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The Employee Playbook

The Employee Playbook was created to help HR and Marketing teams translate vision into experience, values into behavior, and strategy into messages employees actually hear. This is the work we’ve done for more than 15 years with some of the country’s most respected organizations. And now, it’s your turn to put it into practice.

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Because culture isn’t declared, it’s created.

And when you speak employee, everything works better.

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1

START WITH PURPOSE

BUILD THE FOUNDATION

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1. Define the Purpose/Mission/Vision/Values Framework

 

2. Create an Employer Promise / Employee Value Proposition (EVP)

  • Why employees should believe

  • Why candidates should join

  • Why leaders must reinforce it

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3. Identify Your Cultural North Star

  • How decisions get made

  • How communication should feel

  • How employees should experience the brand each day
    day

4

BUILD YOUR EMPLOYER BRAND

BRING YOUR EVP TO LIFE

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1. Employer Brand Foundations

  • Purpose, Mission, Vision, Values

  • EVP expression

  • Brand pillars


2. Brand Identity Essentials

  • Tone of voice

  • Visual identity

  • Behavioral expectations


3. Storytelling & Experience Activation

  • Employee stories

  • Culture moments

  • Signature experiences


4. Journey Integration

  • Pre-hire

  • Onboarding

  • Development & recognition​

  1. Development & recognition​

  2. Development & recognition​

  3. Development & recognition​

  4. Development & recognition​

  5. Development & recognition​

  6. Development & recognition​

  7. Development & recognition​

7

CREATE ENGAGING EXPERIENCES

MOVE BEYOND MESSAGES INTO MOMENTS

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1. Employee Engagement Campaigns

  • Values activation

  • Culture launches

  • Recognition programs

  • Milestone moments

  • Change management events

 

2. Experiential Tactics

  • Environmental graphics

  • Video storytelling

  • Interactive tools

  • Events + town halls

  • Digital engagement

 

3. Recognition & Appreciation Systems

10

MEASURE WHAT MATTERS

EVALUATE SUCCESS LIKE A CFO WOULD

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1. Quantitative Metrics

  • Engagement survey results

  • Retention

  • Absenteeism

  • Productivity

  • Employee Net Promoter Score

  • Event participation

 

2. Qualitative Metrics

  • Sentiment

  • Leader feedback

  • Employee interviews

  • Culture health indicators

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2

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

UNDERSTAND WHO YOU’RE COMMUNICATING WITH
 

1. Build Employee Personas

  • Corporate

  • Frontline

  • Remote

  • Hybrid

  • Leadership

  • High-risk + high-impact groups

 

2. Conduct an Internal Communications Audit

 

3. Identify Communication Barriers

  • Access

  • Time

  • Literacy/complexity

  • Language/translation needs

  • Channel fatigue

5

BUILD YOUR CHANNEL ECOSYSTEM

DESIGN THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT MAKES COMMUNICATION WORK

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1. Core Channels

  • Email

  • Intranet/employee hub

  • Leader communications

  • Team meetings & huddles

  • Internal social

 

2. Supplemental Channels

  • Physical signage

  • Video

  • Events

  • Mobile apps

  • Text/SMS

 

3. Accessibility Standards

  • Plain language

  • Diversity & inclusion considerations

  • Language translation requirementsDevelopment & recognitio

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8

BUILD THE 12-MONTH COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

STRATEGY, CADENCE, AND CONSISTENCY

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1. Annual plan structure

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2. Key message calendar

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3. Campaign integration

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4. Cross-functional alignment

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5. Resource + budget forecasting

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6. Measurement plan

6. Measurement plan

6. Measurement plan

6. Measurement plan

6. Measurement plan

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11

ADAPT AND EVEOLVE

BUILD A SYSTEM THAT IMPROVES OVER TIME


1. Quarterly reviews


2. Channel performance audits


3. Content refresh cycles


4. Leadership recalibrations
 

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3

MAP THE EMPLOYEE JOURNEY

UNDERSTAND THE MOMENTS THAT MATTER

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1. Pre-hire (recruiting, employer branding, early expectations)

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2. Day 1 (onboarding experience)

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3. First 90 days (integration, learning, clarity)

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4. Year 1+ (development and engagement milestones)

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5. Recognition & career movement

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6. Change communications

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7. Exit/alumni experience​

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6

CRAFT YOUR MESSAGE

MAKE IT MEANINGFUL, NOT JUST INFORMATIONAL

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1. The Employee Message Framework

  • What they need to know

  • Why it matters

  • What’s changing

  • What to do next

  • Where to go for questions

 

2. Tone of Voice Guidelines

  • Human

  • Clear

  • Purpose-anchored

  • Empathetic

  • Action-oriented

 

3. Leadership Communication Standards

 

4. Storytelling Essentials

  • Connect message to purpose

  • Reinforce values

  • Highlight employees

  1. Simplify the complex

  2. Development & recognition​

9

ENABLE LEADERS

TURN LEADERS INTO COMMUNICATORS

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1. Leader Toolkits

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2. FAQ sheets

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3. Cascading plans

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4. Training sessions

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5. Monthly leader briefs

3. Cascading plans

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4. Training sessions

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5. Monthly leader briefs

5. Monthly leader briefs

5. Monthly leader briefs

5. Monthly leader briefs

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