Businesses rely on effective communications be it with customers or employees. Most of the time of the companies is spent on emails and conference rooms for constructive and plausible communication. However, today’s advanced technology combined with enterprise software development solutions is helping companies to manage their business, allowing seamless communication.
So, I would like to ask whether or not your communication strategy is sufficient? Is it efficient enough to deal with modern communication challenges? If not, you must look into getting an employee communication software developed.
But, for effective communication, why would you need software? In this article, we will talk about the need for employee communication software and how it can help in the better organization of businesses. Let’s understand what is wrong with the current structure of communication.
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Underlining the Loophole in Current Employee Communication
The most used communication channel used by the companies is Email. Through Email, companies can make announcements, team newsletters, emergency notifications, and send operational instructions. Since emails assist the company, where is the problem?
The problem with depending on email is people are overloaded with them and not all are given equivalent attention. If you look at the numbers, an average person receives up to 121 emails per day. Talking about large enterprises, they cannot solely depend on email for communication.
Another problem is the internet. However, they are a brilliant source to find information and complete certain tasks yet most employees do not have time to use it. A report says that 31% of employees never use their intranet because of overwhelming texts, jargon, calendars, tips, instructions, and reminders.
Voice mails are another communication method that organizations use to market their brand. However, most people, including employees, avoid voicemails if they do not recognize the number.
With all these unsatisfactory methods of communication, how will a company be able to communicate with its employees effectively? How can communications methods be improved? But, first let’s understand who can use employee communication software and what will the software offer them!
Communications Functions for Different Roles
Information Technology Communications
Employee communications can be integrated with this component so that your employees can seamlessly connect with the IT team. This includes –
- Notifications about unexpected outages
- Cybersecurity safety reminders and threats
- Information about system upgrades
- Notification about scheduled maintenance or outages.
Internal team Communications
Your internal team is the most important as they have lots of crucial information to share on behalf of the team. Hence the components included in employee communications software for internal teams include –
- Videos
- Company news
- Profiles of staff members
- Regular internal newsletters & updates
- Recognition of initiatives and achievements
- Good news stories
- Information regarding all projects
- Information regarding important milestones of projects.
Leadership Team Communications
This component will deliver streamlined communication between the top-level employees. CEO and other senior executives can share important information, such as –
- KIPs
- New Policies
- Corporate News
- Strategic Goals
- Company’s Performance Metrics
- Non-Disclosure documents & others
Facilities Management Communications
The most alarming events must be informed to employees timely, such as –
- Alarm testing reminders
- Fire & other safety drills
- Booking meeting rooms notifications
- Issues regarding building amenities
- Car fleet management
- Parking management system
- Building maintenance work reminders
- All these components can ensure that the company has everything up to date.
Human Resources Communications
The HR department always has to communicate with employees every time to ensure their satisfaction as well as maintain substantial productivity. The components include –
- Onboarding & training information of new employees
- New policies & procedures notifications
- Health and safety workplace alerts
- Employee well-being information & advice
- Payroll information and updates
- Avenues for learning and development
Ways to Enhance Employee Communications
Employees must be clearly communicated in order to get the utmost productivity. Employees who feel involved feel that the company cares about them and have been honest with them, stay motivated, engaged, and loyal. Hence to obtain maximum benefit from the employee, the company must take a step towards an effective communications strategy for employees to connect with them as well as stakeholders or partners.
However, there are two ways to improve employee communications –
Use appropriate communications channels that can reach employees, no matter wherever they are. Mass communications channels can help companies understand whether their messages are sent and received by the employee clearly. However, there are multiple channels, such as slack, still, the company should incorporate a solution that warrants about every message, such as –
- Supply Delays
- Power outages
- Natural disasters
- Fires
- Manufacturing disruptions
- Shift needs
- Workplace violence
- Threats of violence
- IT outages or scheduled maintenance
- Hazardous material spills
Along with customization of communications messages and channels there is another way to improve employee communication is by integrating employee communications software.
The enterprise-grade software enables the companies to pre-record and write messages in the form of templates to use when needed. These customized messages can certainly accelerate communication.
What’s different about integrating software is that they provide reporting and analytical tools to measure the success of messages. Companies can analyze the most preferred channel in order to continue using the same ensuring effective communication.
So, when you know the current effectiveness of the internal communication channel, you can improvise your strategy too.
You can create multiple strategies to communicate, however, there is no guarantee that the strategy would be perfect and will bridge all the communications gaps. But, the right employee communications software, designed and developed by an IT professional services team after complete business evaluation, will surely be able to get close to the needs.
A feature-rich communications software can ensure that the valuable information reaches everyone safely. Transparency is one of the many ways to win employees, which is missing in many organizations. As per the survey by American Psychological Association, 50% of the employees in a company believe that the employer is open with them.
Hence to enhance job satisfaction among employees, employee communications software can truly help.
Optimizing Employee Communication Strategy
Before moving for enterprise software development, you must have a communication strategy optimized.
Empowering Managers
Companies formulating a plan must also encourage top-level staff, such as business leaders, managers & others, to communicate necessary information to the employees below them. Empowering managers by allowing them to communicate with their team as they see fit will help employees absorb the information more effectively.
Know Communication Tools
Eliminate the old methods of communicating. Software is a new way of effective communication hence a must-have tool to set preferences. Understand the use of different communications channels and their capabilities. Tools with social media aggregators are usually an added advantage so, ensure that you have an effective newsfeed or content feed.
Consider all Stakeholders
An effective communications strategy must include everyone. Hence the strategy must be optimized by analyzing the right social media channels, with personalized messages that can be sent during desk time. Companies must also involve the key stakeholders while optimizing the strategy hence, creating an environment that amplifies the voice of every connected member of the company is essential.
Integrate Technology
Health content mix can help companies convey their messages in a sophisticated way. Instead of spending hours searching for them, you must integrate LCMS solutions or content curation tools. You can also get a live streaming feature to distribute content live. Ensure that the feature is simple and intuitive to avoid anyIT consultation services.
Integrate Mobile & Video
Today’s software is developed, keeping customers’ needs in mind. Since users prefer mobile devices and use them for everyday tasks and entertainment purposes, your software must also be easily accessible on handheld devices. To make communication engaging, you can also incorporate videos through which content sharing looks engaging.
Measuring Progress
When looking for a platform, ensure that it has the capability to track key metrics, such as engagement, shares, and views. The deep analysis will help strengthen the effectiveness of strategies while allowing you to use time and energy on crucial tasks.
Features That Makes Employee Communication Software Appropriate
The employee communications software comes with a wide range of features and supports third-party integration. Companies can integrate applications that can help them ease up the communications as well as align with the business goals. However, some common features that an employee communications software have are –
- Interactive Modules
- Newsletters and emails
- Video Messages
- Lock screen alerts
- Mobile push notifications
- Popup alerts
- Digital Signage
- Corporate Screensavers & wallpapers
- Scrolling Desktop tickers
- Chats
- Surveys, polls, and quizzes
- Emergency notifications
How to Choose Right Employee Communications Software?
No company has the same internal communications requirements hence, it makes it difficult for the companies to find the right employee communications software solution.
It is suggested to have a tailor-made solution to fit the needs of the company, allowing easy internal communication. Before getting a tailored solution, ensure you have selected the right company among different software development companies in USA.
Factors to consider when determining the right communication software for your organization are –
- How successfully are you able to communicate?
- What devices do your employees prefer to communicate with?
- How many people seriously consider mails?
- How many employees use the intranet?
- How does your employee want to communicate?
- How do employees feel when communicating with leaders?
- How engaged are your employees? Do they align with company goals, vision, and mission?
- Is it difficult to communicate critical information with employees?
- Can you reach the entire workforce seamlessly, especially during an emergency?
Ask these questions and evaluate the level of satisfaction your employees have with the existing system. These questions will also help you identify whether there is a need for communications software!
Author’s Bio: Alicia works with the editorial team of A3logics, a leading company offering cloud computing consulting services. Exploring the latest technologies, reading about them, and writing her views have always been her passion. She seeks new opportunities to express her opinions, explore technological advancements, and document the details. You can always find her enjoying books or articles about varied topics or jotting down her ideas in a notebook.
