Back to School – Employee Communication Edition

September is here – and as students go back to school, it’s time for us to follow suit. Let’s take a few minutes to reeducate ourselves on a subject that’s more and more important in the tech-driven, always-on world we live in: employee communication. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

Everyone is a publisher. Where we used to think of media members as the only stakeholders who could publish content in the early days of PR, that’s certainly not the case now. Think of all employees as content creators: be it on their personal social channels, a blog or even word-of-mouth to their networks. As such, take time to craft the right words and think about the right distribution channels for your messages: something truly sensitive should be an in-person meeting vs. an email that could be shared.

Be as clear as glass. Transparency is at an all-time level of importance; seemingly all companies these days are under intense scrutiny from the general public. To keep a happy group of employees, ensure you are transparent with them as much as possible. What are you trying to communicate? What level of information is possible to share at this point? What is really going on? What questions will they have? Make sure to think through these as you develop your messaging to help make your content as informative and easy-to-understand as possible.

Your employees are your best asset. When it comes to recruitment and public opinion of your company, your staff is best equipped to share the reasons to believe in your company. They’re on your team; you, as an employee communicator, can and should tap into them. What do they do that’s interesting on the weekends? Who has been there for a long time? These would be great blog stories. Make sure to keep a positive culture and workplace environment so they can help you spread the word about your company.

What tools do you use to foster successful employee communication? Share in the comments below. Class dismissed!

Liz Iannotti
Senior Account Manager

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