How to Communicate with Your Employees Effectively
The delivery of your employee communication can be nearly as important as the message itself. Employers who communicate regularly with their employees about workplace policies, business conditions and organizational changes generally have a good employer-employee relationship. However, communicating effectively is critical in making sure employees are well-informed. Don't risk losing your employees' attention and interest. Develop an effective communication strategy that provides relevant information employees can use.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Conduct employee conferences about performance issues in a private setting. Whether you are providing constructive feedback for performance improvement or complimentary feedback about how well the employee is performing, conversations about employee performance should always be done in private. Personnel issues are confidential, regardless of the type of communication. While it's perfectly acceptable to casually walk by an employee's workspace and say, "great work," generally, conferences involving discussions about improvement and the possibility of additional responsibility are confidential and should be conducted in the supervisor's office. Doing so maintains the level of trust employees have in their supervisor and his respect for confidential matters.
-
2
Document workplace policies in your employee handbook and maintain up-to-date policies. This prevents misinterpretation and keeps employees informed about policies, processes and procedures. When you need to use your handbook for application of policies related to performance management, such as disciplinary and corrective action, it's extremely important to have written policies to justify your employment decisions. In addition, provide employees with written information about policies such as appealing performance appraisals, applying for department transfers, attendance and leaves of absence. Communicating effectively with employees includes removing the guesswork about workplace policies and business operations.
-
-
3
Provide employees with regular communication. Employees appreciate regular communication about a number of issues they believe affect their employment. For example, employers concerned about impending changes due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed in 2010 may want to explain the Act to employees and changes that might occur due to employer responsibilities. On the other hand, employers shouldn't provide so much information that it causes employees to worry needlessly.
-
4
Give employees good news whenever possible and share company successes with them, however small. If the company receives an award for its business reputation in the community, let employees know. News like this instills pride in employees and improves how employees receive other communication from the company leadership. Constant meetings where employees only learn negative information are drudgery for employees and leadership.
-
5
Deliver informational communications such as organizational changes, business conditions and process changes during all-staff meetings and departmental meetings. Upper-level management or the company's executive team should deliver these types of communication. They should be prepared to answer employee questions and address comments that reflect employee concerns. Human resources staff can prepare executive speeches and draft a list of anticipated questions so the communication is smoothly presented. Information about significant changes to the company often cause employees to worry about job security, therefore, messages like this should ideally come from a high-level employee for completeness and accuracy.
-
1
