I have always loved the idea of what’s called “user-generated content,” in the employee communication space. I haven’t always liked the term for it, which sounds a tad bit robotic and weird.

But I love the idea of finding passionate, talented, enthusiastic people and tapping into them to tell the company’s stories, help communicate important topics, bring their corner of the workplace to life, and/or offer their own ideas and input.

That kind of content, coming from the people closest to the work, can be a hell of a lot more powerful than “The Word On High” from executives.

Here’s a great example.

Cindy and I spent a FANTASTIC afternoon in Omaha a couple of weeks ago, with Nebraska Medicine’s People Team. (They used to go by the term Human Resources, another robotic, weird term that is finally being retired, thank God, at most companies).

Nebraska Medicine does “HR” the right way: The room was packed with smart, talented, PASSIONATE people responsible for everything from benefits and compensation to recruiting, wellness, inclusion and retention.

We met so many impressive people that day. But perhaps nobody more so than the great Shanda Ross. Shanda is an R.N. who is passionate about Wellness. So much so that on her own, she started a weekly video series, Be Well Wednesdays.

She props her iPhone up against a stack of books, and riffs on Wellness topics for about a minute and a half every week. No scripts, no PowerPoint. Just a point of view and passion.

Why does she take the time?

“I want to keep the campus engaged and to remind all of the things we should do to take care of ourselves and those around us,” she said. “As a nurse I want everyone to have the power of prevention, which is information.”

And people are paying attention, she says. “It warms my heart each time I walk the halls and run into staff I do not know and/or get an email telling me how much the videos keep them uplifted!”

Check out Shanda in action, linked below. And let us know in the comments section: Are you tapping into your employees to be storytellers, information deliverers, thought leaders or in some other way in your internal comms?

Below, check out the results of a survey we recently did on LinkedIn.

Crescenzo Communications is offering customized workshops on how you can put AI to work for you immediately. Visit us at Crescenzocomm.com for more info, or send us an email directly!

Not surprisingly, most communicators who use AI are using it for some kind of content creation. We’re a little surprised more people aren’t using it for planning. If you know how to prompt, AI can you give a great plan foundation that you can work into shape. It can shave hours off the planning process!

And to those 10 percent who aren’t using it . . . reach out to us! We can help with either a customized workshop for your team, or one-on-one coaching to get you started.