Know your audience

Organizations are made up of different types of people who respond best to different types of communication. In a business world where — like the world in general — workforces are more distanced and isolated from their colleagues and management during the pandemic, getting in touch with employees the right way is more difficult to do but may be even more important.

“A common communication mistake that an organization can make is using a one-size-fits-all communication approach,” say Nicole Contreras, plans key account director, and Robyn Shutak, equity advisor service practice Leader, both with employee equity plan provider Computershare — which has developed a free whitepaper on how to effectively communicate with employees during a pandemic. “The golden rule of communication is to know your audience.”

According to Contreras and Shutak, organizations should try to understand the “persona groups” of their employees along with the types of workers and the regions where they work and live — and during the pandemic, be conscious of who is on normal salary, who is on reduced pay, who is furloughed, and who is working from home — and tailor more personalized, empathetic messaging to get through to them. Understanding the employee’s experience is the key to showing empathy.

“Organizations that keep empathy as an essential point of their internal communication strategy and frame messages to their employees’ current situation or reflect their personal circumstances are most successful,” say Contreras and Shutak. “Employees need to know that they are important members of a team and expect you to understand their needs and provide relevant information to build trust and understanding.”

With more distance and isolation among colleagues, along with the new boundaries that remote work and hybrid workplaces have brought, communication is an important tool for engagement and building that trust and understanding. Contreras and Shutak recommend that employers increase the level of engagement with their workforce through increased frequency of communication and leveraging multichannel communications so employees “get the message.” This can be done by using consistent or thematic imagery in messages through different media. Consistency is critical because organizations should be trying to decrease the “anxiety of the unknown,” say Contreras and Shutak.

“When an employee receives a personalized message, that important component provides a strong sense of engagement and trust,” Contreras and Shutak explain. “this can improve morale among employees and eliminates unnecessary thoughts that promote ennui.”

An increase in engagement and morale often brings better performance, more loyalty and more effort, they add, which can lead to financial benefits stemming from increased productivity, sales, and long-term performance. And during pandemic times, regular, personalized communication can help employees deal with the state of professional uncertainty that can add to the stress many are already feeling and minimize ambiguity and social isolation.

“Be empathetic to what [employees] are going through, but most of all make it specific to them — the message needs to be framed to resonate with the employee,” say Contreras and Shutak. “And remember the most important part — words that you choose to distribute matter even more now.”

For more information on how to effectively communicate with employees during a pandemic, download a free whitepaper from Computershare here.