Sheridanhancockportfolio.files.wordpress.com



Internal Communications for Employee EngagementInternal communication is defined as “The planned use of communication actions to systematically influence the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of current employees” (Tench and Yeomans, 2006). Specifically, internal communication is:Planned – i.e. this is not a haphazard or accidental process.Systematic – i.e. it is a process that applies some science and discipline.About influence – i.e. employees can’t always be forced to do things: they have a choice about what they do and how well they do it so they have to be persuaded.More than ‘telling’ – i.e. although awareness is an essential starting point for any communications campaign, we are also concerned with affecting attitudes and behaviours.(FitzPatrick and Valskov, 2014)Internal communication has many purposes and uses. One of the most prevalent purposes is employee engagement.Within a company, employees are internal stakeholders – they are ‘citizens’ of the organisation. They are arguably the most important stakeholders in a company, because they are the driving force that gets the job done. Ideally, employees should be engaged within the organisation. This means they are actively interested and motivated in their work, as well as feeling like a valued and respected employee. “A set of positive attitudes and behaviours enabling high job performance of a kind which are in tune with the organisation’s mission” (Storey (in MacLeod and Clarke, 2009) Employees who are engaged will have increased job satisfaction, which in turn will create better performance. Engaged employees are less likely to seek out a new job, thus saving the company time and money, as there will be no need to train new employees. “Employee engagement generates better financial performance in the private sector and better outcomes in the public sector.” (MacLeod and Clarke, 2009) Since the term employee engagement was coined by consultancy firm Gallup in 1999 (Endres and Mancheno-Smoak, 2008), there has been an evolution of interest from businesses and knowledge from academics. Welch has conceptualized this evolution in a series of waves. Pre-WaveThe pre-wave era recognized there was a need for employees to engage with their work, but did not use the term employee engagement.Wave 1, 1990-1999Academic work began in the early 1990s on personal engagement (Kahn, 1990, 1992). Kahn (1990) defined personal work engagement as: ‘the harnessing of organizational members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performance.’ Practitioner interest began to spike as Gallup defined employee engagement. It was defined that a fully engaged employee was one who could answer yes to all 12 questions on Gallup’s workplace questionnaire (Buckingham and Coffman, 1999).Wave 2, 2000-2005The second wave saw a spike in practitioner work. Gallup’s questionnaire is referred to as both the Gallup Workplace Audit (GWA) (Harter et al., 2002) and the Q12 employee engagement questionnaire (Harter et al., 2003). Research from dozens of academics followed, as did growing interest from professional bodies. The Institute for Employment Studies (IES) produced a report on employee engagement based on UK research.Wave 3, 2006-2010The third wave saw a surge in academic interest. Saks (2006) notes that employee engagement has had more attention in practitioner literature than academic literature. An example of this came as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, who produced a survey report named “How engaged are British employees?” (CIPD, 2006). It summarises employee engagement as a psychological state, a ‘passion for work’. Two engagement handbooks were published in 2010, focusing on work engagement (Bakker and Leiter, 2010) and employee engagement (Albrecht, 2010).Welch’s wave theory shows us that the idea of what engagement is has changed through time, and is continuing to develop. From this we can see that engagement is the end goal, and internal communication is a means to an end, so to speak.Knowing what employee engagement is and how exactly to engage your employees are two different matters entirely. There are many ways to use internal communication to engage employees, but it all depends on your audience and your brand. A company with a more informal approach, such as a supermarket, will be inclined to address employees in a different way from a more formal company, for example a bank. To fix any potential problems within the company, they first need to be identified. Employee engagement is not a tangible thing – it is difficult to state whether you have improved engagement unless you provide quantifiable proof. Surveys are often a useful way to do this. In fact, according to Gatehouse’s State of the Sector 2016 report, employee engagement surveys are the most frequently used way to measure impact (65% of respondents use them). Providing statements such as “I feel motivated in my job” and “I am encouraged to do my best”, and getting a percentage of agreement, shows where the problems lie with employees. This is what was done in the Metropolitan Police, Kingston Borough when Glenn Tunstall took over as Chief Superintendent. It was found that only 35% of employees felt motivated at work, and 42% were encouraged to do their best. Tunstall then acted on this by putting up a “You said, we did” board in the office, showing the complaints and suggestion of employees, and how they had been implemented. This showed the employees that Tunstall was listening and acting upon what the organisation was being told.Tunstall then went on to use MacLeod and Clarke’s ‘Four Enablers’ model. The Four Enablers are as follows:Strategic NarrativeIt is important to have a common goal and make sure employees feel involved in the achievement of that goal. In the Kingston Borough’s case, that goal was to be the best local police force in the country.Engaging ManagersTunstall personally delivered leadership training to all his managers, a ‘top-down’ style of leadership. However, he also provided motivation from the ‘bottom-up’. A reward and recognition program was introduced, where employees could submit examples of great work and would be personally thanked by Tunstall. Organisational IntegrityPart of the Kingston borough’s vision was to gain the trust, confidence and pride of the community. Tunstall did this by entrusting one officer with the social media operations. Kingston’s Facebook page now has 15,000 likes and widespread awareness, due in part to humorous updates. This has been met with mixed reviews, further discussed later in this essay.Employee VoiceTunstall involved his wider team by letting junior officers sit in on management meetings and making them feel involved in the decision-making process.(Engage for Success Case Study, 2016)The results speak for themselves: 70% of employees now feel motivated at work, and 69% are encouraged to do their best. Engagement scores in the Kingston borough outperform that of the Met ; Kingston have an engagement score of 59%, compared to an average of 42%.Case studies like that of the Kingston borough highlight some best practices when it comes to employee engagement. Tunstall showed his employees the progress being made through the “You said, we did” board. He involved them with meetings and let the employees pose their own ideas. Not only did the employees have suggestions, they could implement those suggestions. If employees feel involved and trusted, it is much more likely they will feel engaged and satisfied in their work.A good practice in employee engagement is to ensure that a formal rewards program is in place for your employees. This can be promoted through posters around the office, emails and the like. It is important to recognise employees when they have gone above and beyond their line of duty, and reward them accordingly. It is also recommended to reward your employees if they have been working for the company for a long time. Some companies have service programmes in place, where an employee receives a reward of some sort once they have been employed for a set number of years – 5, 10, 15 years etc. This increases the longer the employee has worked for the company. It is somewhat irrelevant what the actual reward is, the idea is more about the principle. The employee will feel grateful for the gift, and grateful that they are being shown gratitude for their years of service. Other employees will see and hear about the rewards received, and be reminded if they remain employed by the company in the years to come, they too will be rewarded.A beneficial practice involves having a training and development programme in place. It is important for employees to feel like they can progress and be promoted within the company, otherwise they will seek better opportunities elsewhere. A famous example of a training programme is McDonalds’ Hamburger University – despite the comical name, it is a real programme. Since 1961, over 80,000 managers have graduated from Hamburger University in Illinois. They offer management courses at differing levels, and it is one of the first training programmes to be made by a restaurant chain. In a fast moving industry such as the service industry, McDonalds are committed to keeping their employees on board. If employees feel supported in this way, they will feel more satisfied in their job, and be able to do better work as a result.There are many internal communications techniques to try and stimulate employee engagement. As well as the newer method of social media, the traditional method of face to face communication is always effective. Internal meetings and campaigns could help to engage the employees. Intranet systems, a newer way of communicating with employees, can be used. Internal forums can be hosted online, where employees can ask questions, make comments and offer suggestions. A key part of employee engagement within internal communication is to make employees feel like their input is valued and important. If someone doesn’t feel this way, they simply won’t contribute. A growing practice when it comes to employee engagement within internal communication is the use of social media. Companies have been attempting to become social with their employees since the Internet became popular, through company based intranet systems and the like. In the present day, however, social media is an enormous influence on the way people communicate. Therefore, it makes sense for companies to try and stay on trend to capture their employees’ attention. There are many different uses for social media in internal communications, including:Engaging employees in a fun wayReaching younger staffGetting employees actively involvedProviding a useful feedback toolEncouraging collaborative working on projectsKnowledge sharingSupplementing/replacing long-distance meetingsDemonstrating new scheme/products/services(Smith and Mounter, 2008)Some companies, such as Morrisons, have their own private Facebook groups, where employees can ask questions and provide suggestions. (NB: Author is a Morrisons employee) Employees must be added to the group by a Head Office employee, thus keeping the group exclusive to those who work for the company. The group is used by head office to provide information about upcoming events and fundraise for charity among other things. Hashtags are also widely used to communicate. Head office post weekly in the group using the hashtag #thankyou. They provide a description of a few colleagues who have provided great customer service that week, and there is a poll for employees to vote for their favourite story. When the group is used for positive stories like this, it is a fantastic tool to motivate and engage employees.However, it should be noted that the group is often used when employees wish to vent or complain about the company. The Facebook group could be regarded as somewhat successful in engaging employees, as employees are regularly praised and thanked for their hard work. Alternatively, when employees have low morale and belief in the company, and share this belief, it lowers the mood and could be lowering engagement levels.Previously in this essay, the Kingston borough of the Metropolitan Police was used as a case study. The borough’s social media was entrusted to one officer by Chief Superintendent Glenn Tunstall. The often humorous posts on Twitter and Facebook soon went viral. A prime example happened in January 2017, when the borough tweeted a suspected burglar. The tweet featured a photo of the accused and a letter to her, alongside the caption “Please stop ignoring us Tracey…” The attached note included the following: “We have a slight suspicion that you might be blanking us #Awkward. You don’t text, you don’t call back and haven’t accepted our friend request”, accompanied by a sad emoji. The tweet was covered by news organisations such as BBC News, and was praised by Met Police commander Nick Downing as “very innovative”. Other people thought it was unprofessional and were left unimpressed by the comedic tone of the letter.While the tweet was posted for an external audience, it also served an internal purpose. Tunstall giving the responsibility of handling social media to an officer meant that that officer would be invested in what the Twitter/Facebook accounts produced. Humorous posts like these stimulate conversation, both within the company and outside of it.Another problem with social media is that people are prone to misusing it. There are countless cases of an employee complaining about their job or their manager, only for said manager to see it and for the employee to lose their job. Instances like this remind us that in this day and age, nothing we share online is truly private. Unprofessional conduct like this could perhaps make companies wary of trying to use social media in an internal context.It’s not just people complaining about their jobs on social media that gets them into hot water – unprofessional conduct of any kind is enough to make you lose your job. For example, a woman in Houston lost her job at a hospital after she posted on Facebook regarding the protests that happened in Ferguson, Missouri in 2015. The woman said of the protesters, “The police need to just start mowing them down with machine guns, purge them.” There are a number of challenges when it comes to engaging employees through internal communications. A lack of line manager communication skills was cited as the most common barrier in the State of the Sector Report (2016), with 59% of responses. Employees can struggle to feel motivated at work if their manager is sharp to them, or is vague about their expectations of the workforce. Training for line managers would be a good way to solve this problem. Lack of involvement in strategic decisions was also cited as a barrier to IC being a success. This was previously discussed in the Kingston Police Force case study, where it was shown that involving lower-level employees in decision making positively impacts engagement levels.A key problem with employee engagement is that no matter what methods are used to try and reach an employee, some people just won’t be interested – they are actively disengaged. This is more likely to happen with younger employees, or in lines of work where there is a high rate of staff turnover. In the future, it is likely that social media will continue to be used to try and engage employees. Perhaps as technology develops, internal communications will develop alongside. We can already see an example of technology developing jobs at Tesco. Staff are encouraged to download an app specifically for staff. In this app, they can scan products for customers and provide information on availability and the product’s exact location in the store. Tesco CIO Mike McNamara said, “…The app provides colleagues with up-to-date information on product availability, so they don’t have to go to the store room to for more products. That means we don’t leave customer waiting on the shop floor while we check if we’ve got stock in the back. It also provides the exact location of all products in store, so we can help customers find what they need faster and gives helpful prompts on promotions and offers that might interest customers." (Retail Innovation, 2013)While the app’s purpose is not directly related to employee engagement, it helps to make employees’ jobs easier, and serve customers better. Tesco has made a notable effort to help the shop floor employees out, and when employees have the company’s support in such a way, it can lead to higher levels of job satisfaction and support. Smartphones are widely used by the workforce of the UK in 2017, so it would make sense for companies to try and latch on with apps and specialised services.In conclusion, internal communications for employee engagement has many facets. In this ever-changing world, the best way to engage your employees is always evolving. One thing, however, remains the same; engaged employees are a valuable asset to any organisation.BibliographyBates, S. (2017).?Getting Engaged. [online] SHRM. Available at: [Accessed 3 May 2017].BBC News. (2017).?#Awkward Kingston Police burglary letter gets mixed response - BBC News. [online] Available at: [Accessed 6 May 2017].Benito, M. (2014).?Facebook post about Ferguson leads to firing. [online] KHOU. Available at: [Accessed 7 May 2017].FitzPatrick, L., Valskov, K. and Mounter, P. (2014).?Internal communications. 1st ed. London: Kogan Page.Halper, K. (2015).?17 Most Offensive Social Media Fails. [online] Rolling Stone. Available at: [Accessed 7 May 2017].Kruse, K. (2017).?Why Employee Engagement? (These 28 Research Studies Prove the Benefits). [online] . Available at: [Accessed 3 May 2017].MacLeod, D. and Brady, C. (2008).?The Extra Mile, How to Engage Your People to Win. 1st ed. Harlow.Metropolitan Police Case Study. (2016). 1st ed. [ebook] Engage for Success. Available at: [Accessed 6 May 2017].Miller, H. (2014).?The 10 Best Practices for Enhanced Employee Engagement. 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: [Accessed 7 May 2017].Retail Innovation. (2013).?Tesco new app for store colleagues. [online] Available at: [Accessed 7 May 2017].Ruck, K. (2015).?Exploring Internal Communication. 3rd ed. Gower.Smith, L. and Mounter, P. (2008).?Effective Internal Communication. 2nd ed. Kogan Page Limited.Smith, L. and Wright, S. (2017).?State of the Sector. 1st ed. [ebook] Gatehouse. Available at: [Accessed 7 May 2017].Smythe, J. (2011).?The CEO. 1st ed. Aldershot: Gower.Tench, R. and Yeomans, L. (2006).?Exploring Public Relations. 1st ed. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download