Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a renowned scholar in the field of psychology, said, “In large organizations the dilution of information as it passes up and down the hierarchy, and horizontally across departments, can undermine the effort to focus on common goals.” That’s one of the biggest reasons SoftLayer shares a weekly internal newsletter with SLayers in all departments and in all locations. Keeping coworkers informed of corporate activities (and “common goals”) may not be very high on everyone’s to-do list, but it’s certainly at the top of mine … literally. As Marketing Coordinator, I’m responsible for sending out a weekly update to ALL SoftLayer staff.
If you have a growing or geographically diverse team, rallying the troops around a shared message is a great way to keep everyone on the same page. If you’re not sure where to start with your own internal newsletter, I’d be happy to dissect what goes into our “Weekly Breakdown” as an example you might build from.
The Weekly Breakdown kicks off with employee birthdays. We want to make sure all 700+ SLayers know when one of their coworkers is getting a year “better,” and every month, huge birthday cakes are brought to every office to recognize the SLayers celebrating their birthdays. We haven’t written a SoftLayer version of a cheesy-restaurant rendition of the classic “Happy Birthday” song, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.
BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK
| John Doe | 05/17 |
| Jane Smith | 05/17 |
| Bill Scurvy | 05/18 |
| Kermit the Frog | 05/18 |
| Miss Piggy | 05/19 |
In addition to employee birthdays, we’ll also call out important days (like SoftLayer’s birthday: May 5!) in the birthday section.
The next section in the Breakdown is similar to the “Birthdays” section, but it’s a little more relevant to our business: “Anniversaries This Month.” When you’re hired at SoftLayer, you basically get a SoftLayer birthday, and we want to recognize how long you’ve been a SLayer:
ANNIVERSARIES THIS MONTH
10 Years!!!!!!!!!!
- John Doe
8 Years!!!!!!!!
- Jane Smith
- Bill Scurvy
5 Years!!!!!
- Kermit the Frog
1 Year!
- Miss Piggy
After we recognize the SoftLayer anniversaries, we have a section devoted to keeping employees informed of various activities going on at SoftLayer. That might be a recent press release, an update on holidays or an upcoming company event. This section is the go-to place for employees to know what’s new with SoftLayer.
SL SPOTLIGHT
Did you know that SoftLayer employees can get a discount on dedicated servers and CCIs? Talk to any of our sales reps to get started. You will receive a [secret] discount off any dedicated server or a [secret] discount off any CCI!
The next few sections list available SL Job Openings, New Hires from the previous week, and Organizational Changes. Given that SoftLayer is still growing like crazy, we want to make sure all of our employees see the available positions in the organization so they can share with their network of friends or so they can see any opportunities they feel might better suit their talents and passions. It’s always nice to know who is helping SoftLayer grow (new employees) and how they are growing with SoftLayer, whether vertically or horizontally (organizational changes).
The next two sections are dedicated to employees “personal” lives: Classifieds and Fundraising Events. These sections let employees list anything they are selling or giving away along with any fundraising activities or events that they, their kids, their neighbor or their dog are involved in. We’ve had classified items like car wheels, stereos and animal adoptions, and you can bet that employees were voraciously reading the “Fundraising” section when Girl Scout Cookie orders were being taken.
We wrap up the Weekly Breakdown with my favorite section: SoftLayer Praise. There are so many reasons why the section gives me joy. It’s amazing how many wonderful comments our customers have about SoftLayer on a weekly basis, and it’s a “pat on the back” for teams that may not interact directly with customers on a daily basis. Sharing all of the praise is great for morale, and those little compliments here and there go a long way to making our team continue working hard … even if just to hear those comments again and again! Here are some of my favorite comments from the past few weeks:
SL Praise
As our business expands we look forward to working with SoftLayer on our projects for many years to come.
My server was down and did not want to come back online without an FSCK. Called support and got a real person on the phone within seconds who was knowledgeable – excellent! He was unable to get the FSCK to run so escalated it. Server Was back online within 10-15 minutes of calling. Thank you. Keep up the great service.
We have been a Customer since 2004 (since the days of servermatrix) and would like to thank you for the wonderful support that we have received over the years. Thank you for an outstanding customer experience!
Great customer services. On numerous occasions was pleasantly surprised.
You people are great!!! I am very Happy with your service. Since 1 year I never face a single server down issue.
Softlayer is the best hosting company I know of, which is why we are hosting with you. You are doing a great job.
I Love SL!
I definitely refer all my colleagues to SoftLayer. Service and quality are amazing!
@SoftLayer always has the coolest stuff at trade shows. I have a shirt from them that is cool enough for me to wear in public!!
SoftLayer it’s been wonderful. We been having softlayer rocket battles … #SENDREINFORCEMENTS
Those kinds of comments can put a smile on any SLayers face! 
If you have any wonderful comments to say about SoftLayer or an individual employee, don’t be scared to tell us … Your comment might just be featured in our next “Weekly Breakdown.” Comment on this blog, use SoftLayer’s “Get Satisfaction” page, tweet @SoftLayer or post to our Facebook page. We love to hearing from you and working hard to remain the “best hosting company [you] know of!”
As you can see, the Weekly Breakdown covers a lot of SoftLayer goodness in a given week. It takes a little work to keep a 700-SLayer organization on the same page, but that work pays off exponentially when the team is able to share accomplishments, praise and goals. I’d highly recommend you trying your own weekly internal newsletter … Now leave us some SL praise!
-Natalie
