‘The whole person’: Internal publication tells employee stories

“Half Times” is a publication of the staffing agency Robert Half. Click on the image to see the full cover.

Though digital communication has finished off some internal magazines, others have found new life, as organizations move from stodgy corporate promotions to people pieces.

Consider “Half Times,” a publication of the staffing agency Robert Half. Published for decades, in recent years it has transitioned from a collection of short, business-related stories to more of a consumer publication, says Amanda Jo Deppe, senior director of internal communications and community programs.

That includes a stronger focus on the company’s roughly 15,000 employees worldwide and the whole of their lives, not just the hours they spend at their desks.

“What we’ve done recently is focus on more of the personal attributes of people we’re interviewing for stories,” says Deppe.

The smart-looking quarterly publication also has a new online edition, launched last fall. Formerly, the only digital version was a pdf published in addition to the print magazine.