Do you only communicate with your employees when you have something to announce, like that new executive VP you just hired? How much do your employees know about your company, each other, and the industry they work in? Do you think that matters? How do you motivate your employees with a carrot or a stick? Do you have a well designed systematic program for communicating with your employees? Do you know why you should? You should have a well designed systematic program for communicating with your employees because you are all on the same team. You need that team to function at its peak performance for your business to succeed. How can it do that if it doesnt know the rules of the game? How can it do it if you never give them any encouragement or direction as a good coach would do? How can it do it if they dont know and trust each other? How can it do it if you dont help them learn? How can it do it if you never listen to them? Those questions suggest for us five key goals or purposes of an effective employee communication program. They are to:
1. Inform employees about important business developments at your company
2. Motivate employees by recognizing and celebrating successes and achievements
3. Build a community of employees by sharing best practices, ideas, and experiences
4. Teach employees on topics that will make them more effective in their jobs
5. Listen to and learn from employees so that their ideas can make a difference
Lets take these goals one at a time. First, to inform employees about important business developments at your company. The more they know about whats going in the company and your strategy, the easier it will be for them to make their own decisions and actions conform. This includes information, news, and updates about your strategy and direction, business goals and objectives, company mission and values, major project or task force updates, regular business status and operations updates, organizations changes, and yes announcements about executive changes. When? This type of information has a newsy aspect to it so the sooner the better. You really dont want your employees to be forced to go elsewhere to find out what whats going on in your (and their) company. How? This really depends on the magnitude of the news and how much it will impact them employees. Simple news updates can be sent out via email, but big changes in strategy or organizations that will affect everyones job will need to have as much face-to-face communication as possible. Whether you use town hall meetings, brown bag lunches, groups meetings in a park, employee newsletters, or video or web-broadcasts, making a direct personal connection with your employees to help them understand the change directly from you will go a long way to making it successful. Motivate employees by recognizing and celebrating successes and achievements. Recognize individual employees, or a group of employees by personally congratulating them for their work in a very public way. By doing this you will add fuel to one of the most powerful motivating tools at your disposal. Youll be making a direct connection with the employee to let them know that what they do is important to you, that you appreciate their contribution, and that their work should be viewed by everyone else in the company as an example to aspire to. The more specific and personal to an individual the better. Of course, overall company successes and achievements should be recognized as well. When? Frequently, and whenever you have an opportunity to address as many of your employees as possible in open communication, like monthly broadcasts or town hall meetings and newsletters. Build a community of employees by sharing best practices, ideas, and experiences. If your employees turn to each other for ideas and sharing best practices they will also develop trust, improve team problem solving, and increase their sense of commitment and dedication to the success of your business as a whole. Encourage them to share amongst each other but also reward them for doing so in group sessions where one department or work group may share some new discovery or process with the rest of the organization. If they also share information about themselves and their personal interests or hobbies outside of work, they will find they have more in common than just their jobs, and that will strengthen the bonds between them. When? Use all your regular and frequent communications mechanisms including town hall meetings, newsletters, and intranet web site including electronic bulletin boards and internal web blogs. Teach employees on topics that will make them more effective in their jobs. Keeping your employees current with the latest developments in your industry, new government regulations, new technology developments, competitive developments, and economic developments will empower them to do better work and provide better service to your customers. Knowledgeable employees are better able to make informed decisions with the confidence that they are making the right decision. Theyll be more productive and more motivated as well. When? On a continuous basis use both computerized self-paced training and classroom style sessions where appropriate. Listen to and learn from employees so that their ideas can make a difference. If employees know that their ideas and suggestions will in fact be heard and can make a direct positive contribution to the business, they will become more engaged in their work and in the interests of making your company more productive. This is true even if a particular idea is not enacted. When? Constantly, and at every opportunity. How? Create reward mechanisms for employees who bring ideas forward that are implemented and result in significant benefits to your business. Reward people for submitting ideas by handing out a gift certificate randomly to people who submit ideas. Hold contests between departments. Use suggestion boxes, web based surveys, brown bag lunches, focus group meetings, and even one-on-one face to face meetings just listen to them. Some simple guiding principles to keep in mind as you develop and execute your employee communications plan. First, build direct and immediate feedback and measurement into all communication listening is as important as talking when youre trying to build a team. Second, engage and interact with employees so they are participating in the communication. Include their achievements, news, best practices, and so on, in their own words. Third, be honest and open and timely with all company news. And last, but not least, play. Lighten up with humor and games and youll find they trust you more, bring forward more creative ideas, work together better, work harder, keep your customers happier, and serve as the lifeblood of your business when you need them the most. |
