Make your message stick long after the balloons have burst

March, 11 – BY KATE PIRRIE – Many of us would pay anything to see our favourite band in concert, and when we do we expect to see a memorable performance and to hear our favourite songs. But regardless of extravagant costume changes, crazy lighting effects and scantily clad dancers in background,  there’s nothing more disappointing than going to a concert only for the singer to have lost their voice and forgotten the lyrics (yes Whitney Houston – I’m talking to you).

The same goes for employee events. A great employee event can be one of the most powerful face-to-face tools available for engaging employees, but if employees don’t get any value out of it, they’ll be frustrated that they’ve wasted time in their busy day and feel let down by their leaders, no matter how much you’ve invested in show stopping effects and cutting edge technology. While these elements can contribute to maintaining interest and enhancing interactivity, creating a memorable event has to include a memorable message.

Tips for creating a memorable message and getting the most out of your investment in an employee event:

• Consider what you want employees to think feel and do before the event AND after the event

No live event is worth investing in if people walk away wondering “what now?” or “but what does that mean when I go back to work?”

• Make sure employees understand the purpose of the event

Employees will want to know why you’ve taken time out of their day, what they’re going learn, and the benefit to them.

• Having engaging and powerful speakers

Learn here from Whitney – you need to have strong and relevant speakers delivering your messages to get maximum cut through.

• Two-way communication

Ensure your audience has a chance to interact. There are heaps of fun and activities and cool technologies that can make this a great experience for your audience.

• Consider the tone of voice for the audience

As with any communication, make sure you know your audience and the sort of language they’ll respond to. There’s no point taking your grandma to an AC/DC concert – she’ll probably leave!

So to avoid disappointed fans, remember these tips when organising your next event.

Building A Brand

Three years ago Leighton Contractors set an aggressive strategy to build a strong and profitable business across its core markets of Construction, Mining, Industrial Services, Investment, Building and Telecommunications. To do this, the business recognised that employee engagement was a critical driver in supporting and motivating the workforce, and made the strategic decision to focus on building the brand from the inside out.

Impact has partnered with Leighton Contractors on this three-year journey, helping to align a geographically dispersed workforce with the business direction, strengthen the connection between the leadership team and employees and build a can-do values based culture. In this time, Impact has provided strategic counsel and planning, executive leadership coaching, supported and managed the delivery of events (like their group wide company updates, safety and leadership summits) and conducted qualitative ‘Word On The Street’ research with their employees.

The strong focus on employee engagement has paid off with 72% of the workforce reporting high engagement levels with the business. And Impact continues to work with the Leighton team to ensure the ever expanding workforce, which has increased from 2,500 to over 8000 employees, is engaged.