DUE: 9/13/16- 12noon EST Developing Persuasive Business Messages Part II

Constructing Effective Business Messages

Being a part of the well-respected and internationally known media outlet that I am, only comes with one impactful perk…. the name of The Washington Post. While receiving a 15% discount at Starbucks or the occasional discounted ticket for a Washington Nationals baseball game, the employees all feel that we should be offered much more.

Prior to being sold and becoming a privately-owned company in 2013, The Washington Post’s corporate affiliation provided discounts with cellular phone companies, hotels, airfare, travel agencies, restaurants, retailers and even real estate.

When our company was sold to Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and Blue Origin, the consumer advantages we once received were no longer available. In department meetings, town halls and even unit stand-up conversations, we often wonder why Bezos declined to keep these benefits. By being a founder and owner of the world’s largest internet retailer, Bezos has the authority to provide The Washington Post employees with monetary favors in the form of discounts and gifts.

I, along with the Benefits & Compensation team, have jointly generated a proposal to initiate the Washington Post Employee Discount Program. These Benefits will be available to every full-time employee after one year of active employment. Upon termination of employment, these advantages will cease. This portfolio of benefits will include:

Employee Discounts

· $35 annual Amazon Prime Membership

· Amazon Corporate Credit Line (payments to be deducted from paycheck)

· 50% off licensed Amazon products

· 15% annual membership at Balance Gym

· 10% discount at Starbucks (participating locations only)

· 10% discount at SKWR/ 20% after 4pm

· 50% discount at Hilton Garden Inn Downtown DC

· Washington Nationals tickets (Partners16 coupon code)

· ZipCar Car Sharing Services Discounts

· 10% discount at Verizon Wireless

· 25% equipment discount at T-Mobile

· 5% equipment discount at Sprint

· 8% discount at Apple Inc.,

· $50 off Costco membership

· $25 off annual membership to Capital Bike Share

Amenities

· Free Parking in underground garage at 1301 K Street

· On-Site Shoe Cleaning

· Monumental Markets Vending Services (on very floor)

· Access to Penthouse (private parties by reservation only)

· 24- hour access to on-site fitness center

· Tuition Assistance

· Metro Benefits

· Flex Scheduling

· Telecommuting

· Personal Cloud Drive Storage

· On-site child care facility

· Financial counseling

· Legal services

Targeted Audience

The above-mentioned employee incentives are intended to bring appreciation and moral to The Washington Post employee. Our goal is to establish a great working environment that cares about the happiness of our employees by assisting in everyday expenses. Happy people can happy employees that can produce great work. According to "Study: Being Happy At Work Really Makes You More Productive" (2015), there is a link between unhappiness and decreased productivity that had a lasting effect of about two years. In an effort to retain the great employees we have, allowing each of them to feel that we value them with these rewards is worthwhile. Such perks can also attract new talent to our company.

These services will also gain business relationships with any of the participating retailers and vendors. These discounts and offers will bring increased revenue to their business. In exchange for their partnership, we can offer a small percentage or contractual fee for print or digital advertisement. The percentage discounts and contractual fees will be negotiated on an annual bases and are subject to change year after year.

Proposal Delivery

Our proposed employee rewards and discount package will be presented to our company Legal department to ensure we are within legal parameters to offer such discounts and to determine if there is a chance of this program becoming a liability to the company. Secondly,

a focus group will be conducted to determine how important the predetermined list of items are to employees. This focus group will determine is the structure needs to be changed in any way to become better aligned with the large diversity of our 1,500 employees. Any and all changes will be made to the list and shortly thereafter, we will enlist the help of our Advertising and Consumer Marketing departments to reach out to their established contacts at these businesses and retailers to gain the partnership for us to offer such deals.

Once negotiations are complete, we will send out a mass communication to the entire business advising of the new employee rewards and discount package program.

interoffice memorandum

To: ALL

Subject: Employee Rewards & Discount Program

Date: October 9, 2016

______________________________________________________________________________

In our ongoing effort to improve your employee benefits and sustainability, we are pleased to announce that effective January 1, 2016, The Washington Post Company will offer a series of discounts and new amenities for its employees that have worked with us for a minimum of one year.

During the open enrollment period, November 1 through November 15, 2016, please select from the several options that will be available. Please note that the desired selections can only be made during the open enrollment period. Selections are to be made under the Personal Information – Benefits tab on the GuidePost site.

The amenities will be coordinated based on your selections. For any discounts that you selected, you will receive a unique code that you will use at any participating retailer for the duration of the offer.

For a listing with detailed description of the discounts and amenities, please visit the What’s New link on the Guidepost homepage.

As same with any insurance and pension benefits that are changed during the annual open enrollment period, the Benefits Office will mail further information and confirmation forms to the home address that we have on file. They will also hold a meeting on October 29th, to explain the program in further detail and answer questions.

We hope that you all are excited as we are to roll out this package of goods!

Best Regards,

Benefits & Compensation Team

Credibility

Offering discounts to places that are convenient to our business location is important. This will ensure that these offers will be used. Also, providing the employees which all possible information will answer all questions and have them ready to use. Through word of mouth of great relationships with businesses and vendors, more potential business relationships will be developed for the company.

Conclusion

In an effort to attract and retain employees, The Washington Post should reestablish the perks program that was offered when it was a public company. These rewards allowed employees to save money and ultimately provided stability to the business relationships between the company and the participating retailers. Bringing back such a program will be beneficial to all parties involved.

References

Study: Being happy at work really makes you more productive. (2015). Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2015/10/29/happy-productivity-work/