5 Best Practices in Employee Communication

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, HR Strategy: Job Leveling (26-slide PowerPoint presentation). Job Leveling is a disciplined approach to gauge the value of work for individual positions across the organization. It entails ascertaining the nature of work done by each position, authority levels, and the effect of each job on business results. Jobs that are configured inadequately bread [read more]

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There is a lot of interest in today’s world in how you can retain and motivate employees in your company. The global pandemic, which swept across the world and turned everything upside down, was both a health care and a societal force. Business as usual, where workers were simply considered replaceable parts in a machine, is no longer an acceptable plan in a world where staff shortages are the norm.

If your company hopes to thrive in this new environment, you are going to have to revamp your priorities and show current and future employees that you truly care. Profitability and bottom-line financial results that make shareholders happy and executives rich are now counter-balanced by the needs of team members. The following are some tips for best practices when it comes to communicating with your team.

Take the Time to Connect with Your Workers

One of the best ways to nurture your workforce and improve retention levels is to truly care about and connect with your team. Having a boss who is interested in your wellbeing and how you are doing in life means the world to an employee. This can help employees deal with stress as it pertains to their job to have a solid foundation of personal respect already built. They will be more likely to ask for help than to go it alone and potentially make costly mistakes.

Value the Work Your Employees Do

We all like to be honored and recognized for what we do and for the contribution we make. If we are putting in effort that is above and beyond the call, then we’d like to know that our boss notices. Getting a monetary bonus in with the next check or even getting tickets to an event or ballgame can make us feel that we truly matter. Praise coming from your supervisor can also be an important sign of recognition.

Watch Out for Worker Safety

There are many ideas and systems in place for keeping workers safe in a factory or warehouse setting. Now, we are seeing key monitoring options that help improve safety levels on the highways and in fleets. There are digital tachograph solutions that provide real-time monitoring and reporting of driver activity, vehicle status, location and other key metrics. The data is uploaded automatically and can be viewed and analyzed instantly.

Encourage Clear Communication

It can be really frustrating when there is a lack of communication in the workplace. When a boss doesn’t talk clearly with employees no one knows exactly what to do next or what the overall mission is. By opening up and making a conscious effort to talk with each person, managers will create an environment where they can guide their team and inspire trust. Communication is also about good listening so be sure to practice the critical behaviors of good listeners so that you can lead by example regarding how essential it is to not only effectively communicate with words, but also with listening.

Build Camaraderie among the Group

You seldom see people smiling in their work setting, which is pretty amazing since we are going to be working for about 45 years of our life. If you want to create a bond with your employees, it’s important to take steps to build camaraderie within the group. When your workers know you appreciate the group and enjoy being with them, they will do all that they can for you.

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The purpose of Human Resources (HR) is to ensure our organization achieves success through our people. Without the right people in place—at all levels of the organization—we will never be able to execute our Strategy effectively.

This begs the question: Does your organization view HR as a support function or a strategic one? Research shows leading organizations leverage HR as a strategic function, one that both supports and drives the organization's Strategy. In fact, having strong HRM capabilities is a source of Competitive Advantage.

This has never been more true than right now in the Digital Age, as organizations must compete for specialized talent to drive forward their Digital Transformation Strategies. Beyond just hiring and selection, HR also plays the critical role in retaining talent—by keeping people engaged, motivated, and happy.

Learn about our Human Resource Management (HRM) Best Practice Frameworks here.