Anna Maria Richards
Turnover is one of the most costly issues that businesses face today. Finding a qualified substitute for a professional costs around one-third of their income. This does not include lost productivity as a result of training and onboarding.
Companies in all industries, understandably, are seeking strategies to reduce turnover. They all seem to agree on one thing: one of the primary causes is a lack of participation. The objective is to keep that switch from ever turning on. To stay on board, your employees must buy in.
Why aren’t employees enthusiastic about their jobs? Employee dissatisfaction is frequently attributed to a lack of effective internal communication.
When Internal Communication Fails, What Happens?
Today’s businesses are riddled with interdepartmental silos. There are numerous variables that contribute to silos, but the majority of them may be addressed with the use of an effective communication strategy and internal communication tools.
Employees who aren’t interested or involved are more likely to disconnect. Other opportunities become more appealing as a result of this. Consider being the CEO of a company that has recently acquired a significant new customer. Others will feel as though they don’t matter enough to be informed if just your sales team is aware of it. The chasm is understandable.
Furthermore, a lack of internal communications capabilities means that your teams will be unable to create collaborative work environments. According to one survey, more than a third of workers believe they are not given enough opportunities to collaborate. As you try to establish a consistent and retention-oriented workplace culture, this leads to isolation and a lack of connection, which can be disastrous.
To put it another way, effective communication is one of the most important techniques for increasing employee retention. You risk losing your teams’ hearts and minds — and, ultimately, your teams themselves – if you don’t have it. As a result, improving internal communication should be a top priority for your internal marketing and HR management.
Employee Retention Using HR Communication Techniques
Creating an open discourse climate in the workplace is critical for attracting and keeping top-tier talent. Effective leadership includes listening to inquiries, resolving problems, providing feedback, and adopting solutions, all of which are prerequisites for high-quality performance and staff retention.
According to The Office Club’s business gurus, emphasizing communication allows employees to “feel valued, happy, and inspired,” which boosts morale and productivity.
This collaborative workplace culture is also useful to management since, as The Office Club points out, it “assists your business by resolving challenges that may emerge.” It’s a win-win situation since open communication keeps you informed while also making others feel connected and accountable.”
Here are some practical techniques to make communication a standard in your corporate culture, which can enhance morale and staff retention.
Combine Knowledge And Creativity
Through a combination of critical information and creative thoughts, empower your workers to both absorb and implement the message you’re expressing. The goal is to keep your staff informed about critical projects and advancements while also demonstrating to them that they are valuable contributors to the project’s growth, success, and profitability.
Combining project launches with a recap of the most recent successful one, for example, can energize everyone while they explore ways to make the next one even better.
Exercising Active Body Language
Remember that when asserting oneself to others, words aren’t the only aspect to consider; delivery is also important. Employees’ perceptions of your message can be influenced by nonverbal clues such as tone, attitude, gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions. According to Office Body Language: How to Communicate Effectively, nonverbal cues communicate 60 to 93 percent of your message.
Crossing your arms, taking a wide posture, or thrusting your chin out all suggest anger and should be avoided. Instead, as a display of respect and understanding, subtly emulate their posture and motions.
Maintain a Healthy Balance of Speaking And Listening Skills
Communication is one of the essential ingredients for employee retention, but it has to be done well. Having a proper balance between speaking and listening skills is what’s needed for true engagement. By taking a proactive approach and understanding everyone’s point of view in a workplace, HR can help minimise problems before they even start. Maintaining that balance allows for the HR team to provide their employees with effective communication opportunities. It also sets the right tone when discussing any potential value conflicts in the workplace. Check What value conflict in the workplace is and its importance explained here.
Consider each discussion to be a reciprocal exchange of ideas in which both parties are given the room and freedom to express themselves without being interrupted. Because dialogue requires two individuals to participate, resist the impulse to dominate the conversation or plan your response while the other person is speaking.
Make sure you spend just as much time and effort listening as you do talking. This should be the rule for everyone in the organization, both upper-level executives and lower-level workers.
Employers begin preparing for the forthcoming tax season when the fall season ends and the winter season begins. The pay stub is a question that many businesses and HR directors are asked each year. That is the season that these skills are needed to make every explanation and to be transparent between one and other.
Weekly Brainstorming Sessions Are a Must
Invite all members of your department’s staff to meetings where they can express their views in a productive setting. To save time and space, divide this up by department if you have a large organization.
Plan to host an open forum once a month or once a quarter, so that everyone gets an opportunity to speak up when their finest ideas strike, and maintain it free of rules:
“A true brainstorming session is a “anything goes” platform where participants can throw forth any ideas, no matter how crazy or odd they may appear. “Brainstorming may yield some fantastic answers since there are no limits about what can be put on the table,” says Sheevaun Moran, a business adviser and master coach.
Sending Out Reminders And Newsletters
A follow-up note delivered to each participant reinforces the key themes of an important debate, giving them an overview to pursue anytime they need it. Because some employees process information more visually than others, this guarantees that both forms of comprehension are considered. If you’re concerned about efficiency, keep your writing brief and easy to reference.
When used effectively and positively, communication may become an essential component of a company’s long-term success. Maintain open lines of communication; the extra work will pay off when your top staff are invested in the company’s success.
Communication is the foundation of everything. Ultimately, the majority (if not all) of issues that lead to your staff leaving stem from a failure to communicate with them. Strategies like the ones listed above can assist you in getting started. At the same time, without the correct instruments, success is unattainable.
