10 June, 2008
British Gas launches internal "lifestyle" magazine
A more informal, modern approach aims to energize employees.
British Gas has signed up UK communication company Headlines Corporate News to produce a consumer-style magazine to be delivered to all 16,000 employees across the organization.
British Gas hopes that its new magazine, The Gas will increase employees' awareness of its customer service strategy, and has launched the first issue with a focus on its customer service campaign called "Wearing our customer's shoes".
Engaging and informing our colleagues with excellent internal communications is playing a vital part in this transformation.
Magazine is fundamental to culture
"British Gas has made some massive changes during the last year and a half to dramatically improve the service we give to our customers. Engaging and informing our colleagues with excellent internal communications is playing a vital part in this transformation; from a virtual standing start 18 months ago we have launched a series of face-to-face communication events, regular leadership communications and a range of other activities to engage and inspire our colleagues," said Gabriel Winn, acting head of internal communications at British Gas.
“We took the decision to relaunch our company magazine in a completely different format because we needed a channel to share good news, to talk about our leading position in Corporate Responsibily and the 'Green agenda' and to regularly update our people on progress."
Targeted e-zines for each division
To compliment the print publication, the Headlines team will be launching 4 e-zines for each of the 4 divisions of British Gas later this month. It's hoped that the e-zines will help consolidate major restructuring that has taken place over the last 2 years and keep employees up to date with the latest developments within their division and the company as a whole.
Encompassing all channels
While many companies are replacing their print magazine with online versions, in an organization such as British Gas, it's perhaps more beneficial for traditional and new channels of communication to co-exist, as there are advantages to both.
For example, engineers on the road can take the printed version home to read at their leisure, while online versions can encourage office-based employees to use the intranet.
Headlines managing director Peter Doherty said: "The e-zines add an important interactive dimension and bridge the gap between intranet and magazine – driving traffic to both. That way the different channels work together to deliver consistent messages to maximum effect, with the ultimate aim of improving the service experienced by British Gas customers across the UK."
Have your say
Have you recently revamped your staff magazine? How have people responded to it? How do you ensure that employees with little access to computers receive important company news?
Share your thoughts on these issues with other comms practitioners by joining the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
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