Existing client Houston Parks Board (HPB) hired Elmore through a separate scope of work to create and execute an interactive employee training session in which employees would be trained on using their company’s key messaging when communicating with the public.
Two Elmore team members with training and employee communications expertise were assigned to the project to create and conduct the session. After a kick-off meeting with HPB’s chief advancement officer to discuss her vision, goals and parameters for the session, the internal team drafted a recommendation for the 2.5-hour training session.
Elmore’s goals were to:
• Deliver a fun, interactive session which generates internal pride in and excitement about working for the Houston Parks Board.
• Learn from Houston Parks Board employees how they talk about the organization every day.
• Ensure all Houston Parks Board employees are equipped to use similar language and speak consistently about the organization.
Our objective was to improve HPB employees’ mastery of the organization’s key messages as a result of the training.
In advance of the training, to guide the session content with an understanding of employees’ existing knowledge and to have baseline metrics to measure improvement against, we distributed a pre-training survey to attendees. Respondents answered with their agreement level to prompts like, “I can quickly explain what Houston Parks Board is to someone not familiar with the organization” and “I know Houston Parks Board’s public messaging.”
During the training, the Elmore team conducted an introductory exercise to spur discussion and engagement, a panel discussion to learn how colleagues currently speak about the organization, a presentation to introduce the elevator speech messaging and an opportunity to practice it with their peers, an interactive game to engage with the content, and a closing exercise to reinforce the day’s training with strategic reflection prompts.
The training session achieved its objective of improving Houston Parks Board employees’ mastery of the organization’s key messages, evidenced by a significant increase in respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing with the following statements:
• “I understand the four priorities of Houston Parks Board’s new strategic plan.”
• “I understand how my role impacts Houston Parks Board’s strategic plan and overall goals.”
• “I know Houston Parks Board’s public messaging.”
Immediately after the training session, a tenured employee at Houston Parks Board approached the trainers and stated in all her years at the organization, this was by far the best training she has attended.
A member of Houston Parks Board leadership informed the trainers how the training helped her, saying, “I felt more confident explaining Houston Parks Board to some guests we hosted last Friday, so the practice really helped, even for someone ‘pitching’ the organization frequently.”
