A great workplace starts with great communications

I hosted a panel on A great workplace starts with great communications at The Future of Work Europe in London at the end of last year, with Emily Wallace Laura Colantuono Lee Russell Lee Irving

Here are the questions posed by the audience, with answers from me drawing from our collective discussion and a couple that we didn’t get to on the day answered by Laura Colantuono and Lee Russell.

1.      You can put communications out there, but how do you get employees to engage?

Make sure your great content is clear, concise and consistent. When your communications is engaging and relevant for colleagues they are more likely to pay attention and consume that content. Using the right channels for the right information is vital. You need to know what colleagues want and need and not create more noise.

2.      How do you deliver impact as communications when the employee experience is so reliant on managers?

Line managers are crucial to the employee experience. We need to be sure our line managers have the support, capability and capacity to deliver great communications for their teams. It’s not always a natural skill and each line manager is different. Working with them, providing the support and skills they need to feel confident is vital. Communications should work with HR and L&D teams to create and deliver the programmes to support line managers communication.

Communications teams can also make sure that line managers are included and consulted as appropriate on key communications, and well briefed ahead of key communications so they can be confident about what they are expected to communicate to their teams. And when it’s a more complex message, bring in the experts to support the line managers and answer employee questions – don’t expect your service delivery line managers to be experts in pensions, pay and benefits for example.

3.      How can you get more of a dialogue happening between the c-suite and the employees in an easy and transparent way?

Communications can create the platforms and spaces for dialogue such as ask me anything sessions, Q&As in town halls, and working with leaders on their visibility so that colleagues know who they are. But employees need to feel able and safe to speak up and have conversations with members of the c-suite, and other leaders across the organisation. Communications can help strategically here, drawing on psychological safety.

Amy Edmondson outlines four steps to psychological safety in HBR June 2023

1. Encourage teams to bond through day-to-day tasks – we all need to be able to ask for help and share mistakes when we need to. Communication supports this by providing the content, moments and platforms to help teams connect, collaborate and bond.
2. Normalise opportunities to learn from mistakes – asking for help is a learning behaviour, but it’s not always natural for everyone to speak up when they don’t know what to do. Communications supports this by showcasing examples of learning behaviour in content, showing that it’s good and helpful to speak up, ask for help and learn.
3. Ensure that all people feel ‘seen’ – we feel less stressed and strained when we are included and genuinely valued. Communications role here is to demonstrate inclusivity in content, channels and within culture to work with the organisation to ensure that people have a positive work experience.
4. Seek input with humility and openness – we can be honest as leaders and employees and leaders invite and value other people’s voices.

Recommended read: Amy Edmondson, The Fearless Organization.

4.      Have you noticed any generational differences in how employees prefer comms to be delivered, and if so how do you go about understanding and managing this?

There are differences and nuances, but not only by generation, but also by role and personal preferences, and which channel is best also depends upon the content being shared. Talk with and listen to colleagues to find out what their needs and preferences are in your organisation.

Communication audits or reviews provide invaluable insight to help you to really understand your people and manage your communications well and then you can be clear how you use each of your channels rather than relying on assumptions about demographics.

5.      How do you ensure managers are equipped with knowledge to help inform teams and avoid a scenario where they see info for the first time in an email, directing questions to them?

Lee Russell, Director at Jugo:

“The reality is, I feel, that no matter the best efforts – in today’s media and information-rich world, some information will be found out by people before we expect them too. That said, there are some things that can be considered to mitigate the impact of this.

When these types of things happen, the resulting impact is a perceived lack of trust and control. If trust is based on competence and motives, this is something which needs to be demonstrated. Competence in understanding what is being shared – competence in understanding how people are reacting to it and competence to be able to manage the situation. Relating to motives – there is then to be a consideration around as a manager, who am I in service of? The business, my team, both?

“I personally feel the line between leadership and management has been blurred of late – if you are a people manager (and sometimes if not), you are often defined as being a leader. But, are you?. Why is this important – it’s important because if your primary focus is to be a people manager, and play for the best interests of your team – nothing should then stop you influencing upwards and highlighting to the business how a miss-management of comms, can have a big impact on the front-line.”

6.      Engagement is happening through self service portals, video, etc to create efficiencies, how do we get the right balance to not lose opportunities for face to face interactions?

Whenever you take the time to find out what colleagues preferences are when it comes to communication, face to face and in person events are frequently their top preference. You simply can’t beat getting together with others in a room for some kinds of communication. Whilst we’ve learnt to work remotely, host hybrid and remote team meetings and benefit from getting deep work done quietly, there is still a place for in person work and communication.

What many organisations have not fully got to grips with is setting the principles for what comms approaches we use when and why that matters. Being intentional about getting together and using that time together to maximum effect for everyone is key. Can we really make that commute worthwhile? Yes, we need that time in person to be a chance to converse, collaborate and connect. And perhaps celebrate too. We are social beings and so we need the time that we’re in the office with others or at in person events to be social, solving problems together, and discussing ideas and challenges in detail and not spent with us all on different teams calls.

7.      Top tips when communicating in a global setting, with multiple countries and languages?

Laura Colantuono , Head of Internal communications at Freemantle and IOIC board member:

“Communicating in a global, multilingual setting requires a thoughtful and inclusive approach. A ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach doesn’t work when we need to consider all the different nuances.

Here are some tips:

1. Cultural Awareness. Understand and respect the cultural norms, values, and customs of the countries you are interacting with. Be mindful of any visual communication too. When in doubt, ask!
2. Use plain English. If English is the main language used to communicate globally use simple language, avoiding jargon or colloquialisms that may not translate well.
3. Localise as much as possible. When thinking about a name or branding for a campaign or initiative ask yourself how this will be perceived locally and if the language is appropriate. Work with local teams to translate and adapt as much as possible.
4. Be mindful of time zones. Schedule meetings and global events at times that are convenient for participants in different time zones and clarify the event’s time zone to avoid confusion. If possible, record the event and make the recording available to all.
5. Use the right tech. Use communication tools and platforms that are widely accepted and accessible globally. And when possible, turn live captions/translations on (eg. live meetings, videos etc.)”

8.      How do you measure comms effectiveness and employee listening?

When you’re looking to measure the impact of your comms you need to know what that comms is set to achieve. For example, is it to drive change in behaviour or is it to connect people to the organisation or feel engaged? When you know and are clear what you want colleagues to think, feel or do as a result of the communication, you can measure its success by building in measures to track that and use the data and tools you have on your channels. So often in organisations we’re not clear on what our internal communication’s purpose is and ‘stuff’ just gets sent out, creating noise with no output or outcomes.

Pulse surveys or questions in engagement surveys and more detailed audits or reviews can help you assess the wider effectiveness of your communication and listening. Look at the channels, the content and information, the senior manager and line manager communication, organisational engagement and employee voice to understand how effective they are. Use the data you can access and build measures into your communications – a feedback loop, response email, sign-ups for example, and then track it against the wider business objective the communication is designed to support.

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