How to do Leadership Letters Right
What would an employee newsletter be without a letter from the President and CEO? Let’s hope the answer is not, “much better.”
Since most employees in large companies don’t have regular conversations with the CEO, the employee newsletter offers a chance for the top executive to share where the company is headed, its strategy for getting there, and how he or she expects people to work along the way. Yet often these letters fail to connect. If they avoid tough topics, use lots of corporate jargon or sound like they were written for investors and not employees, they will fail. This can end up increasing the distance between corporate headquarters and field personnel rather than closing it by establishing the dreaded “us” and “them” mentality.
When we work with CEOs on their employee messages, we often ask them to imagine they are talking to a specific employee. In a healthcare setting, it could be a nurse, an intake representative or a member of the janitorial staff. In other companies, it could be a customer service representative, administrative assistant or a marketing coordinator. The point is to focus the CEO on thinking of his or her audience as individuals, not stakeholders or a large, indistinguishable group. Then, we discuss what the CEO will address. We ask:
- What does it mean to them?
- Why should they care?
- What do you want them to do with this information?
This simple exercise makes the CEO letter more human and meaningful. And, as a result, it will be more embraced by the employees reading it.
An effective CEO letter must be straightforward and straight-talking, while maintaining a high level of professionalism.
It must address difficult topics
When hard times hit, executive letters become difficult to compose. Rumors about a company’s financial state or possible sale, negative press coverage or even a high-level executive’s exit can take a serious toll on the company and its reputation. These are the times when the CEO letter is most important. It is literally impossible to over-communicate when a company is experiencing trouble or dramatic change.
If everyone is speculating about the fate of the company, employees are probably looking at worst-case scenarios. An employee newsletter is not a place to offer bland assurances, and it is certainly not the place to change the subject.
At the very least, the letter should make it clear that the CEO understands that employees are worried. If possible it should allay those worries.
It has to be specific
Employees don’t want to read a motivational lecture telling them that they can do great things. They want a sense of where the company is headed and some insight into how the leadership plans to get there. A CEO letter can and should be used to answer those questions. Nobody needs to see spreadsheets or comprehensive five-year plans, but there should be details about goals and the steps being taken to reach them.
It should connect individual actions to the company mission
Singling out an outstanding player for praise will not alienate others (unless you constantly single out the same person over and over again). If the CEO letter is meant to communicate company goals, then it’s important to acknowledge the many people within the company who help achieve those goals. Imagine what it means for a custodian, a customer service representative, a department or a division to have the head of the company acknowledge their contribution to overall success. Everyone wants their efforts to be recognized and appreciated. Even more important, everyone wants to feel that they make an impact.
It wouldn’t hurt to show some personality
There’s no need to get folksy or overshare personal information. There is such a thing as a professional personality though — CEOs need to charm all sorts of business partners in their day to day, so there’s no reason they can’t also charm the people who work for them. It’s a fact that many CEO letters are written by someone in the marketing department, and that’s fine. However, the CEO letter is not the equivalent of a press release with the head honcho’s picture attached. Readers should come away feeling that they are insiders; that “we are all in this together.” A personal tone makes that connection far more likely.
No CEO wants to be misinterpreted, so the written word often spooks business people. But a good CEO letter can clearly communicate company goals, help build morale and celebrate a company’s success. All it needs is a large of dose sincerity and a sprinkle of humanity.