You put a lot of thought into crafting a strategic [communication plan] (/blog/developing-an-employee-benefits-communication-plan), so make sure you’re reaching your audience through the appropriate employee communication channels.
1. Your goal
One of the first things you should do when developing your communication strategy is set campaign goals. Are you looking to drive a specific action, or are you just looking to raise awareness about a benefit program? Once you have your goals set, you can choose the communication channels that will best help you meet, or exceed, those goals.
If your employee communication channel options are limited, how can you make available channels work for you and your goals? For example, if you’re looking to drive employees to a website but are only able to use a printed piece of communication, make sure employees can easily get to the website including a QR code they can quickly scan or use a vanity URL that is easy to type out.
2. Your audience
Now more than ever, it’s important to take your audience into consideration when determining which employee communication channels will be most effective. Are all of your employees in a corporate setting and sitting (or standing!) at a desk? Or do you have some in a warehouse, retail floor, restaurant or other non-office settings?
If your workforce varies, you’ll want to take this into consideration when choosing the best channels for your communication plan. Some communication channels that work well for corporate employees, such as graphic emails to a company email address, won’t reach all of your intended audience if some employees don’t have a company email address. And relying on managers to cascade information isn’t a guarantee.
Ensure your messaging reaches your intended audience by incorporating multiple employee communication channels. Get creative—do your locations have a radio playing overhead? Consider incorporating a brief radio ad in your communication campaign. If your locations are open to the general public, make sure the ad only runs before or after hours when your employees are the only ones on the floor.
3. Timing
Employees are being communicated to from different departments across various employee communication channels on a regular basis. Make sure your message doesn’t get lost in the workplace communication shuffle. After you’ve crafted your communication plan, take a step back to look at the bigger picture within the company. Are there other things going on in your organization that might distract your audience from noticing your communication?
You also want to think about the time of day your messaging is being released. If you have employees in multiple time zones, consider segmenting your audience. This way you can communicate to each audience at an effective time and not risk sending a message when employees are away from the workplace.
And of course, if you’re including print pieces that are being mailed to employees’ homes, you’ll want to give ample time for these pieces to arrive on schedule. For example, if part of your audience is in Hawaii, it may take longer to reach employees. Keep this in mind to ensure all audiences receive things in a timely manner. This is especially important for time-sensitive campaigns like Open Enrollment.
Need to think about enhancing your internal communication strategy with different employee communication channels? Ask us how we can help.