Engagement can be temporary

 I’ve always been intrigued by the challenge of engaging temporary or seasonal workers so they live up to your values and represent the company effectively. After all, no-one dealing with them knows or cares whether they are temporary recruits or long-term company stalwarts.

It's a fascinating challenge from a business perspective, particularly if you’re bringing in large numbers of temps for a busy period or a particular event. Having been a seasonal worker myself, back in the day, I can testify that it’s interesting to the individual, too. You want to know what’s expected of you to fulfil your brief, whether it’s for one day or several weeks.

I can’t recall much preparation when I was in that position, which either shows the company had great confidence in its recruitment process or (perhaps more likely) suggests that onboarding did not receive the focus it gets today.

However, my experience at a recent festival suggests at least one organisation is doing it well.

Thousands of people, in a massive open-air venue, with a series of different tents or stages and changeable weather throughout the day. Seas of people with lots of questions, seeking directions to facilities or information on timings (and a whole lot of other random queries!). Yet every representative I spoke to or heard interacting with others was unfailingly calm, clear and polite. They went beyond merely answering questions to provide extra levels of detail, walk people towards where they needed to go, wish them an enjoyable day.

I’ve been to plenty of events over the years where the experience of dealing with those representatives has been disappointing, to say the least. It was very refreshing to encounter an organiser that clearly puts a great deal of emphasis not only on recruiting the right people, but on preparing them for their role, even if it was for just one day.

From front-line to Finance

When working with clients on values and behaviours, I always stress the need for relevance and resonance across the organisation.

Values should cover both beliefs and behaviours: the principles that guide an organisation and steps needed to deliver them in practice. They should help employees know what is expected of them and show potential recruits the culture that awaits them. To achieve either goal effectively, the values must be realistic and relevant to every area of the organisation.

Too often, values fail to connect with different employee groups. For example, they may work for people in customer-facing roles, but have little resonance with supporting functions. Or, at the other end of the scale, they are so vague that they carry no meaning for anyone.

If values are going to be useful, for both current employees and potential recruits, they must resonate widely. I use the simple phrase ‘from front-line to Finance’ to signify the scope needed. Without this, new or refined values risk undermining rather than strengthening the desired sense of clarity and common purpose.

We are not magicians…

Lately, I’ve seen posts on here discussing how colleagues in HR or other corporate functions are not magicians. The same can be said of internal communicators! 

We can be strategic, insightful, creative and innovative: often all at once.  We can share sweeping visions and deliver pragmatic plans. But we need trust, input and empowerment from the colleagues we’re supporting.

For while we can create something from nothing – and often do! – we’ll add far more value for our companies if we’re treated as true business partners, with the involvement, briefing and collaboration this requires.

My worst example was being asked to come up with a new set of values for a large company within a couple of hours. I still shudder when I think of it. And no, I don’t want to be reminded of what I wrote.

As a profession, we’ll always bring a little alchemy to any company, just don’t expect us to be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat on every occasion!

Spring clean employee engagement

The start of Spring can spark a surge of thorough cleaning and decluttering in our homes and our lives to freshen things up for the rest of the year. We identify what we really need – and get rid of what we don’t – to make sure things are streamlined and focused for the months ahead.

Similarly, it could be a good time to refresh engagement strategies and practices, to ensure we’re focusing on activities that strengthen the organisation’s connection with its people (and strip out anything that doesn’t).

Some years ago, we at Sweet Comms put together some simple tips for conducting this kind of check. They seem as relevant now as they were then, so in summary:

1.     Examine your aims

Do your aims for the year still ring true, or do they need to be adjusted? Have you got a clear sense of what you are seeking to achieve with different employee groups?

                   2.   Sense check with stakeholders 

      Conduct an informal audit with your executives and other stakeholders to gain feedback on progress during the year and to help crystallise priorities for the road ahead.

     3.     Road test your narrative

We all know the importance of a strategic narrative, to connect colleagues with the company purpose and provide context for activities during the year. Is it time to check whether all messages are still relevant and resonate? Do you need an update to guide further progress?

                 4.    Check your channel strategy 

Channels and tools don’t have to be for life. You can change or replace them whenever you like. So are you sure they’re delivering what you need from them?

                  5.   Develop more dialogue 

Examine the mechanisms currently in place and consider additional or alternative steps you can take to make open discussion a stronger part of ‘business as usual’.

   6.    Find your secret weapons 

With ongoing pressure on resource, can you identify informal ‘champions’ who could – with a little support and even a sprinkle of training – help you engage some of your employee groups?

   7.      Promote what you do

The award entry season is in full swing, so have a look and see whether any schemes or categories might give you an opportunity to celebrate your successes.

If nothing else, the simple steps above might confirm you’re on the right road. Or they might make you think again and maybe make some changes. In any event, asking some questions now, and carving some space for reflection this Spring, will help you keep developing and improving your approach.   

Ask why, not how

This might be an unpopular opinion, but too much of internal comms remains focused on the ‘how’.

Our industry has always tended to celebrate channels as the manifestation of our craft. That has only increased with the proliferation of digital platforms now on offer. But diving straight to the toolkit undermines the reason we’re communicating in the first place; it’s like the tail wagging the dog. 

We must check ourselves against this impulse and step back, focusing far more on the what, who, and why. Place channels at the end of any agenda, so we can’t get to them unless we have passed through the other elements. I’ve probably spent too much time with Project Managers, but it’s a little ‘gates’ technique that for me seems to work well.

Channels are only tools and we should never lose sight of that.

Cracking the manager communication conundrum

 Depressing when things go round in circles, isn’t it?

In 2009, Engaging for Success identified managers as one of the enablers of effective employee engagement, with the importance of effective communication very evident. That was hardly the first time the issue had been highlighted, so why are we still hearing so many concerns about managers and communication capabilities? Why, after so many years, have we not ‘cracked it’?

For me, the root of the issue lies in the way we prepare people to become managers. Generally we still promote people based on technical skills rather than people management abilities. And when we do so, we don’t put enough emphasis on developing management capabilities: communication being one of them. Yes, there are occasional courses, either bespoke or ‘off the shelf’, but it’s rarely an area for consistent coaching or support. And it often falls by the wayside in the face of other priorities.

As a result, we never really address the issue, leading to more hand wringing in conversations and conferences across the land. If we could establish a more consistent focus on communication as a core skill for managers, it would surely strengthen culture and bring benefits to employers and employees alike. It would require time, commitment and investment, but perhaps we could finally consign this repetitive conversation to the past.

Let’s not lose the human touch

 

Internal communicators have a lot thank technology for. We have many more tools and platforms than were available even five years ago, giving us more ways of building closer connections with employees. But is tech always the right solution?

I worry that there is so much attention on different tools to seek views or track sentiment that we are losing focus on human interaction. That a new platform can actually increase the distance between employers and employees rather than reduce it.

Rather than reaching for a new tool of some kind (and the ever-growing array of suppliers willing to sell us one), I feel we should be spending more time on helping our leaders and managers reach into our organisations, to connect with colleagues and have open and productive discussions. That will help us strengthen the culture of engagement far more than a shiny new platform alone, however sophisticated that may be.