Communicating with employees is a concept that has been gaining
popularity of late. Every organization makes it a point to communicate
effectively to its customers and build lasting relationships with them. But what
it doesn’t realize is that it is equally important to communicate with its
employees the same way.
Employees are the face of any organization and if they
do not respect the organization they work for, forget about the other publics
respecting it.
When there is something of significance happening in a
company, like a leadership change, it is always prudent to keep all employees
in the loop. It is better if they get to know what’s going on from the official
organization channels, rather from the news.
Let's assume that the CEO of your organization is stepping
down and you want to send out an internal newsletter or email to your loyal
employees informing them about it. Here are five things that could possibly
assist you when you’re considering sharing that information.
- · When you send out your message during a leadership change, make sure you give them all the information needed. Never leave questions unanswered.
- · Make sure you name the interim CEO when you make the announcement. There is nothing worse than not having a person leading the group.
- · Assure them of the organization’s stability and that you have got everything under control. Share with them your plans of finding the next CEO. Make them believe that you are on top of your game.
- · When there is a succession change, the employees tend to speculate a lot about the future. The rumor mill would be abuzz. Office gossip cannot be contained and the only thing you can do to make it better is equipping them with the right information.
- · Though hierarchy is essential in an organization. Do not integrate them in your communication channels. Treat all employees the same.
When employees are informed and given due importance, they
tend to identify more with the organization and become all the more dedicated. As PR professionals,
do not ever underestimate the power of employees, as they are one of the key
stakeholders in every organization.
Nice effort, Suvesha. I believe you asked in class if you could use your own voice for this post--does this accomplish that for you? Or did you intend to include a personal anecdote but then change your mind? A few things I want you to consider in terms of employee communications: This statement: "Communicating with employees is a concept that has been gaining popularity of late" makes it seem like this is a new trend when in fact internal communications is one of the mainstays of PR. Too, I agree all employees should be treated the same...but consider: do the top officials in a company need to have different information than a "lower level" employee? When might that be a good thing? In terms of your post, make sure the images you include have a context within your writing and are not just add-ons.
ReplyDeleteI did change my mind about writing it with personal anecdotes. Also, I agree with what you said.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the hierarchy, I felt that it would be better to send the same newsletter to all the employees, but specific information can be sent to the officials who need to know more about it.
Thank you Amy for the suggestions! Will keep them in mind :)