In a world of instant communication and news, the smut magazine’s tagline says it all, “Inquiring minds want to know”. Whether you are an internal employee or a job seeker qualifying your future employers, people want to know as much as they can about the company.
If you are already in the organization, you want to be kept up to speed on company news, who’s joining the company, peer accomplishments, etc. If you are a job seeker, you must know what a day in the life of an employee will be like before taking the risk.
Every Human Resource professional understands the importance of communicating with an employee base. Unfortunately, this is often overlooked. Companies don’t look at is as a priority or allocate a budget to it and why should they, can they really see a return on their investment? If they don’t, they’re missing the point altogether. There is a huge return on investment from just simply sharing information. It’s a commitment that companies must make to their current and future employees.
Clear and effective employee communication is essential to keep employees engaged. But, what is it that HR is communicating? If the only time an employee hears from HR and it’s about open enrollment or a new dress code, chances are HR is not sending information, they’re fueling resentment. Make sure the information you are providing your employees makes them want to stay and doesn’t repel.
Every employee should be in the know. Employees should be receiving communication from their company on recent new business wins, births of coworkers children, marriage announcements, company accomplishments, pre-released press releases and so on. The most important piece of information that should be communicated is the announcement of a new employee. This should encourage current employees to welcome this new individual. This type of employee communication isn’t just sending information and it’s definitely not fueling resentment, it’s actually building camaraderie.
Taking it one step further, this type of communication and camaraderie shouldn’t be kept inside the organization. It should be effectively communicated to the outside world. Typically, organizations are already sharing their “insider information” with the outside world, in the form of employee testimonials. Unfortunately, every testimonial is the same no matter what company you view. I have yet to be riveted by an employee testimonial that makes me want to become obsessed with working there. The reason? Poor external employee communication.
Employee testimonials can be a secret weapon for attracting top talent. They must be raw, engaging and speak directly to the individual contemplating a career move. Whether in the form of a video or print communication, the testimonial has to be compelling. It has to make the future employee jealous that they don’t already work there. It has to make them want to be part of the organization so badly they can taste it.
When you look at Employee Communications, think of it as a four pronged approach. First, you have the current employee and what they have to say about the organization to their friends and family. Second, you have a job seeker who has a preconceived notion about the organization but wants to know more. Third, you have the company’s employment brand and what it is selling about the employer. Lastly, you have the Communication Outlet which enables the public to see what the company is about in the form of raw material. All of these things must work in harmony and be talking the same talk. Without one of them, effective external communication will fail.
Communication outlets could be in the form of Employee Blogs hosted on your Careers page, live instant messaging chat session, newsletters that job seekers can subscribe to and be kept up to date on how much fun employees have and what they can accomplish all hosted on your Gen Y’ified Career Site.
Companies should dedicate one individual whose sole purpose or maybe half of their job is dedicated to directing what I call ‘employee information traffic”. This person receives updates, sends out updates, oversees the external employee communications’ outlet and any other communications that could help retain staff or be used to recruit new employees.
I would love to see a company have an Instant Messaging Program, where during a one hour time frame, one day per week, future employees could ask questions and get feedback from current employees through an instant messaging format. The company would advertise it on their career site kind of like this:
“Want to know what it’s like to work for XYZ Company? Join our LIVE chat session every Tuesday from 11am-12pm and ask questions about what it’s like to be a XYZ employee. You’ll be speaking with an actual employee about their day to day experience working for XYZ Company. Sign up here to receive the IM name and download the IM Software”.
Now, the employee that volunteers for this should be screened to make sure they aren’t a disgruntled individual and people will have to earn the right to be nominated for this important position. You should also buy the individual lunch or supply them with a gift card or t-shirt that proudly displays the honor.
Remember that not every individual that joins the chat is going to be wowed because your organization isn’t for everyone. The live chat (or another form of a communication outlet), together with your employment brand, current employee ambassadors and job seekers will create a buzz about your organization and build a reputation for your organization that your competitors will be trying to duplicate.
