Massaging the MessagING

The Pain Point: CARE's Innovation team turned to me while troubleshooting their dwindling internal employee engagement globally.

The Discovery: I discovered that the team was attempting to attract internal interest by using hi-tech innovation jargon as well as using language that was effective with external philanthropic donors. They were using language such as: "It takes an average of 10 years to scale our best humanitarian programs. It's not fast enough. We need your support." This positioning worked with donors but was demoralizing to employees and reinforced perceptions of colonial "us/them" global dynamics.

The Strategic Solution: "We know you have good ideas." "We want to remove barriers and empower you." These sorts of tweaks to the messaging, using less technical language, and developing enhanced peer recognition, resulted in increases in the response to outreach, applications to the accelerator program, and participation in other training.