The past few years have caused a long term impact on how people work and live. Many employees dealt with a sudden shift to remote working, new OSHA safety guidelines and massive resignations and shortages.
Even the way people work has changed. A nameless, basic mass email blast to everyone notifying them of updates and events is long gone. They instead prefer to be actively engaged with their workplace.
This is why communication has become so important for the employee experience. The best employers wield communication to achieve business goals. It also lets everyone understand the context behind their work.
With so many things to be mindful of, it’s difficult to create an HR communication strategy that supports your company’s goals while keeping employees engaged. A poorly thought out plan can lead to both dissatisfied workers and management.
In previous years, HR was constantly being redefined. Now, in 2022, things have settled down, and it’s time to rebuild. These are the important trends that you need to address in your employee communication.
Delivery Across Multiple Platforms
People have increasingly used tablets, computers and phones to finish projects and handle everyday activities while on the road. This includes those taking care of work. This is coupled with 45% of full time employees still working remotely. As a result, it's critical for firms to establish an HR communication strategy that uses a variety of channels and methods.
There are many options available. A company can utilize SMS or push notifications to send immediate messages. It should also modify its intranet to be mobile accessible. Internal newsletters can be distributed via different channels, from email and beyond. Finally, peer to peer messaging can also allow for both synchronous and asynchronous communication.
All these options are made possible by having a mobile first strategy. With workspaces becoming as fluid as they have the past few years, you need to use a variety of channels that can keep up.
Leverage Videos
Not only do people consume information across different channels, they also do so with different formats. Graphics and videos can offer extra emphasis to your internal communications.
On many different platforms, video has the highest engagement rates. You can even include reactions and commenting to provide more ways for your workers to actively engage. Because of this, it’s a valid strategy to build an entire campaign around that single media format.
Videos have a lot of use cases for human resources. Keep a directory of staff training videos. Spruce up your company newsletters with multimedia, including animated gifs. Webinars can also be a useful source of recurring content, either live or on demand. Finally, for those with physical locations, digital signage that provides movement can really improve engagement.
Make Personalization A Priority
People naturally prefer personalized content. In fact, 44% of consumers get frustrated by the lack of personalization and 41% actually switched providers over it. Many marketing tools offer these features, but fewer HR communication software does. Still, if internal comms do not account for this, you are losing an opportunity to increase your employees’ alignment with your messaging.
Have information be divided into different teams, so employees only see what is truly relevant to them. Attach it to their work by celebrating milestones and sending out appreciation posts. These are all different ways to add a dash of personalization to your internal communications.
Automation can help with this too. Queue up welcome announcements for new workers, and recognize staff on their birthdays and work anniversaries. Finally, periodic check-ins and feedback can dramatically improve the types of content you send out, while making people feel like their concerns are addressed.
The final benefit of tailored content is what you don’t send. Email overload is a significant issue, and it’s not the only one. It is compounded by multiple other channels such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. At its worst, it can lead to significant turnover. Targeted messaging can cut down on the unnecessary chatter, and keep your information highways smoothly running.
Address Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Since physical locations are less of a concern, many companies have built out a more diverse group of personnel. It is therefore important to be mindful of the differences your workforce may display. Coupled with current events, diversity, equity and inclusion is a bigger deal than even before.
Employees know if you are only making passing gestures at DEI. Although many states are enacting laws regarding training, it’s only the bare minimum. To have an effective diversity strategy, consider inclusive content inserted into multiple pieces of internal communication. Build out campaigns with several touchpoints. Having equity become a part of your company culture if you want your employees to appreciate it.
Be Mindful of Current Changes
The most effective way to address important trends in employee communications and human resources is to be aware of the latest changes. Resources like the Society for Human Resource Management or even the backstitch blog can provide you with the most up to date headwinds. Some employee communication tools even have the ability to collect relevant information from diverse sources across the web.
By utilizing these strategies, you boost both your HR and IC efforts. It also keeps your employees engaged with your company.
