Workplace communications can be tricky. Despite the ongoing conversations about the future of the office, whether an organization is fully remote, hybrid, or entirely office-based, HR and internal communication professionals are always looking for ways to effectively unite teams and perpetuate a cohesive culture for staff.
There can be disharmony and poor collaboration within a workplace, regardless of its remote working status, and it has serious consequences for employees and profit alike. Operating in a fractured workplace causes fear and isolation for staff, with siloed departments that can’t connect due to ineffective or non-existent comms. In turn, this overburdens internal HR and IT teams and puts pressure on already obsolete tech. Peer-to-peer collaboration suffers, and employees feel adrift and disconnected.
Successful communication is key
Having a successful approach to communication can vastly improve all aspects of a business. Universal remote working in 2020 has altered the playing field, perhaps forever, and strategies have shifted from the predominantly office-based environment that many professionals are familiar with.
Digital-savvy businesses have their pick when it comes to adding to their tech stack. However, shiny new tools won’t solve the baseline problems preventing successful communications within a business.
On the surface, healthy employee communications may seem simple, but getting it wrong can cause ongoing issues; a lack of trust and understanding leads to skepticism and potential conflict. It can bring professional frustrations to the forefront and make employees feel isolated. Transparency is the best way forward, but it isn’t always easy.
There’s a plethora of software on the market to solve this very issue, and digital-savvy businesses have their pick when it comes to adding to their tech stack. However, shiny new tools won’t solve the baseline problems preventing successful communications within a business. Strategies are far more than simply sharing information; instead, it’s the fundamental understanding and analytics behind the messaging and how it makes employees feel about their professional lives.
Tasked with improving your internal comms?
Strong communication skills from senior leaders and the HR department have a lasting impact on a business. They can be implemented to driving change, find innovative solutions, and inspire colleagues, ultimately improving employee engagement and interdepartmental teamwork. Getting it right, especially in a fractured workforce, requires agile tools and the best people.
Intranets drive more engagement
Understanding the importance of workplace communication means taking positive steps to involve employees actively and supportively. Regular check-ups in the right way make them feel like part of the team, even with the dispersed nature of the new hybrid office.
Communication professionals and team managers are particularly significant when it comes to finding new ways to engage and start the conversation from the top-down, creating a positive atmosphere, and maintaining solid relationships. Leaders need to lead, and it begins from the minute a new hire logs on to their last day with the company. For the sake of an organization’s bottom-line and the hiring strategy, it is crucial to get right.
Concerned about a fractured workforce? Here are ten areas to focus on:
1. Strong leadership
A good leadership team can be the difference between whether a business sink or swims. Having inspirational leaders who are seen as trustworthy by the wider workforce has a significant impact on its output. Promoting consistent communication helps employees avoid feeling like they are being kept in the dark, especially when times are tough.
Leaders that harness multiple channels of communication give themselves a voice within a business. Intranets provide a powerful way to deliver a message without necessarily being face-to-face with the team. Using several platforms to engage with employees is a great way to drive culture, reward teamwork, and lead by example.
2. A positive workplace culture
Just because everyone sits in the same office for 8 hours a day doesn’t automatically make for a strong culture. Treating both remote and office-based employees as essential team members, so they feel appreciated and not easily replaced, will encourage digital camaraderie.
Using a social intranet to build a sense of community creates a positive workplace culture, particularly if an organization spans multiple locations. It allows employees to chat with like-minded colleagues and meet those outside of their department. Communities can be used for work projects or personal hobbies and everything in between.
3. Align business goals
Making employees accountable not only gives them welcome responsibility but it proves trust and keeps them focused on having a tangible impact on prominent business objectives. This clear accountability inspires people to work together in fulfilling the company vision, which remains the same whether employees are in the office or working from home.
Be transparent with defined metrics and deliverables to improve performance and productivity, so everyone understands what is required and the collective team goals. Grouping staff into intranet personas helps to distribute content in an impactful way, and creating email lists allows employees to only receive relevant business updates. This step informs when necessary, and avoids causing information to become siloed for teammates.
Tasked with improving your internal comms?
4. Finger on the pulse
Emphasizing culture and producing better results go hand in hand. Encouraging wellness and checking an organization’s pulse supports a people-centric culture and reduces staff turnover. Using surveys to check on employee’s mental health and gauge their efficiency levels during high-stress times is a great way to monitor their progress and stay aware of any issues in specific areas. Engaging with employees through the correct channels ensures that a team continues to be happy and driven, no matter where they are based.
5. Tailored communications
For larger businesses, content relevancy is key to ensuring that employees stay involved in the organization’s day-to-day happenings without seeing multiple updates that they have no interest in.
Using surveys to check on employee’s mental health and gauge their efficiency levels during high-stress times is a great way to monitor their progress and stay aware of any issues in specific areas.
Managing the flow and customizing the experience to create a focused exchange of information stops workers from feeling overwhelmed or easily distracted. Optimizing internal communication allows teams to see the content that is useful for them and disregard everything else. For example, information that is relevant for the French Marketing team might not be useful for a Development team based in the USA.
6. Mobile updates
Through communication technology, it is possible to connect your remote workforce, wherever they are based. Software solutions, such as an employee mobile app, can conveniently place the company intranet in every user’s pocket. It directly connects employees to available information and broadcasts specific communications to the relevant teams, meaning that everyone gets the messages and updates they need to see.
Through the app, cross-border communications are simple and accessible to the whole team, and best of all, everyone in the organization should have access to a smartphone that they always keep with them.
7. Secure communications on the go
Workers can feel confident using the intranet app on their personal device, with security features like Touch ID protecting vital company information meant for employee eyes only. Using a mobile app to talk to remote workers also boosts the intranet’s uptake and engagement. It is easily accessible and can be used quickly to check-in, perhaps in a social setting or while commuting, without the hassle of having to get a laptop out.
Through the app, cross-border communications are simple and accessible to the whole team, and best of all, everyone in the organization should have access to a smartphone that they always keep with them.
For the wider intranet, an abundance of features such as Single Sign On (SSO) and .Net security frameworks mean that only an organization’s staff have access and no one else.
8. Reward top talent
Rewarding the most deserving staff within the workforce is a motivating way to encourage hard work and cross-team collaboration.
Creating a culture that spans borders and even continents requires a conscious effort from the top down to encourage peer-to-peer recognition, embody the company values and consciously drive them throughout all levels of the business.
9. Train your champions
Businesses are constantly evolving and changing, and that’s where training comes in. Depending on each department’s requirements, training can be built, scheduled, and assessed through the intranet, tailored to the needs of staff within their own roles.
Teaching employees about cool new intranet features or training up new internal champions allows them to become intranet experts at the heart of an organization. Having the right people in this position promotes the software throughout the business, representing the culture and overall messaging that the company wants to portray.
10. Offer a sense of belonging
Intranets can be vital in uniting a fractured workforce and creating a sense of belonging to employees from the moment an offer is accepted. Whether the team is working in the office or based at home, onboarding can be a welcome introduction to the business culture and promotes engagement from the onset.
Nobody likes to be thrown in at the deep end at a new job with little communication; it makes for a poor employee experience and ultimately higher turnover. Your intranet allows you to give your new hires the welcome to the office they deserve. It provides onboarding management in one central place to ensure mandatory documents are read and new hires understand exactly what is expected of their new role.
Tasked with improving your internal comms?
As the way we work becomes more fluid, communications solutions need to get smarter to adapt to an increasingly fractured workforce. Organizations with a strong culture will discover that good work can happen anywhere, especially when efforts have been made to digitalize and stay connected.
Intranets can supplement the human interactions that already occur daily within a business and offer employees new ways to reward, converse and get involved. Establishing output, communicating relevant content, and creating a value-based culture that encourages collaboration, hold the key to connecting fractured teams.
