Dive Brief:
- Communications from HR resonate best with front-line employees when they are: (1) targeted; (2) personalized; and (3) interactive, according to Speakap's Q4 2018 State of Frontline Employee Communications report.
- Barriers to effective communication include outmoded, inefficient processes and tools; email clutter; and device or digital overload, according to Speakap. But HR can cut through the noise with personalized, private messages and interactive content, the report says. When frontline workers receive communications of this type, information-sharing and product knowledge and promotion improve, making for a better employee experience.
- "Most C-level executives, HR departments and internal communications/employee engagement teams care about addressing certain challenges, such as reducing email clutter, granting access to management and listening to the needs (and feedback) of employees," said Patrick Van Der Mijl, Speakap’s co-founder and chief product officer in a statement. "By understanding their employees' communications behaviors, organizations can effectively build and adjust their employee engagement and experience programs to better serve the needs of their workforce."
Dive Insight:
As Speakap points out, communicating effectively with the workforce is no easy task for organizations, especially those with large deskless populations. But as the report shows, there are steps HR can take to ensure that content resonates with workers.
Experts have identified personalization as a potential key to learning engagement and recruiting success, so its place in communication may come as no surprise. Likewise, interactivity has long been identified as an important learning pillar; experts say that social learning can be particularly successful, and Speakap notes in the press release announcing its report that the "addiction to enterprise social 'likes' is more real than ever"; HR updates and announcements that allow for social interaction may resonate and drive engagement.
But HR must address the barriers the report identified, too. A 2018 Unisys report addressed similar issues: beyond stymieing communication, systems and devices that haven't kept pace with technological advancements can frustrate employees, making them less productive and even driving some to leave, the report said. Many workers today have effective digital tools and devices at home, and organizations that prioritize such investments may well see a strong return in employee engagement and retention.