HR Directors - how do you know when it’s time to hire an HR copywriter?
With time tighter than ever for your busy HR team, some projects never make it off the back burner - even the ones that could save time and add value to your department and the business. As a human resources copywriter, I’ve worked with plenty of HR leaders who knew exactly what they wanted to do, but simply didn’t have the capacity to do it. In this article, I round up some of the common triggers that indicate it’s time to bring in the HR copywriting cavalry. With a quick nod to the types of services that could get your postponed projects over the line.
The eight triggers that mean it’s time to work with an HR copywriter.
Trigger 1 - you’re getting a lot of questions on topics your HR policies cover
When your HR policies are complicated, lengthy and hard to understand, people turn to HR for help. This creates extra pressure on your team, who need to deal with enquiries and make sure managers know what to do and how to do it. Basically, everything your HR policy should be doing.
The solution - HR policy writing service
Trigger 2 - you’ve introduced new benefits or changed provider
New employee benefits - or new providers with different scheme rules and processes - can create misunderstandings and confusion. Your benefit providers will give you some information to help manage the transition. But who’s tying all your employee benefits communications together? What’s the story you want to tell about the benefits you’re now providing? How are you going to help managers and employees navigate their refreshed rewards?
The solution - employee benefit communications support
Trigger 3 - you want managers to play a bigger role in promoting your rewards
Your managers are on the frontline. They’re usually the first to know if someone is off sick, has health issues or needs support with a family emergency or an ongoing health problem. They’re also the first port of call for pay and performance queries - or they should be. But many managers don’t feel confident promoting your total reward package or holding potentially difficult conversations about pay and performance. Which means conversations either don’t happen or they aren’t great quality, employees miss out on support and HR can end up with more queries.
The solution - total reward communication toolkits designed specifically for your managers
Trigger 4 - you’ve invested in your reward package
Whether it’s pay increases, cost-of-living support, new benefits, more learning and development opportunities or changes to your bonus scheme, communication is key to leveraging your investment. Letting people know about the changes you’ve made is a vital part of generating a great return.
The solution - total reward communications consultancy and planning
Trigger 5 - you want to find a way to tell your reward story
As an HR or Reward Director you know you’ve got a great story to tell about your total reward package. Usually because you’ve come a long way and spent a fair bit of money. Yet you’re not really sure how to create a narrative that reflects this in a way that works for your business while engaging employees.
The solution - a reward narrative and messaging built on your HR, reward and business strategies
Trigger 6 - your managers and employees aren’t applying your HR policies
Complex, confusing policies can lead to managers and employees interpreting and applying the policies in different - and potentially non-legal - ways. At best, this results in inconsistent approaches to HR which can undermine trust and impact employee engagement. At worst, it instils poor management practices and creates legal risks for your team to correct and manage.
The solution - HR policy writing service
Trigger 7 - you need to prepare for legal changes forcing greater pay transparency
Pay transparency changes are coming. And that means more upheaval and the potential for some tough conversations. So you need to make sure you’re helping your managers have the best possible conversations with their people.
The solution - a pay transparency toolkit for your managers including guides and FAQs.
Trigger 8 - your leaders don’t understand your executive bonus scheme
I’ve worked on lots of short and long-term incentive plan communication projects. Why? Because, despite spending huge sums of money on these schemes, a significant proportion of managers find it difficult to understand how their short and long-term bonus schemes work and what they can do to influence their bonus outcomes - as well as the organisation’s performance.
The solution - incentive communications support
Does one or more of these scenarios apply in your business?
Then it’s time to bring in specialist HR copywriting support. Someone with a strong background in HR and reward alongside extensive communication and writing experience. Someone who’ll bring their experience working on employee communications projects for major global brands to your business. Someone like me.
Hey, I’m Becky Hewson-Haworth.
A specialist human resources copywriter with experience working for a range of leading global and UK brands like Coca-Cola, Tusker, Queen Mary University and S&P Global.
I’m a great fit if:
You’re an HR, Reward or Marketing leader in a UK company.
You’ve got a clear idea about the employee communications support you need.
You’re looking for guidance to shape and deliver a communications plan.
I’ve delivered a wide range of HR and reward communications projects including:
Reward projects:
Employee benefit communications
Total reward guides, toolkits and one-pagers
Gender pay gap reports
Employee pension communications
Bonus sacrifice communications
Employee benefit newsletters
Total reward change playbooks
STIP and LTIP incentive programme communications
HR copywriting projects:
Intranet copywriting
HR policy writing
Recruitment communications
Manager guidance documents
General internal communications projects:
Narrative and key message creation
Career framework communications
Change webinar slide decks and speaker notes
Could I help deliver your communications? Drop me a line at becky@clarioncallcomms.co.uk or give me a bell on 07703 155 404. Or you can schedule a free 30-minute chat.