Effective employee communication is the essence of any successful business. Employees need to be able to interact as effectively as possible to ensure a free flow of information. Effective staff communication directly leads to an increase in efficiency and productivity. We outline simple yet effective communications tactics that boost efficiency.
When it comes to an effective internal communication strategy, the key lies in having the leadership, managers and the entire staff on the same page. Regular back-and-forth conversations between employees tends to help build a strong working relationship between employees, managers, and company leadership. Creating this bond that helps to get the job done at the end of the day.
Top-down Internal Communications
When your employees are informed, it leads to more transparency, trust in the organization and high morale. Easy access to documents, resources and knowledge bases also lets employees improve productivity, deliver high-quality work and directly affects the bottomline of the company. Top-down internal communications could include Leadership communication, news and announcements from the organization or managers, updates on policies, procedures and safety (EHS), surveys, employee recognition and more. Additionally, creating a document repository or a knowledge base (by sourcing innovation and best practices from employees) and linking all internal systems into a single place, let’s employees access whatever they need instantly. By using a multi-channel employee communication software that supports channels like employee intranet, employee mobile apps, internal email newsletters, digital signage and text messaging, you can ensure that information reaches your employees wherever they are. Lastly with insights and analytics, you can measure the impact of your internal communications.
Peer to Peer or Team Communication
In addition to organizational communication, managers and leaders need to be able to communicate effectively with each other to ensure unity in messaging and objectives. When all leaders in an organization are aligned, effective communication with employees follows. Enabling peer to peer or team communication also plays an important role in improving collaboration, sharing of knowledge and creating a friendly environment in the organization. Manager and team communication can be achieved with instant messaging tools, enterprise social network platforms and employe recognition platforms. Instant messaging tools allow managers, employees in a team or across the organization to send messages to each other. Employees could also create chat groups to communicate in groups. Enterprise social network platforms allow employees to share updates with everyone or in public / private groups which are created based on function or interests. Lastly, with appropriate employee recognition platform, you can let managers and employee appreciate each other which drives motivation and creates a culture of appreciation.
Bottom-Up Employee Communications
Last but the most important form of internal communication strategy is the bottom-up employee communications. In fact, the bottom-up strategy is key to drive Top-down internal communications or team communications. Employee surveys are the most prominent tactic to hear from employees, There are two types of employee surveys – pulse surveys and comprehensive engagement surveys. Pulse surveys are quick 1- 3 question surveys which help you gauge the pulse of your employees more frequently, while a comprehensive engagement survey is sent out quarterly, half-yearly or annually to get detailed feedback from employees. In addition to surveys, you can also get passive feedback from your employees based on views, likes and comments using AI. Latest AI based employee survey platforms allow you to analyze thousands of these data points including employee sentiment automatically. Creating an environment where employees feel like they can share their thoughts and opinions with their superiors and leadership is of critical to the success of any organization. Finally, make sure to close the feedback loop by answering employee queries and concerns promptly with the top-down internal communication strategy or team communication strategy.
TL;DR – Internal Communication Strategy in a gist
Here are the key employee communication tactics that will lead to increased efficiency:
- Top-down Internal Communication: Effective and frequent communication from organization and leadership. Provide access to all resources.
- Peer to Peer or Team Communication: Enable communication between managers and peers for increased collaboration and productivity.
- Bottom-up Employee Communication: Hear from employees constantly which in turn informs you on what to communicate to your employees
- Pick the right Internal Communication Tools or Platforms that allow you to implement all pieces of internal communication strategy
To learn how HubEngage can help with implementing your internal communication strategy, talk to one of our employee engagement experts.
