Maximizing Employee Engagement Through a Compelling Employee Newsletter

CLIENT: Superior Construction is a fourth-generation family-owned infrastructure contractor. Established in Gary, Indiana, the company’s foundation has always been building the infrastructure of America. In recent decades, Superior has grown exponentially, expanding into new markets across the Southeastern United States and taking on larger, more complex projects across various industries, including transportation, industrial, petrochemical, marine, aviation, energy, marine, water and wastewater management.

CHALLENGE: With its labor demands rapidly increasing, Superior sought to address employee retention, effectively combating industry-wide workforce challenges proactively. 

In today’s competitive business environment, employee communication plays a pivotal role in fostering a positive workplace culture, engaging your employees to improve retention, and driving organizational success. One powerful tool architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms often overlook that addresses each of these challenges is a well-crafted employee newsletter.

In addition to drafting compelling newsletter content, Superior needed to address the all-too-common challenge major contractors face of communicating with field crews spread throughout various regions and incorporating multidisciplinary content that would resonate with each of their employees.

OUR SOLUTION: Our team worked with Superior’s marketing director to identify the company’s core values, determine messaging and set a list of project objectives, including:

• To reinforce the organization’s mission, vision and values and create a shared sense of purpose among employees
• To build a stronger sense of community amongst the company’s geographically dispersed workforce
• To address the lack of awareness about company initiatives
• To dismantle information silos preventing interdisciplinary communication between departments and business divisions
• To boost employee morale, effectively improving retention

Gathering the newsletter content proved to be the greatest challenge. It took time to identify who would contribute to the newsletter. We decided we’d need to divide and conquer. Internal newsletters can be a heavy lift, and we didn’t want the contributors to feel overwhelmed with numerous content requests. We divided the newsletter into 10 sections based on the company’s structure and priorities and appointed a variety of Superior employees to help our team of content writers develop each section. 

These were the final 10 sections included in Superior’s “Family First Newsletter” template and the value they provide:

Executive note: We developed a rotation of company executives who would take turns drafting a letter to the employees. We also proposed some themes for each quarter and assisted in content ideation, drafting, and editing.

This letter demonstrates to Superior’s employees that they are valued and incorporates the company’s core values: family, safety, integrity, innovation, commitment, and empowerment. Reinforcing these values fosters a positive work environment, which, in turn, builds confidence and trust.

Family feature: Including this section was a no-brainer. As a fourth-generation family-owned and -operated company, family is a core value at Superior. That culture has resulted in numerous families with multiple generations working for the contractor. 

We worked with human resources to identify multi-generational families employed at Superior, created a spreadsheet, obtained contact information, and interviewed these families, featuring one per newsletter.

Since this section is focused on the families who’ve dedicated decades of service to Superior, we wanted to make it earnest and let them share their personal stories. It’s heartwarming and inspires employee loyalty through first-hand testimonials of what it’s like to work for Superior.

These are just a few of the actual quotes we’ve included from employees featured in this section:

• “As a kid growing up, there has always been a red Superior truck in our driveway.”
• “If you put forth effort, they always recognize it. Superior takes care of its people more than any other company I’ve ever worked for.” 
• “I love Superior. I hope we never lose the family connection.” 
• “Superior takes care of their own. When Deanna lost her battle with cancer, Superior was there for the ups and downs. I’ve had open heart surgeries, and Superior always had my back. I dedicated my time to them, and they did the same for me.” 
• “The Largura family has been wonderful to work for. I always felt like a member of the family. I can’t believe how blessed I’ve been.”

You can tell your employees what a fantastic employer you are, but nothing beats these first-hand experiences recounted by those who’ve been loyal to your company for decades!

Human resource highlights: To address the need for more awareness about company initiatives, we incorporated a space to disseminate valuable information, including upcoming events and changes in core functions. In this section, we also list new hires and anniversaries to acknowledge the individuals who make the company what it is.

In addition to the HR announcements, we provide words on wellness to share content based on alternating wellness themes, including preventative care, health care, financial well-being, and mental health. Mental health is especially important since the construction industry ranks second highest in suicide rates among major industries.

Building community: We collaborate with HR and the administrative assistants at each of Superior’s main offices to gather information and photos from recent charitable events for this section. It demonstrates Superior isn’t just building essential construction projects — they also invest in the communities their employees call home.

Gen Z is especially passionate about supporting brands that give back to organizations that align with their own values. It shows them you have something in common. It can also help you earn your employee’s loyalty by demonstrating generosity and good stewardship.

Project spotlight: Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of working in architecture, engineering or construction is seeing the finished product you helped create. That’s why we include three project spotlights in each newsletter. We strategically vary the projects by market and division to ensure everyone’s work is acknowledged. 

Our content creators collaborate with divisional leaders to identify projects that were either recently completed or have hit a major milestone. We maintain a spreadsheet of these projects, organized by market and division. 

Once the division managers submit a project for a feature, we connect directly with the project manager to obtain the following information to include in each project spotlight: location, project team members, owner, delivery method (bid-build, design-build, progressive design-build or public-private partnership), schedule, contract value and the scope of work.

Safety spotlight: Adding a safety section with tips and takeaways from recent training drills can reinforce the importance of safety on the job. Superior’s newsletter includes quarterly safety stats like companywide and regional workforce hours, total recordable incident rate (TRIR), lost time incident rate (LTIR), and days away, restricted or transferred (DART) metrics. This transparency allows employees at every level, from management to your skilled craftspeople, to evaluate current metrics and set improvement goals.

We also advised our client to implement a “Crew of the Month” program. We helped them form a committee and develop a process to identify and select high-performing crews who demonstrate excellence in safety and productivity. The winners receive prizes and are featured on social media and the employee newsletter. This added tremendous value, as it reinforces the importance of safety — another one of Superior’s core values. 

Tech tip: Security is crucial in the AEC industries. Each year, companies rely more heavily on technology, which can leave them vulnerable to data breaches and cyberattacks. Superior’s marketing director wanted to address this challenge through an employee tech tip section. Our content team collaborates with Superior’s information technology (IT) director to prepare tips to help prevent network hacking and data breaches.

Contract wins: Since no one wants to work for a stagnant company, we wanted to show the company’s growth across all markets and practice areas by sharing the new contract wins secured each quarter. To do this, we collaborate with Superior’s corporate controller to gather new contract information, including the owner and a quick description of each new project.

Awards: Winning reputable industry awards improves credibility and can significantly bolster recruitment and talent retention efforts. It also helps build a stronger sense of community because few AEC industry awards are won by one individual. It’s a team sport!

Like social media, you can also use a newsletter to highlight your employee’s achievements. Whether it’s an award they’ve received or a recent promotion, showcasing career growth opportunities can empower your employees to achieve more and incentivize them to stay with your company.

Additional highlights and employee surveys: Communication is a two-way street. The newsletter encourages two-way communication by featuring a “feedback corner” where employees can share their thoughts, suggestions, and success stories — promoting a sense of inclusivity and involvement.

Since we’re a full-service public relations and marketing agency, the work isn’t over when the ink dries. We write and design Superior’s newsletter using the brand guidelines our team helped develop for them. Our art director’s goal for the newsletter was a clean design with many high-resolution images to showcase their work.

Upon identifying Superior’s newsletter content, connecting with its various business divisions, and incorporating the company’s core values and branding, our team devised a plan to distribute the employee newsletter to each of its job sites — not just the corporate headquarters. We also published a digital employee newsletter on an internal platform. 

We recommended professional printers, walking the marketing director through printing options like spot varnishes, stitching, and much more. Our project schedule even included time to ship and review physical proofs before approving the final order to ensure excellence in quality.

THE RESULTS: Our team helped Superior establish a content strategy that balanced informative pieces, success stories, employee spotlights, and relevant industry news. This strategy aimed to keep the content engaging, informative, and aligned with the company’s values.

As a result, Superior’s “Family First” newsletter has become a go-to information source for its employees, resulting in increased engagement. It’s also improved cross-departmental collaboration and understanding, reducing information silos.

Surveys indicate a significant rise in the number of employees feeling well-informed about company updates. Employees from different locations feel more connected and aligned with the organization’s values. Additionally, the regular recognition of employee achievements and milestones has improved morale.

Superior’s employees now proactively send photos and content to Reputation Ink to include in the newsletter. Whether it’s photos at company events or awards they’ve won, they see the value in sharing their wins with their colleagues and supervisors. How’s that for employee engagement?

These outstanding results demonstrate building a strong employer brand, showcasing career growth opportunities, and engaging with your workforce through a well-written employee newsletter is a powerful strategy to help you retain top talent. By investing in one, AEC firms can create a competitive advantage, foster a thriving work environment and ultimately achieve long-term success.

“Implementing an employee newsletter positively impacted our employee engagement, communication, and company culture. Reputation Ink was instrumental in developing the content and processes and guiding it across the finish line. We couldn’t be happier with their dedication to the project’s success and our partnership overall.”

Julie Thompson,
Marketing Director, Superior Construction