How to communicate the end of 2022

I posed those questions to the global internal communication community via LinkedIn and I asked my colleagues to share their advice too. Thank you to everyone who responded, you can see their answers below. I hope you find them useful as you get your plans in place.

"A big fat thank you, a bit of fun and key dates to know for the new calendar year.”
Lucy Burden, Communications Lead, Clearsprings Ready Homes

"Thank people for their efforts this year and what they’ve achieved; encourage people to take advantage of the break and enjoy it how they will; acknowledge those who may be working through on essential services or contracts; point to help for those who find it a difficult or lonely time.”
Richard Howat, Communications Business Partner UK & Nordics, OTIS

"Absolutely agree Richard – those are all the things that are important for us to cover, especially recognising those who deliver our frontline services throughout.” 
Kate Nowowiecki, Engagement Development Manager, Kent County Council

"1. Keep it light. 2. Make it fun. 3. Celebrate success (what was achieved in Q1 feels a long time ago!), and thank everyone for their efforts.”
Glen Stubbings, Medline Australia

"2022 has been a year of defining new ways of working and continuing to navigate ambiguity and uncertainty. Reflect on what you have learned as a practitioner, as a team and an organisation and weave that into your end of year comms messages and celebrations. Your approach should be appropriate and humble. A heartfelt thank you and a sprinkle of kindness should end the year on the right note.”
Caroline Cubbon-King, Communication Consultant, All Things IC

"There is an opportunity to provide a balanced reflection on the year. 2022 has been especially challenging for many organisations, so leaders can acknowledge the journey everyone has been on and celebrate achievements. I always try and roll the comms into the first week of January as it can be very easy for people come back to work and feel as though ‘it’s back into everything’ and the feeling of being refreshed from the holidays passes by.

“I’m also mindful that for some organisations, December doesn’t always mean the end of the year, as it might align with a financial year instead. If this is the case, you can use December as the month to remind colleagues of the importance of looking after themselves and supporting each other. We all have different home circumstances, so showing consideration to those colleagues who perhaps don’t have many celebrations planned can help them.”
Dan Holden, Communication Consultant, All Things IC

"One of my favourite things is to utilise the holiday to humanise your leaders! Get creative in their messaging and work with them to be as authentic as possible. Recognise the hard work of employees and encourage them to recharge of the holidays but do it in a way that is unique, yet complimentary of typical communication style.” 
Paige Coates, Global Director of Communications, Inteva Products

“It is a great opportunity for senior leaders to show their human side, and if you can have a bit of fun with it – all the better!”
Tora Millward, Head of Internal Communication at Aspris

“Authentic, appreciative and if appropriate, fun (I couldn’t think of another A!)”
Cathy Power, Global Internal Communications Manager, Global and Experian IT Services

“Number one for me is always the thank you. My other golden rule is keep it light in terms of messaging – there are other opportunities to talk about the numbers/challenges/forecasts. This is the time to get across warmth, authenticity, personality and a bit of fun.”
Claire Openshaw, Associate Director, Global Internal Communication at Turner & Townsend

“The overarching tone of any year-end internal communication should always reflect appreciation and introspection. Appreciating all employees for all their hard work during the year and looking back, looking ahead to all milestones recorded during the year and an insight regarding what to expect in the new year.”
Ife Elegbede, Communications Specialist, Coronation Merchant Bank

“For me, it’s a point of reflection. A chance to stand still for a minute and look back – what has been achieved, difficulties that have been overcome and acknowledging colleagues’ contributions. It’s easy to constantly look to the next thing but I think this appreciation of the past is important for fostering colleagues’ understanding of how they’ve contributed to the greater organisational goals. As well as creating a clean platform in January to start messaging around the vision for the year ahead. Although I completely agree with Claire Openshaw that it’s not the time for numbers or heavy detail! Always avoid assuming that the holiday season looks the same for everyone."
Kelsey Farrell, Senior Internal Communications Specialist, Advanced

“For me the most important thing is to thank everyone for all of their hard work. This is closely followed by the opportunity to celebrate what’s been achieved. I often like to use video for this as it’s a great way to make an emotional connection and instil a sense of pride. As well as a chance to reflect, I also like to give a small nod to the future and create some excitement for the year to come. Finally, a chance to remind everyone to take a break.” Rhianne Sarna, Head of Internal Communications, Colt Technology Services

I echo so many of the comments the IC community has kindly shared. The main one for me is gratitude for your employees and all the efforts and energies they have put into the year. Recognising some people don’t celebrate Christmas or have it at another time of year (some Ukrainians will mark it on 7 January for example), is important. Be mindful of appropriateness of language, imagery and celebrations.

Rachel Miller is founder and principal consultant of internal communications specialists All Things IC.

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