Throughout the course, you created deliverables that were incorporated into an adaptive leadership toolkit submitted in Module Seven. You will recall this toolkit should help improve the skills and behaviors of the leaders within the organization, where you are a director of leadership and learning. Another important aspect in ensuring the toolkit effectiveness is how toolkit information is communicated to stakeholders throughout the organization. This discussion assignment is designed to encourage conversation and the sharing of ideas with your peers around organizational communication strategies related to the toolkit. This discussion with your peers will relate to the work for your final project that you will submit in Module Nine.
For your initial post, refer to your module resources that deal with communication and address the following questions:
· How should the adaptive leadership toolkit be communicated to the organization’s leadership to help gain buy-in?
· How can you ensure this communication strategy is sustainable long-term, more than two years?
When responding to at least two other peers’ posts, addressing the following:
· Share at least one suggestion for improvement to the communication methods proposed by your peers and explain why.
· Do the proposed methods of communication by your peer(s) allow for effective distribution of future updates to the adaptive leadership toolkit?
· Are there opportunities to ensure these methods are more sustainable long-term?
2.
Overview
Different audiences require different communication styles and media. In this assignment, you will communicate the same information to different audiences in different formats.
You have been coordinating with the benefits team to modify the current employee benefits package to support your long-term employee engagement and retention strategy.
After a lot of research and communication with different providers, the benefits team has sent you the following memo regarding the change. As part of the team spearheading the benefits change process, you are tasked with communicating details of the new package to the affected audiences.
This Module Eight assignment is not part of the final project. It’s a separate assignment with a different business scenario provided.
Memo From: Benefits Department
To: Director, Strategic Planning
RE: Change in Benefits
Overview: The company has had the same benefits provider for ten years and we have reached the end of the contract. As premiums and the cost to the company have increased every year, benefits have remained the same and even decreased in some areas. Additionally, employees have been sharing concerns regarding the cost, co-pays, coverage, and options of the current provider. Therefore, in order to conduct due diligence, the benefits team began reviewing other providers last year. Based on the feedback of employees and needs of the company, the following criteria were considered in the search:
· Price of premiums
· Lower deductibles
· Improved dental plan option
· Improved eye care plan option
· Inclusion of health care savings or spending accounts
· Enhanced long-and short-term disability coverage
· Wellness programs
· Reduced premiums for nonsmokers
After reviewing the different plans offered and extensive consultation with other stakeholders, the benefits team has selected a new program. Compared to the current program, employees will experience the following enhancements in the new program:
· Plans with multiple deductible options
· Health care savings account
· A wellness program that offers access to a weight loss application, incentives for wellness visits and activity logs, and reimbursement for gym memberships and smoking cessation programs
· Improved dental plan
Although these were part of the search criteria, the new program does not include:
· Lower premiums
· Improved eye care plan options
· Reduced premiums for nonsmokers
· Enhanced long-and short-term disability coverage
Benefits to the company include:
· Reduced premiums for the employees engaging in wellness programs
· Additional reduction in rates for in-network usage
· The option of a “gold plan” for executives that is significantly more cost-effective than the previous plan
The new benefits plan will go into effect on January 1 of the new fiscal year and will be rolled out during the open-enrollment period of the current year.
Please contact the benefits department if you have any questions.
Prompt
Using the information in the memo above, create the following pieces of communication. Remember to tailor the information to be appropriate for the target audience.
1. An email to all affected employees
a. Describe what is changing and why.
b. Explain the benefits of the change and how it will affect employees.
2. A brief, three- to four-slide audio presentation to the human resources team. If audio is not available, include detailed speaker notes instead.
a. Describe what is changing and why.
b. Explain the benefits of the change and how it will affect these teams.
What to Submit
1. Email: Submit a 1-to 2-page Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins.
2. Presentation: Submit a 3-to 4-slide PowerPoint presentation.