Employee Relations Lecture 11 Why are Employee Relations

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 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 onlocation 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: 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 �F 2 F 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.