from employee communications to workforce engagement

FROM EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS TO WORKFORCE ENGAGEMENT


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In today’s environment, the need to engage and activate employees is paramount. In order to achieve the necessary and desired business outcomes, companies must move from the static, one-way message delivery that has traditionally driven the practice of Employee Communications to a more dynamic form of communication: Employee Engagement.



The realities of today’s economy and today’s workplace have helped shatter the old dynamic between employers and employees. Healthcare costs continue to rise. Major corporations have made outsourcing and contingent labor central features of their staffing plans. Even in the current economy, the war for talent is intensifying. At the same time, the difficult economic environment has intensified employee fear – fear of change, fear for their jobs and fear for their very livelihood. This

apprehension can breed mistrust, impact productivity and pit employees and management on opposite sides at the time when a shared interest in common goals is critical.

The companies that are and will be successful are those that recognize that employees are the universal touch-point for each of their constituencies. Employees influence purchasing, investing and employment decisions at every level. Businesses need to motivate their employees to do more with less, while

operating in alignment with corporate priorities.This is a near-impossibility if the employees don’t feel invested in the enterprise.This is more than a battle for relevance; it may be a battle for corporate survival.That battle will be won by those who treat internal communication as a way to foster a meaningful dialogue with their employees, and lost by those who treat their workers like walking mail boxes, available to receive information, but not necessarily vested in acting upon it.

Employee Engagement reflects more than a change in nomenclature. It reflects a fundamental change in thinking. It is a shift from providing employees with a lot of disconnected chatter, to creating a true conversation and voice that impacts what employees think, and more importantly, what they do in order to drive business outcomes.



Whether you are seeking to attract and retain talent, generate support for a new business imperative, or are implementing widespread culture change, an effective Employee Engagement program is one that is built on the five C’s: clarity, consistency, context, customization and conversation.

In practice, that means you should:

EMBRACE CLARITY (QUICKLY)

For an employee, nothing weakens trust more quickly than when they receive inside news – good or bad – from an outside source. It creates an Us/Them dynamic. It prompts the employee to feel as though they work for the company, rather than feeling like they are the company. If you have bad news to share, share it internally before they can hear it elsewhere. If you are not telling the story, then someone will tell it on your behalf, out of context and missing critical details.Treat your employees like adults. Be up front and straightforward. And be quick – news travels fast, and modern employees have access to an unprecedented range of news sources, from traditional news outlets to chat rooms, social networking sites, blogs, you name it.The grapevine keeps growing, every hour of every day.

BE CONSISTENT.

Employees trust communications that are regular, consistent and balanced. If your newsletter mysteriously skips an issue when business declines, or a dramatic policy change is announced the day after the CEO holds his annual Town Hall meeting and open Q&A, your employee engagement program will be viewed as little more than a propaganda machine. Stay the course, even when times are challenging.

UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT IS KING

Delivering information is relatively easy. Motivating employees to change their thinking or behavior based on that information is more complicated. The key to moving from information to action is context. When delivered out of context, news can be misinterpreted and misunderstood, or simply ignored because the relevance to the individual is not clear. Be straightforward and thorough. Explain why decisions were made and what forces were driving them. Remember that when you make changes – even positive ones - that impact customers, distributors, business partners or communities, your employees are often the messengers. They cannot represent the company well if they can’t have an informed conversation about the issue. Articulate your reasoning, and when applicable, the benefits and trust them to do the same.



CUSTOMIZE YOUR MESSAGE

Good conversations involve an exchange. An effective Employee Engagement program should seek to draw information from employees, rather than just delivering information to them. Establish a mechanism to listen to employees, and not only to the squeakiest among them. Whether you choose to blog and invite comments, hold employee town hall meetings or simply put up an employee comment box, understand that if one employee says it, ten think it. And when you open the dialogue, be open to the idea that inviting employee participation might mean there is more dialogue than usual. Be open to the idea of reviewing and revising the occasional policy or decision, where appropriate, in the interest of continuing the collaboration and discussion you’ve invited. You never know where the next big idea may come from!

START A CONVERSATION

Good conversations involve an exchange. An effective Employee Engagement program should seek to draw information from employees, rather than just delivering information to them. Establish a mechanism to listen to employees, and not only to the squeakiest among them. Whether you choose to blog and invite comments, hold employee town hall meetings or simply put up an employee comment box, understand that if one employee says it, ten think it. And when you open the dialogue, be open to the idea that inviting employee participation might mean there is more dialogue than usual. Be open to the idea of reviewing and revising the occasional policy or decision, where appropriate, in the interest of continuing the collaboration and discussion you’ve invited. You never know where the next big idea may come from!



Contact

Carreen Winters Executive Vice President 201.964.2410 | [email protected]

MWW Group 304 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor New York, NY 10010

EAST RUTHERFORD / CHICAGO / DALLAS / LONDON / LOS ANGELES / NEW YORK / SAN FRANCISCO / TRENTON / WASHINGTON D.C.

Internal communications is a powerful and underutilized tool. When companies use a communications model based on engagement, it can motivate your employees to act or behave in a way that benefits them and your business. This will help you foster trust and loyalty at a time when both qualities will be at a premium. It will strengthen your company’s relationship with your most critical corporate asset. It will help you establish a beachhead in the upcoming battle for talent, and today’s battle for business success.This is a battle you can win.

from employee communications to workforce engagement

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