How The Pandemic Changed The World of Employee Communications

Effective communication is vital for any business. Today’s employee-life has completely transformed because of the pandemic crisis. We are going through a difficult time adjusting to working patterns and schedules remotely. Companies are rapidly altering their communication methods to increase productivity and ensure proper workflow. While email and other web portals remain the basic way of communication, companies are exploring new ways to make sure that the employees are leveraging the maximum out of mutual communication and understanding. 

Importance of efficient communication is a critical factor in managing today’s workforce. Every person in the organization is committed to communicating on a daily or even hourly basis. Employers need to communicate with everyone in the organization regarding safety protocols, workflow variations, benefits, employee support, company protocols and much more. To get all this information aligned, most of the industry leaders are providing online tools, surveys, and other effective communication portals. Most of the technological solutions for effective employee communication encompasses all these requirements along with a sense of social networking to increase productivity, engagement and scope of communication. 

Finding the right channel to communicate with employees as well as customers is essential for the success of an organization. Social media certainly enhanced the number of options available for communication. Leveraging the right social channel in the right way is one the seamless and successful mode of communication tactics existing now. As the speed of communication increases, the more effective the communication will be. 

Unlike past years, face to face communication is not at all the preferred method of communication now. Emails, instant messaging, live chats, and the communication channel list goes on. The communication channel which works for one organization might not work for others. Identifying the right channel which works perfectly within your organization is the key to success here. A lot of companies are even investing in unique curated solutions for their company to create world-class, engaging communication platforms. The effectiveness of such platforms should be monitored by the human resource team by collecting engagement feedback and calculating other analytical metrics.  

Importance of effective employee communication 

Employee engagement, communication and retention might seem like rocket science, but certainly it is not. If not done properly, the communication done can harm employee culture. Especially in a situation where face to face communication and problem-solving is not at all an option employers should focus on creating well managed and positive intercommunication. By keeping thing positive here are the benefits every employers gain:

• Enhance employee engagement

 It is proven that regular communication with employees in an effective manner will help increase their engagement and contribution. Good communication and non-judgmental suggestions help employees to have a more positive attitude towards their work and workspace. Leaders and managers should be made aware of their critical roles in communication. While selecting a tool for communication, they should ensure the tool availability for all employees, flexibility and most importantly ease of communication. 

• Build consistency

If you as an organization succeeds in conveying what you want the employees to achieve in their areas of responsibility, you can observe a more consistent approach in the workflow. In that way, the number of employees coming up with negative interpretations and considerations would reduce considerably. Most employer-employee friction happens because of non-consistency in communication. 

• Truthful feedbacks

Sending a feedback form or filling up a feedback survey will seem like an extra task for the employees. When there is proper communication and understanding between employees, sharing constructive feedback, concerns and maybe even innovative ideas would come naturally. This also helps in facilitating a healthy employee culture where professional freedom and expertise are leveraged. 

• Achieve company goals

Working from home might deviate employees from organizational goals. Effective communication is the only way to ensure that the employee’s professional goals are aligned with that of the organization. In this way, every individual will be aware of the bigger picture and how they can fit into it. 

• Increase adaptability

The pandemic taught us that the change is the only constant. When employees are communicated effectively on the changes that are happening, they can positively adapt to the changes and positively respond to them. Panic is never an option for times like this and communication is the only way to increase employee adaptability and therefore company goals. 

How to improve employee communication during the lockdown?

A common mistake seen amongst the early-stage organizations is that they plan the best ways to communicate with their external audience but forgets about employee communication. Best performing companies always consider employee communication as a priority because they know it is the only way to stand out from the rest. Here are some best practices followed by industry leaders to improve employee communication in their organization. 

Clarity – Clear and straightforward communication is king. Using unnecessary jargons and un-common technical terms will lead to misunderstanding. It is always better to communicate in a simple and clear manner 

Setting the right tone – Leaders and managers in the organization are responsible for most of the crucial communications. They need to set their tone right to keep the pace. Their strategic communication with employees plays a vital role in the results acquired from employees and ultimately the goal achievement of the company.

Understanding the employee behaviours –  Managers and leaders don’t need to interact with all the employees regularly but they need to know them and their behaviours vaguely. Communication to understand employees’ perception towards office activities is vital for every employer. 

Make use of multiple channels – Inorder to make sure that a message reaches every employee, it should be propagated in multiple channels. distributing the message through different channels ensures that it reaches the employees swiftly at the right time.  

Measuring engagement – Communication should always be set with proper objectives. If the communication is not effectively conveyed to the employee, there’s no point in continuing it. You should measure the effectiveness of communication by measuring its engagement. 

Effective communication is integral to efficient management. Organizations should invest time and money in planning comprehensive policies and strategies for effectively communicating with their employees, stakeholders as well as with the community. The communication strategy should not only focus on formal directions but also informal communication such as chats and instant messaging and even calls. 

The impact of effective and ineffective communication

As we discussed earlier in this article, employee communication plays a vital role in organizational success. It builds work satisfaction, employee engagement and morale. Leveraging right communication tactics will help employers educate the employees with the right terms and conditions on their job so that their employment drives loyalty and commitment. 

Right strategies for communication also gives employees a voice and freedom of opinion. This drives more satisfaction and engagement rates. The chances of misunderstandings are extremely minor with well-communicated employees. Better communication also creates an effective workforce and hence reduces costs. Misunderstanding is the common result seen from ineffective communication. It damages work relationships and encourages unhealthy competitions and anger amongst employees. This is not at all a good practice. 

Unhealthy work relationships are indeed poison to every employment. Not aligning the strategies properly, failure to execute the strategy, incorrect timing, and even nuances such as word choice or voice tone might result in in-effective communication. Encouraging and practising positive communication and innovative communication strategies is one of the most effective ways to hold employees together in a crisis like this. Always remember that every work communication made should be honest to develop trust. Teams who fail to develop a proper and effective communication strategy might end up wasting a lot of money, time and energy over nothing, by doing tasks that are not at all necessary. 

“Effective communication is, 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know.” – Jim Rohn