MESSAGING

What do employees need to know? And how do they want it delivered? When planning your messaging for internal communications or HR programs, be sure you’re approaching it from the employee perspective.

Just pushing the communications out there doesn’t mean employees will pay attention. Think about packaging your messaging in ways that make it easier for employees to absorb.

Here are some suggestions on how to do that more efficiently:

Tackle big topics in small bites

Employees are busy, so it helps to break your messaging down into smaller pieces for larger initiatives. For instance, if you’re launching a new intranet, you might start with an employee contest to name the site, followed by requests for beta testers. Make a splash for the launch itself, and then sustain the communications with updates on new features or content.

Some employees want a deep dive

For topics like large change management projects, many employees will want to know more. Use an intranet page or microsite to give the background, the business reasons behind the change and the details of what will happen when. Not everyone will want to know that much, but it’s important to provide that level of detail for those who do.

Including remote employees

It’s just as easy to record someone working from home as it is in the office. It also makes no difference if employees are in India or Indianapolis, as long as you schedule appropriately for employees’ local time zones. Podcasts give you the opportunity to let employees hear from each other and build connections with colleagues around the globe.

Pace your messaging

For many channels, less is more. A shorter video, for instance, is often more effective than a longer one. Remember you’re dealing with people’s attention spans, which are getting shorter all the time. (Thanks, TikTok.) It’s better to have employees watch an entire short video than just the beginning of a long one. Several short videos might do the job more effectively.

Not everyone is sitting at a computer

If your entire workforce is online all day long, then that makes your job as a communicator much easier. But if you have non-wired employees working in manufacturing, hospitality, retail, healthcare or any of the many fields that include non-desk workers, it takes a little more effort. Be sure to develop channels that will deliver your messaging to them too.