If No One Knows, Does It Even Exist?

Earlier this week, I sat through a solid vendor pitch for an employee discount program. I felt like I asked the right questions, nodded at the right moments, and caught myself mentally fast-forwarding to implementation. In my head, I was already thinking about rollout emails, employee excitement, and maybe even a little internal praise for my team bringing something new to the table. I felt like I had found something valuable for our employees.

At least, that’s what I thought.

Later that same day, I casually mentioned it to my team. Nothing formal. Just a quick, “Hey, I met with a vendor today about an employee discount program. Looks pretty promising.”

That’s when my HR Generalist, a 42-year veteran in the organization, looked at me and said, very matter-of-factly: “We already have one.”

I laughed. Not because it was funny. But because it had to be a misunderstanding.

“We… what?”

Sure enough, she pulls it up, sends me the information, and walks me through it.

Not only do we already have an employee discount program… it’s free! It’s functional. It’s actually pretty good.

But here’s the kicker. No one knows about it!

I had heard nothing about it and I’ve been in this role for over a year. I asked my City Manager about it and she did know either. I asked other Department Directors... nada.

We had been sitting on a benefit this whole time like it’s a secret we forgot we were keeping.

I wish I could tell you there was some big, dramatic reason for it. Some policy failure or some intentional decision. But there wasn’t.

It just… faded.

Somewhere along the line, it was introduced. Maybe there was an email. Maybe even a small push. But over time, without reinforcement, without someone owning it, without consistent communication, it disappeared. Not literally of course, because it was still there. It was just invisible.

And that’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks.

This wasn’t a vendor problem. It wasn’t even a program problem.

It was a leadership problem.

Because if something exists in your organization and your people don’t know about it, it might as well not exist.

We love to say things like, “Well, we sent that out before,” or “That information is available,” or my personal favorite, “They should know.” But people don’t operate off of what should be known. They operate off of what is consistently shown, said, and reinforced.

And if we’re not talking about it, reminding people of it, weaving it into how we communicate… it disappears.

Until one day your HR Director is sitting in a vendor meeting, unknowingly shopping for something she already has.

That was a humbling moment. It wasn't embarrassing or frustrating. I would say it was a clarifying moment.

It reminded me that leadership communication isn’t about making announcements. It’s about creating awareness that actually sticks. It’s not a one-time email or a checkbox. It’s repetition, visibility, and ownership. It’s making sure the things that matter don’t get buried under the things that are urgent.

Now, to be fair, the program isn’t perfect. In digging into it, I found a disclosure notice stating that personal information may be shared with marketing affiliates. I even tried to follow the opt-out instructions, and let’s just say that using the word “convoluted” is being generous.

So yes, there are things we need to evaluate, clean up, and communicate clearly. The biggest difference is that now, we’re actually going to talk about it. We’re going to decide how it fits, what it means for our employees, and how we present it with transparency. And then we’re going to keep it in front of people long enough for it to become real, not just available.

Because a benefit that no one knows about isn’t a benefit. It’s a missed opportunity.

And leadership, at its core, is about making sure those opportunities don’t stay hidden.