I recently sat down and spoke with a coworker who mostly writes for external audiences about employee communications, or what is often referred to as internal communications.
Our conversation reminded me how, in many companies, the employees rarely get to hear information directly from senior management. This lack of access can ultimately disconnect employees from management’s goals and vision. This results in a tremendous lost opportunity. Employees are a company’s economic engine and its greatest asset.
An employee who is highly engaged in, and actively committed to the company’s culture and goals, will consistently produce more than they are expected to and will retain longer with the company. To explain how an employee communications program helps prevent such fractures, I’ll share some of what we discussed.
Above all, it’s vitally important to remember that employees are your brand ambassadors.
When companies expect employees to serve as their brand ambassadors, they must take the necessary steps to keep the employees informed. Whether they transmit e-mails to a few employees or distribute e-newsletters and videos to thousands of employees and stakeholders, a company’s expectations and results should always be geared toward brand management.
For those businesses and organizations that want to engage their employees – i.e., HR-speak for increasing their levels of productivity – employee communications should help business owners make those human connections. Employee communications provide a way to show employees that the company values its employees’ contributions and input, which directly impacts worker efficiency.
When employees believe you care, there’s no telling what they will accomplish.
Employee communications serve to provide employees with credible, reliable and authentic information from its source. The cost and effort is low and the results tangible. Here are a few examples of how an internal communications program can work for you, your employees, your business and ultimately your bottom line:
- Inspires involvement: First and foremost, such a program creates a perception, at minimum, that employees are greatly involved in the mission, direction and knowledge management of the organization. An employee communication program sends the message to employees at all levels: You really matter to us.
- Provides a sounding board: With a means to interact with the company at its highest levels, most employees appreciate that their reactions are welcome and important. When employees believe that they matter, they tend to feel more significant, connected and empowered. All the research shows that, in turn, those type employees are usually more loyal and committed to organizational goals.
- Builds trusting relationships: Employee communication channels serve as good-will tools for building levels of trust, which can eventually inspire camaraderie and boost morale. Employees who feel better about work are usually more productive. And they are less likely to seek greener pastures and leave the organization.
For those skeptics who are thinking, “All this sounds good, but it also sounds like a lot of work, and I’m not a communications expert,” you may be right. However, I’ve learned that most business owners and entrepreneurs are not hand-wringers. Quite the contrary – they are more motivated by taking risks and working hard. When companies invest in developing an effective employee communications program, they usually find that the payoffs are worth the effort. It’s time to speak up for the bottom line.
That is why I agreed to contribute my insights to HRTools.com.
Keep checking back for more insights, practical tips and resource information. I know you, too, have your stories to tell. In closing, here is a resource tip: Because it’s in the public domain, the OSHA Web site at www.osha.gov has free downloadable publications. This federal agency helps employers maintain healthy and safe work environments. OSHA Quick Cards are one of many resources that employers can access for their own employee communication purposes.