Effective Communication Strategies for Employee Relationship Management

Posted on 11 October 2024
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Good communication is vital to creating a positive workplace culture, improving employee engagement, and enhancing your employer brand. Look at any successful, thriving organisation and you will likely find an effective communication strategy that supports strong employee relationship management, helping to develop and maintain long-term employee relations, attract and retain the best talent, and cultivate an open company culture where staff are motivated and feel heard.

Communications Planning

Effective communication planning is critical because “it sets out a clear, consistent way for employees to receive important updates, understand company goals, and feel connected to the broader mission”, says Alex Ugarte, operations manager of London Office Space. “When employees are properly informed and feel included, it strengthens their engagement. This is essential for maintaining high morale and trust within teams. It also directly influences the employer brand—clear internal comms reflects a well-organised, transparent company. Employees who are engaged and aligned with the company’s goals often become organic brand ambassadors, further bolstering the company’s external reputation.”

A 2022 report by PR consultancy ITPR found that 88% of UK businesses agreed that internal communications is important to employee morale and 84% said it is key to employee wellbeing. Yet while 72% have an internal comms strategy, less than a quarter act on any information gathered.

It’s therefore important that your internal comms strategy is planned, managed and delivered successfully; and the role that line managers and leaders play in this process is critical.

“Leaders and managers are the primary conduits for any communication strategy,” remarks Jess Munday, co-founder and people & culture manager at Custom Neon. “Their support is necessary because they set the standard for honesty and participation in their teams. A leader’s dedication to transparency and alignment is demonstrated when they actively participate in communication initiatives, which strengthens trust and raises spirits inside the company.”

Alex Ugarte agrees, adding that as line managers act as the bridge between leadership and employees, their communication style and frequency will directly impact how engaged their teams are.

Line managers are on the front lines of communication—they translate company-wide messages into actionable insights for their teams and ensure that feedback from employees is passed up to leadership. Managers set the tone for how information is received and acted upon. Leadership, on the other hand, needs to lead by example by promoting transparency and two-way communication. If leadership consistently communicates openly and encourages input, it reinforces a culture of trust and openness throughout the organisation.”

HR’s role in successful communication

It goes without saying that HR also plays an important role in successfully managing internal communications to ensure strong employee relationships are maintained long term.

How a message is delivered therefore requires careful thought, says Kate Palmer, employment services director at Peninsula UK. “It may be that a posting on the company intranet is appropriate if it is something that everyone within the organisation needs to know about. For other updates, it may be more appropriate for it to come straight from the employee’s manager verbally, or an email direct to the employee so there is a paper trail. There are various methods open to HR and which one is chosen will likely depend on the message and what is appropriate in those circumstances.”

When communicating any important adjustments, developments or challenges, honesty and clarity is key, says Jess Munday. “Management and staff get along better and are more trusting when there is transparency. Employers must try to explain not only the ‘what,’ but also the ‘why’ of choices and changes made within the company.”

She adds: “Feedback channels must be set up so that employees can express their opinions, concerns, and criticisms without fear of repercussions. This can include regular surveys, suggestion boxes, and open-door policies with leadership. It is important to confirm that employee input leads to observable enhancements, to prove the worth of these channels.”

HR should also partner closely with individual managers, to ensure that the internal comms messaging and mode of delivery supports employee engagement, advises Alex Ugarte. “Those leaders embedded within teams, observing and guiding operations day in, day out, will be best able to gauge communication effectiveness, as well as provide feedback on its alignment with company values.”

Learn more: Is Internal Communications a Marketing or HR Responsibility?

The support of HR tech

Powerful HR tools can streamline, automate and centralise organisational communication, which saves time for HR and makes life easier for everyone.

Automation

“Without the need for human participation, this technology can automatically schedule and distribute updates on corporate policy, benefit changes, and other important information, guaranteeing consistency and compliance,” explains Jess Munday. 

“HR can boost message efficiency and reception by refining strategies with the use of these platforms, which can offer analytics on how employees interact with the content. This helps create a consistent employer brand that appeals to both present and future workers, in addition to ensuring that staff members are knowledgeable.”

Ease-of-use

Using centralised platforms also enables employees to have easy access to important information, such as handbooks, resources and event announcements. adds Alex Ugarte. “Make sure to set up regular feedback loops with employees, too, like pulse surveys or one-on-one check-ins, to ensure employees feel adequately heard and supported.”

Hollie Mann, HR consultant at ReThink HR, says that HR tech enables communications to be tailored and personalised, with the ability to specify a target audience such as a particular department, or to create a video specific to an employee’s onboarding journey.

 Integrations

“While these communication hubs often become a central source of information and connection for employees, it’s also possible to integrate with the business’ preferred messaging app, such as Slack or Teams, enabling an automated and wider distribution of communication,” she adds. 

“Workflows are also a key tool for communication within an HRIS and can really offer the full advantages of automation. For example, when adding a promotion or salary review to an employee’s record, this could then trigger the generation of a personalised letter pulling the correct data from the system, which is then sent through the relevant approval flow and signature process and delivered to the employee. This really helps to reduce HR admin time and speed up the process, delivering an improved experience for employees.”

Ultimately, effective communication strategies are central to successful employee relationship management. 

By fostering a culture of clear, honest and transparent two-way communication, employees will feel valued, empowered and heard – which can then contribute to the organisation’s overall success.

“To keep employees engaged while also maintaining a strong employer brand, leaders need to create a comms culture that prioritises transparency and feedback,” comments Alex Ugarte. “When employees feel informed and included in company goals and developments, they’re more likely to stay motivated and loyal.”

With seamless integration, an intuitive interface, and automation that has generated incredible time savings for clients, the xcd people platform has proved to be the perfect HR solution for many organisations looking to invest in their people and wider business strategy. 

Discover more about the platform’ key features and benefits.