Still in need of vacation plans? Come to DC!

Summer can be a corporate communicator’s worst nightmare. Naturally, employees are less engaged in their 9-5 during the summer months. We’ve all got:

• family vacations to enjoy (endure);
• baseball games to watch (have you seen this kid Strasburg?!);
• barbecues to host;
• and, for we DC folk, jazz in the sculpture garden to sweat through.

This month is especially challenging for you, corporate communicators. Beyond the typical noise and distraction, you’re competing with the most watched event on the planet—the World Cup. Look to your right and left. Your colleagues who suddenly have earphones on in the morning are not listening to soothing, motivating Enya. They’re likely plugged into ESPN360.com or Univision to follow the action. Basically, no one is listening to you.

So take a break, right? Let people have fun for a few months, and reboot your engagement efforts when the sun starts to set earlier, the kids are back in school, and Q4 madness is in full swing?

Wrong. (I humbly suggest.)

Summertime, and summer 2010 in particular, is not the time to let engagement efforts slide. For many, summer is a time of relaxation, sure, but also of reflection. Employees are thinking about what they’ve done in the first half of the year and where they are headed. Haven’t you ever lazed on a beach or spent time by a river thinking about who you are, what you want, and how your company fits into that future picture you imagine? This time to relax, reflect, and imagine is necessary and healthy.

But for your company, this employee soul-searching time could be dangerous. If you think I’m being a bit dramatic and that no way do employees think about work on their vacations, consider this stat from our sister program, the Corporate Leadership Council: 25% of top talent intends to jump ship for another employer within the year. While this is perhaps a good sign of confidence in business and the overall economy, it may wind up being very bad news  for your company. (Read more about this startling stat here.)

But here’s the good news: Corporate Communications is in a great position to help the organization understand the causes of employee discontent and develop strategies to address those issues. For example, this summer could be the perfect time to architect an employee listening system for your organization. At the same time, Comms can do some pretty simple things to give employees a morale boost and signal to them that their engagement matters.

So, what will you do to keep your company’s employees engaged this summer?  Is it enough to:

• post fun vacation stories on the intranet?
• sponsor a water balloon fight?
• video tape the company’s softball team in action?
• create office hours with execs?
• develop a peer recognition platform?
• host “lunch-and-learns” with departments around the organization to expose employees to new opportunities?

I’m not sure what works, but I’d love to hear what you’re trying.