4 tips for better employee communications.

Posted at 6:50 pm by Bill Shirk, on August 25, 2016

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Several studies have shown that the more informed an employee is, the happier, more productive and more loyal they become. Here are 4 things you can do to educate your workforce and make a big impact with employee communications.

Town hall style meetings: gather a group and present the latest news and information. Make your presentation engaging and entertaining. Decorate the room. Encourage audience participation. Conclude with a Q&A session.

Use an Intranet site, chat boards like Airbro and/or video messaging. Regularly post information from around the company on your own Intranet site. An Intranet site or chat boards allow employees to access information on their schedule either at home or at work.

Showcase employee profiles, produce and post leadership video messages that share important, timely company news, include updates on industry news, employee surveys, as well as on benefits, open enrollment and wellness information.

Regularly communicate Core Values and Brand Messaging. This helps your employees to understand their role in the company and what is expected of them. Provide the company’s point-of-view and brand messaging for employees to use when communicating with suppliers or potential employees.

Communication messaging should be clear and easy to understand. According to MetLife’s 14th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study, just 21% of employees said that their benefit information was easy to understand.

Keep all your communications short, sweet, simple and clear.

Author: Bill Shirk

A Cleveland, Ohio native, Bill Shirk graduated from Cooper School of Art and began his career as an advertising art director and, later as a creative director. After working a dozen years in both Cleveland and Cincinnati, Bill relocated to Los Angeles to work for Dailey & Associates. Bill was then recruited by Ogilvy & Mather, Atlanta, St John & Partners in Jacksonville and Mastermind Marketing in Atlanta. In 1998, Bill and his wife, Sue, founded Think Tank Communications, an innovative marketing firm that creates highly effective, engaging employee communication programs for benefits, wellness, corporate culture, leadership messaging, on-boarding and more. Bill enjoys training and teaching staff and clients. In addition to having plenty of big-name client experience, he has a refreshingly positive management style and provides a unique, creative perspective when it comes to big strategic thinking. When he’s not creating employee engagement programs or blogging on brain-xchange, Bill likes to golf, garden, and play fetch with his cat, Pepper. His all-time favorite pastime: ice cream.

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