As competition for talent becomes ever fiercer, embracing new communication channels is going to be essential in ensuring a successful business for the 21st century.
The business landscape is always changing but the pace of that change over the past decade or so has accelerated hugely thanks to a combination of economic, political, cultural and technological factors.
Just as the marketplace has never been more turbulent and unpredictable, so the workplace has never been more varied, or offered so many opportunities. The people who work for you are spread right across the demographic, social and geographic spectrum and have a wide variety of expectations and preferences about how you interact with them.
Keeping these disparate groups happy, loyal and united is a challenge. Enlightened bosses know that they must combine the four elements of the employee value proposition – reward, business strategy, brand and behaviours – to build loyalty and engagement in their staff, and that effective communication is the cement binding these elements together.
But communicating in the way you have in the past might no longer be good enough. The latest generation of young people to enter the workforce expect to engage in a proper conversation with their employer on a much more democratic basis than ever before. They have casually embraced modern communication technology in a way that their predecessors couldn’t have dreamt.
Employee surveys frequently show that younger employees are surprised by the ‘old-fashioned’ communication preferences of their employers. And yet a recent poll on the Caburn Hope website shows that – when it comes to reward at least – HR professionals are only confident in using print and email to communicate, with no votes at all for more modern channels such as social media, SMS messaging or web-based communication.
Cannier businesses realise that they can harness technology to democratise their internal communication, engage their people more and thus build loyalty and retain the best talent – from any background and any generation.
Those who embrace new technology, and use it appropriately in their communication have a huge competitive advantage.
You already know about the incredible proliferation of smart phones, social media and the like, but are you using them to your company’s advantage?
The potential rewards are huge for companies that manage to position themselves ahead of the pack.
Start a conversation with your employees. Discover how they like to communicate and then build your communication strategy around their preferences. Even if they say they want something scary like smart phone apps, find out how you might be able to use them to your advantage.
What have you got to lose? The cost of doing nothing could be disastrous. Your people are your most valuable asset. It’s them who will steer your business successfully through today’s complex and challenging landscape. So engaging them, motivating them and communicating effectively with them is absolutely fundamental.
If you would like to find out more and receive a copy of the presentation Managing Director, Christopher Hopkins and Account Manager, Joanne South delivered to the E-Reward conference on how to deliver this – please contact info@caburnhope.co.uk
