Reading Buses’ respected staff newsletter hits its 500th issue. We explain how you can do the same, even in a smaller company, and why it really matters
Multi-award winning Reading Buses is well known for its high standards of service and innovation, but this wouldn’t happen without its staff.
How do you get all your staff pulling hard in the same direction? The key is a staff newsletter.
Reading’s weekly Bulletin has reached its landmark 500th issue. Says CEO Martijn Gilbert: “The leadership team and I are extremely
passionate about doing all we can to achieve a good team spirit and strong communications.
“The effort that
goes into producing such a comprehensive weekly update is an important part of this and a very worthwhile investment.”
Past and present
Martijn’s predecessor, James Freeman, started the Bulletin on 3 October 2007 as a simple bullet-pointed list.
After three makeovers, the double-sided A4-size bulletin is colourful and easy-to-read. It is the summary of all company news, plus the all-important weekly canteen menu.
We met Martijn last week on a scorching morning as he was putting the finishing touches to the 500th Bulletin, distributed every Wednesday lunchtime. Reading employs 575 staff (including 475 drivers). Two-thirds choose to get it by e-mail; paper copies are at the signing-on point, canteen and Newbury’s 24-vehicle outstation.
Putting it together
The news is submitted during the week to Martijn’s PA Delores Saunders, who pulls it all together, using a simple Microsoft Publisher template.
It takes about two hours of Dolores’ week, and Martijn spends about an hour on it, including his introduction: “That might be written off site, or while I’m on a train. If I’m on holiday I pre-write items, or drop the titles in for what I want the marketing team to talk about. I don’t want to burden them with this; they have a very important external responsibility.”
On the rear is a mix: This week it’s new starters in the training academy; special event buses; operational notes about bus stops, people news and a staff trip.
“We also share customer feedback so we have the three ‘best’ and three ‘where-we-could-do-better’ tweets, provided by the Marketing Department.
“It’s a really good way of giving bite-sized feedback, as a tweet is 140 characters. Where we could do better, we say what we are doing about it.”
None of the stories is long; an item about bike shed usage is just 28 words.
“We never struggle for content, if anything we don’t have enough space. This week, we have deferred a ‘warm-up’ message about Catch the Bus Week, a long service presentation, a wedding report, and new control room IT.”
The lead story is the main issue of the week, such as vehicle security during the terrorist threat. Next week will be the run up to the annual Open Day.
The lead article tends to be ‘big picture’ items that everyone needs to be aware of. “Everything else is important, we don’t use fillers. We could easily fill it with traffic notices, so we think carefully about what to put in. We don’t want to absolve people of responsibly for reading traffic notices.”
Content
It’s evolved over the years to become broader in its coverage, but remains delivery focused. “It’s about the management, the company and what needs to be done on the road,” says Martijn.
Over the years it’s had content, from jokes to crosswords, competition and staff photos. “Today, it’s a less formal tone; a team communication. We’re saying ‘Here are the things you really need to know; that you might want to know and some that are not necessarily work-related and are sociable.
“We treat everyone like a well-informed adult and have a very open and transparent approach to communicating.
“The fact that’s its weekly is a tall order and does take some effort, but we feel that the hill is worth the climb. It’s a worthwhile investment that keeps the team sticking together and is the go-to place for information.”
At Christmas is a celebratory edition with a pullout centre reflecting on the year’s achievements. The same happens with the ROSCO Safe Driving awards.
When the annual Bus Passenger Survey results come out, a separate A5 fold-out guide lets everyone know what the results said, the important part they played in them, and where Reading will be focusing in the year ahead.
Tone and pitch
There is always praise and thanks for colleagues, but you get a real sense of the business’ direction of travel.
“The bulletin is not about me, but it’s from the team – and that’s really important,” says Martijn.
“Tone of voice is really important and I’ve softened the language. You have to think ‘how does this read to someone in the cab of a bus’. There might be messages in there that are little moans: Don’t wear you hi-viz while driving, don’t block the stand, don’t park on a stop with the tail of your vehicle sticking out and so on.
“Yes, we have traffic notices, but the Bulletin is the one opportunity to reiterate that message in a friendly bite-size chunk, and the tone of voice has got to get the message home to those who need to take it on board, but not annoy those doing it correctly.”
There are no strict rules about how many traffic notices should go in, but they only make it into the bulletin if something has happened, or management has noticed an increase with an issue.
“Interestingly a lot of them will come from the trade union who will say ’we’re getting our members complaining about this, can you put a note in?’ This week’s cycle shed reminder is an example. But, they are written in a gentle way to prick someone’s conscience.”
Why Wednesday? “I inherited it, but it’s good day. Monday you’re picking up issues from the weekend, on Friday you’re putting in place things for the weekend and thinking ahead, so Wednesday is just right.”
Bad news
Don’t shy away from bad news. “We present it in a realistic and positive tone. For example in 2015 we had a restructuring and made redundancies. We don’t want people to think we’ve swept an issue under the carpet, or they should be unduly concerned about things.
“It’s about giving people the right information and being very clear about what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
It’s the same about bodywork damage: “It’s saying ‘guys we really need to focus on this, it’s a huge cost to the business and is really important to us because it affects insurance, our reputation, time off the road and our buses are our mobile adverts for our service so it’s important that they are kept looking nice and tidy and so on…’ rather than ‘will drivers please take extra care’, and be dictatorial and negative,” says Martijn.
“It’s all about positive encouragement and explaining why, which all links back to tone of voice.”
Do it yourself
Reading is a very dynamic business, could a smaller business produce a newsletter? “There is content that every operator can generate. Have we had some zany item of lost property or a nice customer letter? Have we been to a meeting that there’s a story we can write about – e.g. with the council about bus stop improvement.”
You don’t need to be a big operator says Martijn, who once ran a small operation: “As leader of the organisation, if you don't get to interact with each of your team once or twice a week then you should have a newsletter.
“The more you do it, the easier it gets; I’d say give it a try.
“Weekly is a tall order. My advice is to start less ambitiously e.g. monthly. But, if you are going to do it, you’ve got to commit to it.
“If people are serious about teams being cohesive and all focusing on delivering together as one, you need to make the investment – mainly in time – in using communications like this to be very clear on what it is that the organisation is trying to achieve, what it is doing and what it requires everybody to do.”
For Reading the next step will be an employee app, but that’s another story.
