Employee Relations Lecture #11

Why are Employee Relations So Important?

Employee Relations Employees once trusted their organizations and superiors, however, today they are more reluctant to trust and respect them. When organizations lay off workers they are often rewarded by the stock market for becoming more productive and efficient. Employees used to go on strike when they were unhappy, today, they go to the internet, which can be even more damaging.

Employee Relations Companies have found that if they communicate effectively with their workers they financially outperform their competitors that do not. Business managers have learned that their most important assets are their employees. Employee communication is the key to nurture and sustain intellectual capital. For years, employee relations was considered less important than the functions of media, government, and investor relations.

Dealing With Employees The employee public is made up of numerous subgroups: Senior managers First line supervisors Staff and line employees Union laborers Per diem employees Contract workers

Dealing With Employees Management must ask three hard questions to determine if they are communicating effectively with their employees. Is management able to communicate effectively with employees? Is communication trusted, and does it relay appropriate information to employees? Has management communicated its commitment to its employees and to fostering a rewarding work environment?

Communicating During Difficult Times An organization concerned with communicating with its employees during times of downsizing, displacement and confusing communication must reassure its employees

Communicating During Difficult Times There are five principles for this: Respect: employees must be respected for their worth as individuals and workers. Honest Feedback: speaking with workers about their strengths and weaknesses helps employers let employees know where they stand. Recognition: employees feel successful when management recognizes their contributions to the organization.

Communicating During Difficult Times Voice: in the era of blogs, radio, cable talk shows, etc. nearly everyone wants their voice to be heard in decision making. Encouragement: money and benefits motivate employees up to a certain point, but there is usually a need for encouragement to produce results.

Maskowitz’ 6 Criteria for Communicating with Employees Willingness to Express Dissent; employees want to be able to express their voices to management. Visibility and Proximity to Upper Management: level rank distinctions help eliminate status reminders Does your organization work from the top-down, or does it embrace concerns and suggestions from the bottom- up. How many layers of management does your organization have? Priority of Internal and External Communication: the worst thing for employees is to learn critical information about the organizations they work for from outside sources; news, websites, word of mouth, etc.

Maskowitz’ 6 Criteria for Communicating with Employees Attention to Clarity: focus on benefits with an emphasis on clarity, don’t focus on legalities. Friendly Tone: the best companies give a sense of family. Makes employees feel as though they are a part of something exclusive. Sense of Humor: For many, corporate life is grim. It is important that employees enjoy themselves and keep things in perspective by not taking themselves too seriously.

Credibility The issue that management faces with credibility is that they must convince employees that they want to communicate with them and want to do so in a truthful, frank, and direct manner.

Credibility Trust in organizations would increase if management: Communicated earlier and more frequently. Demonstrated trust in employees by sharing bad news as well as good. Involved employees in the process by asking for their ideas and input. Smart organizations realize that well-informed employees are the their best goodwill ambassadors.

“S.H.O.C”ING Employees Earning credibility and trust amongst employees must be part of your communications objectives. Four part method to helping build trust with employees when morale is low. S.H.O.C.

S.H.O.C. Strategic- communication must be strategic Where is the organization going? What is my role in helping us get there?

S.H.O.C Honest- Communication must be honest Employees may already be less likely to believe what they are told by management. You can’t build relationships and strong communications through beating around the bush and sugarcoating.

S.H.O.C. Open- all communication must be open. There must be feedback- the best communication is two-way communication. Although managers often hold forums and large feedback session, they rarely take action. The key is that when communicating openly, something must be done.

S.H.O.C. Consistent- All communication must be consistent. Must keep communicating once you have started Can do so through newsletters, employee forums, leadership meetings, reward celebrations

Internal Communications Audit Completing an internal communications audit is the best way to research employee communications. Starts with personal, in-depth interviews with both top managers and communicators

Internal Communications Audit Four critical audit questions: How do internal communications support the mission of the organization? Do internal communications have management’s support? Do internal communications justify expense? How responsive to employees needs and concerns are internal communications? Audits help determine staff attitudes about their jobs, the organization, and its mission. Analyzes current communications techniques.

Online Communication Online communication has brought a whole new set of employee communications options. Instant messaging Email Voicemail intranets Online communication reaches employees at their desks and makes it more likely for them to listen, read, and watch messages, and will most likely act on these.

Online Communication Vehicles Blogs- an easy way for employees to post opinions and views of the company on the internet. Podcasts- audio or video monologue, interview or on-location content is broadcast online to employees. Wikis- a website which any user can add pages, modify content, and comment on existing content, less widespread than blogs

Online Communication In order for social media to be effective in an organizational environment it must do three things. Must have a business purpose Must be entertaining as well as informative Be composed of riveting content

Intranet The intranet has overtaken print communications. Must take into consideration several important concepts. Consider the culture: if the organization is collaborative, it should have no problem with people contributing ideas. Set clear objectives and then let it evolve: intranets must be designed with clear goals in mind. Treat it as a journalistic enterprise: company news gets read by company workers.

Intranet Market, Market, Market: Intranet needs to be sold within the company. Publicize new features or changes in content. If employees don’t know about it, they can’t use it. Link to outside lives: Employees have outside lives, so link the intranet to classified ads, movie and restaurant reviews, or even coupon sites. Senior management must commit: If the top management is neither interested nor supportive, the idea will fail.

Print Publications Online internal communications have made it hard on print publications. The trend for internal organizational communicating has been to move from print to internet-oriented options. Whether the publication is online or in print, the editor must consider several tasks.

Editing Tasks Assigning Stories: article assignments must focus on organizational strategies and management objectives. Enforcing Deadlines: employees prefer a newsletter that comes out at a specific time, must assign rigid copy deadlines. Assigning Photos: People like photos, make them exciting!

Editing Tasks Editing Copy: they must correct sloppy writing, critique writing, and motivate to improve copy style. Formatting Copy: making the final decision on the format of the newsletter or piece of literature given to employees. Ensuring On-Time Publication: ensure that no last minute glitches interfere with publication. Critiquing: makes sure the next edition will be even better.

Bulletin Boards Although they are somewhat outdate, they still serve use in many organizations today. Often used in fashion and retail. Allows the organization to reach large numbers of individuals, and inform them of organizational messages while also informing employees about issues specific to the store they work in.

Bulletin Boards They help improve productivity, cut waste, and reduce accidents on the job. They inform employees of legal regulations. Today’s use is more visually pleasing by including graphics, pictures, and charts. It is important to keep bulletin boards current, one person in the PR department should be assigned to this weekly task.

Suggestion Box Suggestion Box: a box that is mounted to the wall or floor that allows employees to anonymously deposit their thoughts about the organization. The purpose of this is to ensure that there is feedback from employees. Management must acknowledge this feedback and make organizational changes when needed.

Town Hall Meetings Large gatherings of employees with top managers where nearly no subject is off limits. The more open the format the greater management and the organization will be trusted. When management says they will look into something or change something, they need to carry through with their actions to remain credible.

Internal Videos Internal video communication can be very effective. You can show the same video with the same message to hundreds, or even thousands of individuals working for you. Videos can be used to be shown at one time, or at employees convenience. These are used regularly in retail/fashion to show employees new products, seasonal items, loss prevention tips, and changes to policies and procedures.

Face-to-Face Communication F2F is the best communication tool. Most organizations are inconsistent with relaying important information to employees. A good manager will learn from rumors. Some departments even formalize the meeting process by mixing management and staff in a variety of formats, from complaining sessions, to marketing, and planning meetings.

The Grapevine A.K.A. the rumor mill! Identifying the source of rumors is difficult, and usually not worth the time. Organizations make difficult decisions once alternatives have been weighed. Final decision is often a compromise reflecting the needs of the workforce. When explaining final decisions, management often forgets to tell employees how they reached their decisions. The grapevine can be as much of a communications mechanism as a meeting, publication, or online tool.

Final Thoughts Social Media is important for organizations to embrace when trying to connect with employees. Management must commit and support employee communication. There are numerous electronic and print methods of connecting with employees. Management must not only embrace feedback, but also use that feedback to correct what is wrong.

References Seitel, F.P. (2011). The Practice of Public Relations. Prentice Hall: Boston.