Here’s how you can reconnect with your employees in a disconnected world.
Americans are eager to get back to the way things were before Covid-19, but the way people work and communicate has evolved. People’s priorities have undergone a radical evolution, turning inward to focus on personal wellbeing. Frustrated and overwhelmed by stresses in both their personal and work lives, employees are disengaged from their jobs and ignoring communications from colleagues.
It is harder than ever for organizations to find the best way to connect with and motivate their employees. To not risk losing more talented workers to the Great Resignation, it’s imperative for businesses to revamp their communication strategy.
Here are a few tips for how to reconnect with your employees in a disconnected world, improve communications and boost engagement:
1. Acknowledge That the Old Ways Aren’t Working
Life in a pandemic world is different. People are facing more and more informational noise in all aspects of life, making it harder than before for employer messages to breakthrough. Single, “one and done” emails aren’t working. Neither are impersonal messages based on shared demographics across an entire workforce.
What is working? Multi-cycle and multi-channel communications that reach employees where they are with specific calls to action. Equally important is targeted communications to individuals with relevant messages based on data-driven insights that will resonate with them on a personal level.
2. Stop Sending Irrelevant Information
Sharing irrelevant information is a sure way to get employees to tune out. Instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach to messaging, employers should leverage technology platforms that analyze multiple types of data (including consumer data and social determinants of health (SDOH) insights) and use predictive analytics to really understand what individuals in their employee populations need and want. This information is critical for informing smart, effective communications campaigns that are targeted to those most likely to take action because it matters to them.
3. Use the Right Channels
One of “The Four P’s” in marketing’s golden rule is “Place,” but it doesn’t just apply to a physical location. Employers must engage employees where they are and how they want to be engaged. With a multi-channel approach, messages will reach people where they are most likely to engage. This could be email, social media, text, intranet or newsletter– the most effective channels for communications will vary by organization and by the employee. Driving multiple touches with relevant, repeated messages and calls to action across multiple channels will improve the reach and success of communications campaigns.
4. Measure Campaign Results
With tighter resources, businesses need to know which internal communications campaigns are performing– and which are not– so they can refine or pivot as needed to drive further engagement. Immediate feedback on which communications are working may not always be possible, but employers cannot wait for weeks on end to know what communications are resulting in the desired actions or outcomes.
Measuring the basics, like the number of contacts, opens/clicks, and actions taken, is a must that communicators can do shortly after sending a message. But employers need to up their campaign measurement and optimization tools to get a deeper look at what’s driving engagement and what isn’t over the course of a campaign.
To evaluate multi-channel campaign effectiveness, employers should utilize a platform that can assess the value of each action taken as well as touches and actions taken across multiple channels of communication. Advanced analytics tools can yield rich insights to help communicators optimize their outreach by fine-tuning both the messages they want to communicate and the channels through which they are communicating.
In today’s stressful climate, the last thing employees want is another impersonal email from their organization. Many businesses have overhauled their marketing efforts to connect with customers in a pandemic world. However, employers often fall into the trap of using the same staid communications approach that they’ve used time and time again to reach their workforce.
With employee loyalty waning and millions of people leaving their jobs and the workforce, it is past time for businesses to change how they are communicating with their employees. With multi-cycle, multi-channel, personalized communications organizations can drive the engagement and action they need, and that your employees will benefit from.
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Original source: Inc.
