If your social media feeds are jammed with political news, you might like to look at the relatively calm world of employee communication.
Just kidding, with tariffs and firings and turmoil over DEI, it’s not calm at all. But here’s another roundup of links you might have missed, all relating to how companies can and should reach their employees.
Employee communication
Many companies hold large all-employee “town halls” to share important information. Here’s an interesting look at what Sun Life did when in-person town halls saw minimal engagement: They transitioned to hybrid experiences that give all employees — including frontline workers — an opportunity to tune in.
What else makes a successful town hall? Cisco Networking’s Raquel Cool has five specific goals, like showing how work team actions connect to larger company strategy.
Deskless workers are often the key drivers of risk and reputation, says Sean Devlin. He suggests what to try and how to evaluate the effectiveness of your efforts.
Keeping those deskless workers informed and connected with their employers requires the right blend of channels, tools, tactics and culture building, says Jess Zafarris. Here’s a look at how Eli Lilly and Company does it.
How do you keep employees from leaving? Better communication, says Julie Baron in this flashback from Ragan Communications.
If you quote executives in your communication with employees, try not to make them sound boring and robotic. Jim Ylisela has five reasons corporate quotes go bad (like no one ever said them) and how to fix them (speak to a human).
There are no guidebooks on how to talk about suicide. Justin Joffe talks about the importance of what you say If someone dies by suicide in your organization. Do click through to the excellent language guidelines from Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
Vision and values
A company vision and stated values are all very well, but how do they translate to real life for your employees? “If you identify the tough dilemmas your employees routinely face and clearly state how they should be resolved… your desired culture will take root and influence the behavior of the team,” reports Harvard Business Review.
“Integrity” is table stakes for a company’s values. Broom & Moon describe a situation where the stated values, like integrity, did not match the actions, and suggest uncovering true values by talking to employees.
Don’t “proclaim” your great values to people; show them in action, says Tom Corfman. He says brand journalism emphasizes digging up the facts and grabbing the quotes that are the ingredients of good storytelling.
How to use think like a journalist and use storytelling to bring your vision and strategy to life via Dr. Clare Lynch.
Did you catch any of the links the first time I posted them? What other helpful, interesting or funny posts have you found online? Please share in the comments or drop me a note.
Photo by Karine Avetisyan on Unsplash.
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