In recent years, the A. Stucki Company has grown dramatically through acquisitions of companies that supply critical components and services for North America’s railroads. During 2018 alone, two purchases more than doubled the size of the Pittsburgh-based organization. 

One strategy Stucki has developed to preserve the family emphasis that has shaped the company since its establishment in 1911 is the upgrade of its employee publication, the Stucki Express, into a quarterly mini-magazine. 

The 12-page publication carries updates from across the sprawling Stucki empire. 

“We want to remind our employees that there’s much more to our company than what we as individuals may see in our own worlds day to day,” said Anne Kocher, Stucki’s director of marketing. 

“We want to reinforce Stucki’s expertise and success and report on what employees across the company are doing to contribute to those.” 

Connecting Employees Across the Enterprise 

With support from Pecchia Communications, Stucki develops and distributes the publication to all of its United States locations. Although a PDF version is available on the company intranet, leaders believe a print edition is important, especially in plant locations where not all employees use digital communications.

A recent Stucki Express carried stories about the company’s lean initiative, a cleanup project that won an environmental stewardship award, the expansion of an SAP software system, a building addition at the American Turbocharger Technologies division and more. Photos of employees are common, and many wear company-branded shirts and hats. 

An upcoming edition will have an insert that lists all of Stucki’s primary locations and lines of business, including a locator map. It’s an update to the insert published in early 2018, when the company was about half its current size. 

“Since we began publishing in the larger format in early 2018, every edition has been impressive because we have so much going on and our division and department leaders are excited about sharing it,” Anne said.  

Advice for Internal Publications   

With advances in publishing technology, regular employee publications are nowhere near as daunting as they once were, points out Kelli Hulea, project manager at Pecchia Communications.

“Many of our clients are surprised to see how effective and cost-effective internal publications can be,” she said. “They’re especially worthwhile for companies concerned about employee retention and those that want to hammer home a message on a regular cadence. 

“Internal publications can be effective in educating employees about the business. And in many situations, the content can be re-merchandised for other audiences, like customers, shareholders or suppliers, through blog articles, sell sheets, media pitches and more.”

Kelli offers this advice to organizations considering an internal publication:  

• Establish content goals. It’s good to know going in what messages the company’s leaders want to emphasize so content focused on those themes can be prioritized. 

• Make it easy for sources to contribute. Some contributors will be enthusiastic from the get-go. Others may need encouragement. It’s worth the effort to present a complete picture. 

• Work toward a consistent voice. A central editor can enforce a central style for story length, tone, photos, graphics and other content. Those all make a publication more professional and credible.

• “Humanize” the leaders. The larger the company, the less practical it is for the CEO or others in senior management to see everyone personally. A publication can help readers get to know the people in charge. 

• Ask for feedback. Suggestions could help shape future content or reveal business or operational opportunities that other channels may have missed. 

• Don’t be afraid to have fun. Humor can be great for the workplace and even better for workplace communication. If there’s an opportunity for levity (in good taste), capitalize on it.  

If you have any questions about starting or energizing an employee communications initiative, get in touch with Kelli at kelli@pecchiacomm.com.  

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