CorpComms Magazine

In March 1945 British forces in Germany seized control of the Hamburg printing presses, took production of Germany's Signal magazine off the print run, and started printing the first-ever issue of the British Army's magazine, Soldier, instead. It was an act of morale-boosting defiance, as well as a symbolic new bid to connect directly with the troops. The magazine was the brainchild of Field Marshal Montgomery, who wanted something to entertain and inform the men marching on Germany.

Many believed Soldier magazine would be little more than a wartime baby, abandoned soon after, but it has run uninterrupted ever since. These days it serves as one of the Army's most important conduits of information between the troops and their senior commanders.

Soldier is also one of the best-known and most successful examples of internal magazines, which have become increasingly popular among corporations and public bodies, rapidly recognising the importance of communicating with their staff.

Large companies use staff magazines to keep people up to date with new appointments, management changes, changes to operational procedures or new training programmes. Features might cover how to use the intranet or how to apply for internal vacancies. Smaller companies often use them to look at new business wins or to focus on one branch or office.

'There is nothing worse for staff than not to know what is going on, in smaller companies as well as large corporates,' says Nick Kirby, editor of several internal magazines published on behalf of corporate clients by Wardour. 'Ultimately you can end up with damaging gossip that can dent staff morale. Making sure staff members are aware of bad news means they are, at least, in the picture.'

Stay in touch

Staff magazines are the domain of employers who like to seem 'in touch' with their employees. But many do not live up to the purpose they should be designed to serve, serving simply as mouthpieces for company bosses rather than as a serious forum of debate for staff.

Joanne Rodden, head of internal communications at fund manager Fidelity, which publishes its own internal magazine, FulFIL, says it is 'crucial' for magazines to avoid falling into this trap if they are to build up and maintain a proper readership among staff. Fidelity's magazine tries to ensure balance by using freelance professional journalists as well as in-house writers.

Although it may be tempting to rein in any potential for staff debate, the most open staff magazines - those ready to take on board criticism and ask directors and managers for serious response - are the ones that have thrived. Take The Gazette, for example. The staff magazine of the John Lewis Partnership has run every week without interruption since 1918 and now distributes 32,000 copies a week. It is thought to be the longest-running staff magazine in the world. One of the responsibilities of its managing editor is to provide a proper link between staff and management through the letters page. John Lewis and Waitrose workers have the right to raise any issue they are unhappy about - anonymously if they wish - and get a reply from a director or manager.

'This is a very important ongoing function - and it is used all the time,' says Steven Forfar, managing editor of The Gazette. 'It was the original intention of the magazine's founder to have a platform to raise issues honestly. I try to encourage people to sign their names, but they don't have to.'

John Elliott, managing editor of Soldier magazine, agrees. 'As important as any other part of the magazine is the correspondence page, called Talkback,' he says. The Talkback pages are where Soldier really does act as a literal conduit between soldiers and commanders. 'Soldiers can ask for anonymity, although they have to reveal their identities to me,' says Elliott. 'In most cases we send the letter to the relevant department with no name or address attached and we ask for a response.'

Another sign of a mature internal magazine is the ability to cover subjects the organisation might prefer to remain silent about. Although the subject of poor-quality housing for soldiers has been covered widely in the press this year, Soldier magazine has been hammering away at this topic 'for years and years', says Elliott. He has even provided comment from commanders to the BBC on the subject.

'The Gazette is respected as having an independent voice - that is its great strength - and it was started with that in mind,' adds Forfar. 'We do go into areas that are slightly more difficult - for example, if there is restructuring, we have to report that honestly.'

Readership issues

Equally important is to get the content right. Nobody will read a boring magazine, no matter how forthright it is. 'We have 100,000 mostly young people who lead incredibly exciting lives,' notes Elliott. 'They want a good read and if we can impart some corporate communications about their pensions and benefits in the process, that's a bonus.'

To this end, Soldier received a muchneeded redesign in 1997 when it also dropped its cover charge and became free. 'The magazine of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s had gradually declined as Army number s fell f rom 1 mn to 200,000,' says Elliott. 'We felt it had become more interesting to the old and the bold rather than the serving soldiers. So it was turned into a full-colour publication, available on news-stands, and is aimed at younger soldiers.

'Over the last 10 years, it has evolved into a sort of lads' magazine, with short articles and punchy pictures. We spend a lot of time trying to find ways to interest them in their pensions and allowances, and so on. We try to be entertaining with stories about what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, and provide human interest stories on soldiers doing interesting things. We also do music reviews - serving soldiers review the latest music themselves.'

More than 70,000 copies of Soldier go out every month. It is also available on the news-stands - around 6,000 copies are sold per month - and through subscription for those interested; 2,600 are sold this way each month.

A good read

At Fidelity, Rodden led a revamp of FulFIL two years ago. The magazine now goes direct to every employee's desk - 5,500 people across 22 countries. 'We are trying to create a sense of community,' Rodden says. To do this, she ensures that everyone, right down to the person in the post room, is involved. Each issue has a column from a 'guest editor', who is a member of staff - for example, the receptionist in the Bermuda office. The back page features special achievements by members of staff and the magazine runs regular features about its offices in different parts of the world.

According to Kirby, a good internal magazine is 'one that is frank and honest, and features different staff, from management down to the shop floor. One that doesn't talk in corporate jargon or trot out management-speak. One that features good news and success stories, but also puts into context any bad news. One that provides information staff members actually find useful and can act upon.'

A good staff magazine features interviews with management about the direction of the company and it should explain new products or offerings the company is about to launch, Kirby says. 'Don't focus too much on senior management or cheesy trumpet blowing about how great it is to work there,' he recommends. 'For most people it is just a job. Make sure the magazine offers practical advice - for example, by directing people to an intranet or an external website, or by giving phone numbers or contact names.'

FulFIL, for example, always gives a link to the intranet where staff can get more information about features in the magazine. 'Ask people to contribute,' advises Kirby. 'Provide an email address or phone number for people to suggest things they would like to see in the magazine. The golden rule is this: if I was a person working in one of our shops or offices, what would I want to read? Also, remember that less is more: it has to be visually attractive as well as informative - which means not cramming pages with words and having no pictures. People must want to read it or there is no point.'

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