Effective Employee Communications

I always believe that keeping employee communications a priority helps keep organisation improve in its performances – an engaged workforce would mean more success.

Proper communications do help in eliminating misunderstanding and assumptions, and also help to encourage a healthy and peaceful work environment. An age-old aphorism goes - “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.” It’s a profound learning process that we must pick up along the way. Efficient communication with the team and all will make work done effective and professional.

Here you go:

Setting the right tone

We tend to encounter employees who try to test boundaries, and see where is good for them to test your limits. However, be sure to display confidence and keep the tone right. Seriousness is key and important for employees especially when you meet the uninterested ones. They must understand and keep in mind the message sends across. If information sent across are seemed to be unimportant, employees will reciprocate the same.

Use simple terms and words & articulate well

We want everyone to be on the same page and yet not everyone is able to understand the same if you use bombastic words to communicate. Keep messages simple for everyone to understand. You do want to keep explaining yourself on any pointers and everyone forgets what was communicated before that.

Listen to your employees

Communications are never meant to be one-way. Always encourage your employees to speak or open during group discussions so that they can be guided properly. You never know, we may have other employees who are also having the same questions in their head, and assume their ways of answers.

Use multiple forms of communication channels

Everyone gets message across in different means. You’ve employees who are good listeners, others who are needs assistance in visual communications while more who digested messages slightly slowly as they need to go through your messages repeatedly. Whenever possible, distribute your messages in all different channels such as e-emails, posters, face-to-face, presentation slides etc.

Plan the communications – Feedback & Q&A

I’m sure no one stands in front of their employees stuttering, and cannot explain any pointers during the session. Plan it out and ensure that the messages are brought across coherently. You might want to have a check-box to ensure that you do not miss out any information. It is also good to have some answers prepared for Q&A session.

Encourage feedback during communications. It gives you the chance to know that your message has been brought across and also to measure the effectiveness of communication.

How to fix your workplace culture

We all understand that work culture is important as it enhances productivity, increases retention and make your company more attractive to new hires. Culture is based on the set of beliefs and values, and it fundamentally affect your actions your employees do at work as well.

IDENTIFY WEAK CULTURES

You must first identify what is your current culture you have. Are your employees constantly engaged, or are they very confused about what is expected of them? Do you constantly see signs of verbal gossips, or verbal and physical abuse? Are you also hearing whether feedback is useless since Management do not consider that as well and that they are underpaid for all the roles and duties they are assigned within the Company?

You will then want to understand what is it that cause your employees this mindset? What exactly is the actions that have resulted in this behavior traits. Through understanding what are the infrastructure that have resulted in this culture, you might want to act on it.

LISTEN TO YOUR EMPLOYEES

The best person to explain to you why the culture is being set today, is to have a quick chat with your employees – whether is it a focus group session, one to one communication or data in the form of quantitative or qualitative. You will want to make them feel validated and that they matter.

START FROM MANAGEMENT

Fundamentally, for the culture to be set right – your management must set the good examples as well. You will want to understand what has caused or resulted in this culture. Do management take feedback seriously and do they recognize excellent work? 

FIXING THE INFRASTRUCTURE

You must understand that people are resistant to change – generally be it management or employees. You should set priorities on what are the things to change. Evaluate how big your actions can cause based on just one change. You could also identify the influencers in the team and start the change from them. Generally, once accepted by them – acceptance rates from the others would be higher as well.

If your common feedback that everyone is overworked, then it is time to propose realistic deadlines and workloads. If you need to hire more to distribute the workload more evenly, you might want to consider that as well. It could be good to set in accountability to ensure that your employees are aware of what they are responsible for. It is especially important for management to show recognition of excellent work done to constantly motivate employees.

If communication is a problem, you might want to ensure feedback sessions are conducted regularly and for management to have more transparent communication with their employees to reduce confusion and hence, frustration.

REVIEW THE PLANS

Constantly seek feedback and ensure you are going on the right track. There will never be any harm on hearing more perspectives.  Give your changes some time to be implemented, and do not rush the process. Gradually, you should assess if there is any change in the work place culture and constantly tweak to finally have the culture you require in your team.

How do you retain good employees?

There is a higher turnover rate in the market now. Employees are becoming less engaged and are constantly looking out for something better – Be it better prospects or because of poor management.

There is an increasing need to retain good employees and to understand what the employees are looking for. These are some tips to improve your retention rate.

COMMUNICATION

The more communication there is, the better. It is one of the simplest form of engagement and employees would feel that they are valued and matter to the Company when the management takes some time off their busy schedule to have the meet up with them. When there is frequent feedback, employees are clearer on their roles and accountability, and can understand how they are performing.

Communication can also be in the form of outside work, when a manager care about their personal matters as well. The personal touch is what employees really value. 

FOCUS ON STRENGTHS

Generally, people want to feel good at what they do. They want to feel that they are being valued. Mangers who emphasize on employee strength instead of their improvements help employees build confidence and this enhances productivity at the work place.

3 Simple Tips To Have Better Water Cooler Conversations

Interactions between colleagues is one of the ways to quickly grow a conducive working environment. While safe topics about work and weather reports are common in the office, it takes more than that to be able to establish yourself as a co-worker and friend. Being able to hold good conversations in the office helps to lighten the mood, introduce yourself as a valuable personality to the rest, and can be especially helpful in awkward elevator situations.

Of course, one must balance out their time between doing proper work and talking to others at the office, unless it is a networking event. There are usually short amounts of time one can chat freely, such as lunch breaks, or crowding around the common water cooler. While it is tricky to turn short nuggets of conversations into meaningful chats, there are certain ways that can guarantee better exchanges between the two parties.

START THE BALL ROLLING WITH THEM

It is the end of a long weekend break, so there is no time better than now to ask what’s new with your colleague. Starting the conversation with a genuine interest in the other party is a powerful way to get the ball rolling as people like talking about the topic they are most comfortable with: themselves. It also helps you to get to know your co-workers better, and builds a mutual sense of respect and trust. Although, be careful not to be too intrusive as it might be touch on some private aspects of their lives, so finding a neutral balance is key here.

CHOOSE TOPICS THAT ENCOURAGE OPINIONS

Getting someone’s opinions create an opportunity for one to embrace differences and learn from the other. Sticking to topics that are routine or ordinary will get the conversation flow nowhere, usually leading to stagnant common ground. Instead, try to bring in topics like favourite television series or cuisine genres, where you can make certain stands and voice them out. This encourages healthy debates that can strengthen and stimulate the mindsets of both sides. At the end of it, new information may be shared during the process to help colleagues learn from one another, which can either help to augment standing opinions or form entirely new ideas.

FOLLOW UP ON OLD CONVERSATIONS

There is nothing more sincere than remembering an old conversation, perhaps one that got interrupted previously or left hanging for future catching up. If the conversation is worth a rehash, bring it up with your colleague to connect with him or her on a deeper level. It shows that the conversation is important enough to be recalled, or that you have new things to add to the conversation, like additional titbits or other information. It also allows for you and your co-workers to develop fresh perspectives on an old topic, encouraging a more meaningful exchange this round.

Maintain Strong Employer-Employee Relationship

Humans are ultimately companies’ assets in achieving results and success. It is one key factor that it is important to maintain a strong employer-employee relationship and such strong relationship will not bring about too many conflicts in the workplace. This will also help to keep employees focus, more efficient and more committed to work. Put some thoughts into your position and analyse if it is the same for your company too.

Keep the Motivation Going

Observe your employees carefully. What are ways they are doing to keep themselves motivated at work? I’m sure it is not just the monetary aspect that kept them coming to work. Every individual is motivated in different ways and if you understand what the motivation factor are, then it will help you manage a strong relationship with them. An example will be praising and encouraging your employees who have done well in the last quarter of the business year and let them know that you appreciate their performances and hard work.

Ensure Open Communication

Create that effective network for employees to be engaged is one way that allow them to ‘rant’ and share what they felt could have been better for the Company and them. Constantly remind them that you are to listen to them. This also allows you to resolve issues quickly and not snowball the situations and it does show employees that the Company are taking each feedback and issue seriously.

Employee Commitment

In today’s context, cost of a new employee is getting costly – from hiring and training. Keeping a committed and loyal workforce will not only help you in cutting down hiring cost and it will reflect well with your clients and other related business partners that they do not have to liaise with a ‘newbie’ and they may not be as well-trained.

Conflict Reduction

Keep the focus on the right track. Create that conducive environment which allows employees to focus on the tasks and assignments that have been assigned. With reduced conflicts in the company will also allow the people and environment be friendlier. It’s an instinct that you can feel it when you enter the workplace. That instinct can never go wrong. While employees focus on business- or work-related tasks and assignments, it’d also mean that they will be more willing to help one another when escalations from arise.

Are you transparent enough?

Transparency is the trend these days. Every healthy workplace culture will have a good level of transparency between bosses and colleagues, but how can it be maintained through the constantly changing working environment? Transparency usually encourages open feedback and exchanges between different levels of managements and employees, and allows one to have a clear look at how the company works at a whole.

Depending on how it is handled, it can be both beneficial and encouraging to not just consumers and/or customers, but also the people in the company. Here is a quick checklist for colleagues to see if basic transparency is practiced in the workplace:

TREAT EACH OTHER LIKE ADULTS

If any problem arises, do the management and/or colleagues involved get each other looped into the matter like adults? The old corporate hierarchy will see the problem being solved behind closed doors, with a few discrete decisions handled by upper management, but that system is flawed and therefore outdated now. Transparency will encourage all the involved parties to take an active stand in the problem and talk it out face-to-face, ensuring that no one is misunderstood or unheard when trying to reach a mutually agreeable conclusion.

SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER TO NOT SAY IT OUT!

If there are some sensitive information that will be harmful once it reaches a larger pool of audience, then consider keeping it to a few chosen individuals. Although transparency encourages the same level of knowledge to reach all to be considered transparent, there are times where knowing all is not in the best interest for the company. After all, transparency also includes the public. When it comes to delivering information, consider if it is good or bad before becoming a messenger with no backups left in his pockets at the end of the day.

TAKE TIME TO EXPLAIN AND BE PREPARED FOR IT!

In the workplace, people will have questions about the decisions being made, so transparency will allow a forum for others to question why things work a certain way (or not). Be prepared to explain to others the processes behind such choices. Honesty is the best policy when it comes to explanations, so even if it is information regarding a bad or unwise decision, or bad news, deliver it with honesty and clarity for the rest of the company to learn and appreciate the direct exchange.

Email Etiquette.

In the age of technology and modernized communications, it is important that the any electronic mail sent is being thought through before hitting the “send” button to a specific party or even when you “reply all”. Do not be complacent in replies else it will potentially sabotage your image.

Here are some key points we need to take note when we reply our e-emails:

Address the receiving party correctly.

There are times when we get hectic at work and address the receiving party wrongly. As much as the sender may not feel offensive for addressing the wrong person, the receiver may not feel the same. It is important that we address people correctly to show respect and also shows that you are responding with sincerity.

Do not show anger in emails.

Do not fall into traps by expressing anger or reprimanding any party and allow it to keep as evidences. You will meet colleagues who are making you angry deliberately and in turn, make you respond unprofessionally.

Dealing with confidential information.

Always deal with confidential information with care. Critical and highly-sensitive information should not be sent and discussed via email correspondences. You never want to be the culprit to be blamed on any leakage of information. There may be information that could jeopardise business decisions and employees’ tax and salary issues is another one.

Clear subject line.

The recipient may be getting hundreds of emails in a day and it’s important you keep the subject line as precise as possible. Else, the recipient may treat it as trash and discard any unimportant ones. Also make sure that your subject line matches the content of the message. Never try hitting reply from the previous e-mails.

Include a signature.

E-mail signature is important and crucial as it should include your contact details and job information. This gives reader a better understanding on who they are talking to and how they can get in touch with you.

Use an auto-reply when needed.

Use this auto-reply function when you are out of office or is unable to reach out to your senders during office hours. Should they know that the message requires urgent attention, they can reach out to you as soon as they received your auto reply.