15 June 2010
British Airways gets "Up To Speed" with a new employee magazine
Will this new comms channel lift company morale after months of turbulence?
In a bid to improve internal communication and engagement after ongoing conflict with trade union Unite and several periods of strike action, British Airways is launching a new monthly magazine for its 37,000 employees in July.
Figure 1. Cover of up to speed magazine
The new magazine, called Up to Speed, (pictured, left) replaces one of the airline's longest-running employee publications, BA News which originated in the 1930’s, and will concentrate in-depth analysis, profiles, travel and opinion.
Consumer Publisher Cedar will be publish Up to Speed under the editorship of Charlotte Swift, but news about the company will also be posted in a supplementary weekly e-newsletter, Up to date, produced by BA’s in-house team.
Combining a print and online offering
The first issue will feature columns from BA's CEO Willie Walsh and an in-depth profile of finance director Keith Williams. But the majority of the content will be about, and generated by, BA’s staff and customers.
Penny Lawson, BA’s head of internal communication, and speaker at Melcrum's Change Communication Conference 2010, said: “British Airways aims to be the leading global premium airline and we want an internal publication that reflects that ambition. Our much-loved newspaper has served us well, but many of our staff now expect to read about breaking news as it happens, online, at the same time as wanting the connectedness that a print publication can bring. That’s what this change is all about.
"It’s also been a pretty big challenge to produce something that will engage everyone in our diverse business."
Aiming for transparency
Mark Jones, Cedar’s editorial director said: “We’re also not going to shy away from the huge issues facing the airline and the industry, however. The magazine will inform, debate and analyze – what it emphatically won’t be is a propaganda sheet.”
Have your say
How much of an impact do you think this new magazine will have on employee engagement at BA?
Recommended resources:
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Encouraging Nortel employees to write news for the intranet
Shell’s award-winning e-mail newsletter
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