Companies today experience unique challenges when it comes to communicating with their employees. Never-ending meetings and emails can often feel like overkill, but you can’t miss out on communicating enough about what employees consider key to feeling connected, engaged and inspired. Building a strong culture of employee engagement, especially for teams with decentralized locations and remote employees, is one of the top 3 priorities for Chief People Officers and People Ops leaders in support of their CEO and divisional leadership.
Start by creating a strategy for employee communications:
-Set up a cadence for communication
-Select the method of communication
-Select the type of information you want to communicate
-Think about who needs to stay informed
-Choose a system that helps you automate and standardize your communications strategy
The key to communication is CONSISTENCY!
Here are some Actionable Tips on key components of your employee communications strategy.
New Employees
Your team wants to be in the know when a new member joins. They’ll often want to learn the background of the new person, their new title + department, if they will be working at the HQ or from home, what their key skills are and what they will be responsible for in their new job. It’s also good to share some insight on hobbies and interests the new employee may have. It helps strengthen the culture when people can identify others with similar interests outside of work.
New employees should be introduced into the company within 3-5 days of their first day. Not only will it keep current employees “in the know” but it also provides for a welcoming and engaging experience for the new hire.
Birthdays
When your organization is growing quickly it’s hard to remember and congratulate everyone on their special day. One technique is to pick a day in the month when all employees who have a birthday during that month are recognized and celebrated.
You don’t have to make a big production – an announcement to the company and a happy birthday card is all it takes. Teams can underestimate the impact birthday acknowledgments have on new staff. Your employees will thank you!
Anniversaries
In an economy where average tenures are decreasing, job anniversaries should be recognized throughout the company often and with some fanfare attached. It shows that the company is committed to its employees and appreciates their commitment in return. Anniversaries should be acknowledged with an announcement throughout the company and at the all-hands meetings, preferably by the CEO.
News and Events
A majority of modern corporations have global teams, and sharing news that is important to a decentralized team can make everyone feel interconnected and in tune with company culture. Communicating to employees about external and internal events makes them feel more sympathetic and in touch with the rest of the business. For example, if your organization is exhibiting at a conference, create a news post about it. Boost morale and camaraderie by cheering on your colleagues who are there in person to represent the company..
Open positions
Announcing open positions on a regular basis both helps fuel the growth of a company and provides opportunities for upward mobility that otherwise employees may not be aware of. It’s not uncommon for people to spend lots of time looking for — and ultimately choosing — a position in a different organization when a better fit for them is right there in their own network.
Because employees typically don’t browse their own company websites looking for positions, taking the extra time to advertise new positions and promotions in-house is essential to keeping your team homogenized and efficient.
HR and Regulatory Communication
It is crucial to communicate changes in benefits and laws that can affect employees and their families. Human resources policies and procedures require consistent transmission throughout the organization. By communicating these policies and procedures frequently, HR allows both managers and employees to be equipped with the information they need to understand their own responsibilities in the workplace and prevent potential issues.
Promotion and Job Changes
Promoting from within is a natural morale booster. Announcing and celebrating promotions helps people see examples of upward mobility in their organization and get an idea of what it takes. Announcing job changes is also equally important because it shows that the company is invested in their employees and is willing to capitalize on the strengths of their existing team by offering a different internal opportunity, even if the move is lateral.
Top Company Goals
Understanding the purposes, values and underlying objectives of longterm goals helps employees feel connected to the mission of the company and find purpose in their own work. Communicating the top company goals frequently and in a transparent way focuses effort, fosters collaboration and ensures everyone’s working to achieve the same results. There are many great methodologies, like SMART goals or OKRs, that can be adopted to further your business’ objectives.
Recognition for Great Work
Frequent and visible recognition, especially given by peers, is proven to be one of the most effective ways to keep employees positively engaged and motivated to continue doing great work. Studies show recognition has a quantifiable impact on performance, and that the top 25% most engaged teams experience a 65% lower turnover than their less engaged peers.
Chief People Officers, People Operations, Human Resource leadership and other People leaders should carefully consider the overall culture of the organization when developing and implementing their overall people communication strategy.
We’re not done yet!
We’ve got plenty more resources on building the best workforce from the bottom to the top. Take a look at our e-book on Mastering the Employee Experience, or our analysis of Gallup’s 12 Elements of Employee Engagement. All of our resources can be found in our Library – check them out here! To see HelloTeam in action, click here — and to set up a meeting with us, go here!