New policies (like changes to compensation philosophy) need more than just a single Slack message or email announcement.
Whenever a new program is about to go live, People teams should have a multi-pronged approach to get the word out.
- As we’ve mentioned in the past, “the way you format a company announcement could be the difference in a successful program launch or one that is completely ignored.”
- The same goes for the way you distribute a message.
At the very least, a major announcement of a policy change should include:
- Async mediums (like email or Slack) where employees commonly receive information
- An opportunity for crowd Q&A to tackle frequently asked questions
- Talking points for managers so they can talk more in depth and personally about the change with their direct reports
- An update to the employee handbook/policy manual to serve as a reference for employees moving forward
Some examples: Tanal Basma, Global Head of People at LaunchGood, and Emily Sauey, Head of People Ops at Verto Education, shared their rollout plans for updated compensation philosophy with The People Ops Community last week.
Here was Tanal’s rollout:
- Executive meeting to finalize decisions on pay changes
- Shared news updates in Slack channel with all functional heads
- Shared a comp philosophy and pay model update at all-hands
- People Ops drafted talking points for executive to discuss with managers
- People Ops ran a Q&A after all-hands for all managers
- Managers shared the news with their reports and addressed inquiries
- People Ops sent letters for compensation changes via email
Here was Emily’s:
- Final approval from extended leadership team
- Introduction to full organization
- Road show to different departments
- Meeting with managers in prep for performance reviews
- Full organization review again before performance management
- Reinforced in individual performance management conversations
The bottom line: Spend time thinking about the distribution plan as you develop your new program or policy.
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