Whether a company is announcing pension and benefit changes, a merger and acquisition, or a layoff, the success of the initiative hinges, in part, on the company’s ability to communicate effectively with employees—initially and on an ongoing basis according to communications consultant Christopher Chiames of F&H Solutions Group, LLC (www.fhsolutionsgroup.com), a human capital and management consulting firm. “Any organization needs to really understand how much information channels and media have changed,” he states.
It used to be that companies making major announcements dealt with only a handful of media outlets, and they “segmented” their messages to specific audiences (i.e., employees, investors, and regulators).
However, with 24-hour news cycles and changes in disclosure practices under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations, “now everything is transparent,” and companies need to deliver “a consistent message across all audiences,” Chiames says.
Ongoing, Open Communication
Disclosure and security laws make it difficult for employers to notify employees first about impending changes. However, Chiames says it’s important to at least share information simultaneously with employees and the public.
“You’re always going to have employees feeling slighted that news was on CNN before they heard it from their supervisor,” he says. Issuing simultaneous internal and external announcements will help demonstrate a commitment to keeping employees informed. “The internal information needs to be consistent with the external announcement and elaborate on what the employees’ concerns are.”
Chiames says companies should provide “honest, objective discussions” about the change on an ongoing basis. “There are too many other places for employees to get information.”
HR as Employee Advocate
HR can help ensure the success of change initiatives by advocating that all employees be given relevant information and by working with communications staff to prepare clear internal communications, according to Chiames.
“You need frontline employees to understand what is going on, because they’re going to be in contact with customers,” he says. “You don’t want employees to send negative vibes to your customers.”
“It is important for senior management to be visible and actively communicating,” Chiames says, “but an often-overlooked element is to keep frontline managers and supervisors informed and prepared to be effective ambassadors for the company. Ultimately, it is that personal relationship that is the most important one in the labor/management equation.
“If an employee asks his or her supervisor a question, and the response is a shrug, and an ‘I don’t understand why we were making these changes’ comment, then all the sophistication of a broad communications program is rendered worthless.”
Managers need opportunities to ask questions freely and a clear understanding of what is expected of them, Chiames says. “Sometimes, you have to be quite literal in … what you want them to do: Say ‘We need you to share this information. We need you to be advocates for this. We need you to engage your employees.’”
He says managers who disagree with the change should be reminded of their role, with wording such as, “We may not all agree with this decision, but it’s our job as managers to explain it and make sure our people understand it.”
This article originally appeared in Best Practices in HR, a publication of Business & Legal Reports (BLR). BLR has been helping HR, Safety and Environmental professionals with legal compliance and professional support resources for over 25 years. For more information, visit www.blr.com or hr.blr.com.