Jacobs – Employee Magazine (“The Bulletin”)


“Sometimes the simplest communication ideas work the best…”
– Jacqui Rudd Communications Partner


Client

Jacobs Engineering Group

Jacobs in Australia is part of one of the world’s largest engineering and construction companies.

Challenge

Sometimes, in trying to be too clever in how we communicate, we miss the opportunity to really engage with our people and their families. Our goal with the new Jacobs newsletter was to not only reach out to employees but their families as well. After all, many Jacobs people worked on large, complex and often remote projects around the world. We felt it was important that they share their experiences with their families.

Although company newsletter is in itself an internal document, there is no doubt that content can end up being shared externally. By widening the access of the newsletter, we were challenged to:

  • ensure that any privileged client and Jacobs project and financial information was protected;
  • identify a channel that would allow employees and families to easily access the newsletter.

Solution

As part of her advisory role as Communications Manager to Jacobs in Australia, Idaho’s Communications Partner, Jacqui Rudd, worked with the CEO and management teams to develop an employee newsletter that would be distributed as “magazine” – something people could take home to their families and share with them.

Logistical arrangements were made with various offices to ensure all employees remote sites also received a hard copy. We also created  the magazine in a easy-read on-line book format with a “page-turning’ capability.

From a content perspective, our clients were engaged in the process to protect any privileged information. Feedback from employees and their families was very positive – “great to be able to take something home to the family about what I do…”.

Jacobs CEO decided that the value of engaging our employees in such a positive and simple manner, easily balanced out printing costs – and of course the magazine was of course printed on 100% recycled paper. The Bulletin also received excellent feedback from clients, as well as the wider global Jacobs leadership.