CIPD - Employee communication

Employee relations

Revised January 2010

This factsheet gives introductory guidance. It:

discusses the importance of good employee communication
looks at various methods of communication
considers how to develop an effective communication strategy
emphasises the need for HR to work with colleagues from other disciplines
includes the CIPD viewpoint.

The factsheet looks at internal communication rather than external communication (for example, with customers, investors or other stakeholders). It may be helpful to read it in conjunction with our factsheet on ‘employee voice’ which covers the history of employee involvement, the mechanisms of two-way communications, and its potential benefits. Our factsheets on employer branding and employee engagement are also relevant.

Why communicate with employees?

Good two-way communication can help to build the psychological contract, in which employees feel valued by their employer, and the employer values (and is seen to value) employees’ contributions.

Communication is an important aspect of employee engagement. The two most important drivers of employee engagement identified by CIPD research are:

having opportunities to feed upwards
feeling well-informed about what is happening in the organisation.

CIPD research finds 'opportunities for upward feedback' and 'feeling well informed about what's happening in the organisation' to be key drivers of employee engagement - which in turns promotes better performance, employee retention and positive emotions towards work.

Go to our survey report How engaged are British employees?

Further, key barriers to engagement have been identified as a lack of fluidity of communication/knowledge sharing and poor visibility of senior management and quality of downward communication.

Go to Creating an engaged workforce

But our Autumn 2009 Employee outlook survey found that fewer than half of our two thousand respondents felt either 'fully' or 'fairly' well informed about what is going on in their organisations.

Go to the latest Employee outlook survey

So clearly there is still a long way to go before employee communication in many organisations can be said to be effective. But how to go about it?

The basics

Mutual trust is very much a feature of the good psychological contract. Implicit in this is helping people to work together by means of shared information. So good communication is not simply about passing information down; it is also about sharing information, trusting people to interpret that information, and listening to what people say (and then, if necessary, acting upon what has been said or explaining why no action has been taken).

Implicit in this is that managers have a central role in any communications strategy; the good intentions of communication specialists can be ruined and mutual trust damaged by managers who do not pass messages on, who distort the messages they are entrusted with, or who do not provide feedback from what they have been told by their staff. This may imply training for managers at all levels in communication skills and ensuring that communication is seen as a core part of their jobs.

Communications also need to be linked to the business plan, with everyone in the process clear about their roles in making communication happen. Good communication is also about consistency: people are more likely to listen if there is a regular flow of information that they trust. The worst scenario is that only bad news is communicated.

Information needs to be delivered through a variety of channels because (for example) some people take more notice of messages delivered verbally, while others pay greater heed to written material. In any case, if something is important enough, it probably deserves to be said more than once, and in more than one way!

Methods

There are many methods of communicating with employees.
It is important to remember that audiences differ. Some organisations ‘segment’ employees so they can tailor communications to different audiences. Organisational size is also important; communication is much easier in a single site establishment than in a multi-national organisation, especially where different languages and cultures are involved.

Developments in technology, notably web-based technologies, have increased the range of options in recent years beyond traditional methods such as notice boards and in-house newsletters. Many organisations are not just using their intranet and email but also encouraging their employees to connect via social networking on the web. here are some examples in our report on Web 2.0 and HR.

Go to Web 2.0 and human resource management

Some methods of communication are top-down, such as presentations from senior managers. Others, such a team briefings or meetings provide more opportunity for dialogue. While face to face communication with line managers can be a good way of providing two-way feedback, it’s important to make sure messages are fed upwards. Focus groups can be a good way of providing qualitative feedback. Employee attitude surveys which ‘take the temperature’ in the organisation on a regular basis are also an important mechanism for employees to express their views.

Developing a communication strategy

No single method of communication works effectively, standing alone. Written messages, whether on paper or on screen, will be consistent but may not be read; oral messages may be misunderstood or misinterpreted. In most cases, and especially where messages are only communicated in writing (though intranets can permit some dialogue), opportunities for two-way communication are limited.

Thirteen points for an effective communication strategy

Effective communication is therefore complex. The following are suggested as starting points for a communication strategy:

Convince top management of the importance of communication.
Build alliances across the organisation to support initiatives.
Recognise that no single method will be effective.
Use a mix of approaches and use all available channels where relevant (written, face-to-face, web-based, moving images).
Target the form(s) of communication to the audience; for example, it may well be appropriate to use different methods for shop floor employees and senior managers.
Respect cultural diversity and vary approaches accordingly. This is particularly important in a multi-national context, but bear in mind the UK’s cultural diversity as well (for more on diversity, see our factsheet on that subject).
- Go to our factsheet on Diversity
Make sure that messages are consistent, over time and between audiences.
Ensure clarity of message and keep things as simple as possible. For example, in written communications use short, sharp sentences or phrases. Sometimes even without verbs.
Train managers in communication skills and ensure that they understand the importance of communication.
Seek wherever possible to develop and sustain two-way communication, dialogue and feedback.
Ask yourself whether employees feel that the culture of the organisation is such that they can say what they think without discomfort; and if they can’t, think about how that culture can be changed.
Consider whether communication is built into the planning stages of all activities.
Review communication initiatives to check what has worked, what hasn’t, and why.

Working together to deliver effective employee communication

In larger organisations, responsibility for employee communication could sit with internal communications specialists or with the HR function. The marketing and PR teams may also be involved. Our research highlights the advantages of sharing insights and techniques from different disciplines.

CIPD viewpoint

Effective communication is vital ingredient for employee engagement and to build trust between the organisation’s senior leaders and its people. Communication is very much about developing the organisation culture, which should be one of the central roles of a strategic HR function.

In a larger organisation, responsibility for employee communication could lie with individuals from a number of disciplines, such as internal communications, marketing and PR as well as HR. It’s important that HR professionals work with other functional specialists and general managers to make a success of it. Initiatives will fail unless there is full support from the top of the organisation. Success depends upon the existence of a consistent, clear strategy linked to the business plan, with clarity at the individual level about each person’s role in making communication happen. Line managers are often at the centre of delivery, especially when it comes to verbal communication, and are responsible for much of the feedback which needs to take place to ensure effective two-way communication.

Employee communication