers were all good because of our focus on community giving. If it was all fluff, it wasn't the right stuff...

DATE: 04/28/2005 30:62:8P PM
Steve,
I agree with you 100%. It would be nice if I had a staff of communicators so I could publish anniversaries, etc., but I don't. I am a staff of one and my medium is the company Intranet, so I have to be very judicious in what I spend my time on. I think it’s important now more than ever for employee communicators to focus on strategic issues that impact the company. That doesn’t mean that you can’t include some of the “fluffier” information about employees. For example, I profile employees from time-to-time, but I focus the story on their role and how they contribute to the company mission. Then, I usually end the piece with a sentence or two about what the employee does outside of work, or something similar. It’s brief, but helps round out the profile and provides the proverbial “human touch.”

DATE: 04/28/2005 41:01:9P PM
Hey,

Since all these excellent comments are tied together, I'd like to respond to all of them at once.

There are two main reasons why you shouldn't do the fluff:

1. TIME. As Mark says, this crap takes a lot of time. If you are running around making sure you capture all the anniversaries, birthdays, etc., you will NOT have the time you need to do the more strategic stuff you need to be doing--i.e., spending a couple of hours with the finance folks so you understand the company's financials and can explain them to employees in terms they understand.

2. PERCEPTION: RebeccaJulie'sFriendWhomILove, you say, "Are there actually people out there who say "I'm not going to read that publication because I might have to see a page about birtthdays!!" . . . . . . YES!! You know who those people are? The PEOPLE WHO RUN THE COMPANY!

In employee communications, we have a massive, crippling identity problem. For years, we've been viewed by leaders as little sissy-ass liberal arts majors who want to send out our weekly memos asking for birthdays and anniversaries.

And too often, that's true. And when we spend our time and money and effort on the fluff, that perception is reinforced.

It has to be one or the other. It can't be both. Because "both" don't work together.

Steve

DATE: 04/28/2005 49:85:8P PM
I agree with the folks who choose to keep the fluff... It may not be "useful" or "necessary," but we need to keep things light in the often stuffy corporate world. In a way, it shows the company's human side. (yes, some of us are actually human.) As long as you don't overdo it, you keep it only to one page, and keep the most important info toward the front (inverted pyramid), I think it's okay to keep it.

DATE: 04/29/2005 23:25:1P PM
Interesting blog, Steve. I, too, am not a fan of fluff and thankfully we don't have too much fluff in the publication I edit; however, I just got sent an e-mail. A retiree from the company will be opening his own bar in Portland next month. A supervisor wants to me to do a story on the retiree and this new bar. Why? "Because a lot of people remember him."

Should I scrap my interview with the CFO about what challenges lie ahead in our next fiscal year to include this piece? In a four-page publication that only has about 400 words on a page, I'd really hate to see space go to a story on a guy and his bar.

....Oops. I didn't mean that last line to come out that way. But heck, let's run with it!

DATE: 04/29/2005 30:40:5P PM
Jenny:

Don't you do it!!! So the guy bought a bar! Big huge hairy deal! If instead of a buying a bar he launched a new porn internet site, should we do a story on that, too, just because "everybody remembers him?"

I may a bit of a hard liner on this subject, but with good reason. My entire career, I've had to listen to communicators piss and moan and bitch and whine that "we're not taken seriously," and "we don't have a seat at the table," and "management doesn't respect us," . . . . and then I ask to see their communication vehicles, and I want to say, "Hey, I don't respect you either!"

If you want to run the fluff, run the fluff. Be Julie from the Love Boat, and keep track of service anniversaries and promotions and new babies and all that crap . . . . but then don't complain when you're left out of every single important initiative that takes place at the company.

And my pal and colleague David Murray is right . . . . there is room for certain kinds of "softer" stories. The publication shouldn't be all hard-nosed business stories.

I teach a fairly simple concept in my seminars: YOu have two audiences to please: management and employees.

You please management by doing the kinds of stories they care about (and they do NOT care about that joker's new tavern, or even the one-legged guy from accounts payable who scaled Mt. Everest, or Joe Dirt from the plant floor who started a rock and roll band). You please management by covering the business of the business.

And you please employees by the WAY you cover the business of the business. You don't just quote suits and spew jargon and avoid the real issues. You tell the business stories THROUGH the employees . . . you find the people who are making the business work and you profile THEM . . .not some guy who happens to race dirt buggies on the weekend.

If you cover business stories---but in such a way that employees appreciate them----you can make everybody happy.

There. I'm done. What a rant. I'm tired. It's 4:45 on Friday . . . . Happy Hour is upon us.

Steve

DATE: 04/29/2005 42:72:4P PM
Steven, my good man (he said while swallowing his second glass of Fat Bastard shiraz), I concur wholeheartedly.

Good evening.

David

DATE: 04/29/2005 52:10:2P PM
Ah, you're drinking my namesake wine. Enjoy.

Steve

DATE: 04/29/2005 62:01:8A PM
If by "fluff" you mean employee poems, recipes, long pages of employee anniversaries with thumbnail-size head shots, crossword puzzles, wellness stories that tell employees not to eat too much over the holidays and roving reporter questions that ask, "What item is ALWAYS in your refrigerator?" then I am against it.

But if by "fluff" you mean an occasional light feature about an employee with a truly interesting hobby (interest test: might a local newspaper profile this person and his or her hobby?) ... a "looking back" piece that helps employees understand the company's history (and thus, a little more about its present and future) ... and a break from the drone of one story after another about THE CORPORATE MISSION (even The Wall Street Journal takes a break from the leaden business stuff every once in a while) and a roving reporter questoin that asks employees to describe the best day they've ever had at work, then I am for it.

DATE: 04/29/2005 68:90:7A PM
You mean you don't want to read my poetry?! Now I'm hurt.

And Steve, I don't think you're a sissy ass. :)

After reading all of the posts, I think I like David Murray's the best. I think a little fluff goes a long way...but maybe educational fluff is the best.

I like coming here, it broadens my horizons on communication around here (which is non-existent, don't even get me started). A lot of times it falls to me, the IT geek to keep the information flowing.

DATE: 04/29/2005 70:53:6A PM
Steve:

Great post ... I agree with your comments wholeheartedly. I included a link to your blog from mine at http://wagnercomm.blogspot.com/2005/04/newsletter-tip-no-3-its-not-about.html.