Getting communications right

BY MATT COOKSON

Here we are in 2022 and a third calendar year in which we long for, but do not expect, predictability and normalcy. No longer will temporary or patchwork internal communications methods suffice — strategies and procedures need to be reviewed and revise to address this seismic shift.

Matt Cookson, president and CEO of Cookson Communications, Manchester.

As the remote workplace continues, are you communicating with your employees effectively?

In April 2020, I wrote a piece for NH Business Review on what we might expect for the new normal as of Labor Day 2020. While I got a few predictions right, I also missed the mark on some others. I am not making new predictions, but instead look at the shifting role of internal communications and the role it currently plays in the workforce and the redefined “workplace.”

Looking at some of the themes in the local media at the end of 2021, one that cropped up several times was the number of proposals coming forward to retrofit urban office spaces into apartments. In Manchester alone, four new projects proposing hundreds of new apartments were floated, the largest of which would convert much of the tallest and most notable office building in the state — the Brady Sullivan Plaza — into downtown apartments.

There are four underlying, but important trends associated with this. First, office space per employee is drastically shrinking and reflects the large growth in remote and hybrid working. Second, with corporate vacancy rates on the rise, converting office space to housing helps address the current housing shortage and meager 1 percent vacancy rate. Third, another end-of-the-year headline was that New Hampshire was the 12th fastest-growing state from July 2020 through June 2021 due to in-migration — people want to live here. And fourth, hybrid and remote working are here to stay for numerous economic and quality-of-life reasons.

It’s this last trend that I want to focus on, because it is a critical factor that must be built into how businesses effectively communicate and connect with their employees (and customers/clients) in a more a virtual versus face-to-face environment.

No longer will temporary or patchwork internal communications methods suffice – strategies and procedures need to be reviewed and revise to address this seismic shift.

The McKinsey Global Institute noted in a recent report that employee productivity can be 25 percent higher when employees feel connected. Those casual office drop-ins, hallway exchanges and pre- and post-meeting side conversations create connectivity. So does an ongoing exchange of information from management to employees, and vice versa.

Those exchanges are even more important for those individuals that are new to the workforce and have not learned the nuances of effective teamwork and engagement through sufficient face-to-face engagement. This New Year likely reflects the third year when college graduates and others new to the workforce may be missing out on this type of interaction.

The temporary ways of conducting internal communications put in place nearly two years ago may need to be adjusted and formalized in recognition of the redefined workplace. Here are several suggestions for 2022: • Make sure you have systems to share important news directly with employees first, and they are not finding out on social media or through the grapevine or company rumor mill. • Did you pause or suspend employee recognition programs? If so, develop a virtual model to restart them. • If your company relied on sharing company news in-person, move to an online e-newsletter. Set a regular production schedule and develop ways employees can contribute. Consider video updates from leadership. • Ensure that all employees are getting regular personal check-in calls from their supervisors; for employees who are newer to the workplace, consider a mentor program. • When rolling out new products, services or initiatives, conduct a webinar to share them with your team and involve multiple team members in the presentation. • Consider a stipend and best practices to help employees who work remotely create a quality home-based work environment. • Don’t overschedule meetings – do 20 minutes instead of 30 or 45 minutes instead of an hour to build in breaks and a little downtime. In general, we’re Zoomed out and back-to-back meetings are not sustainable or healthy. • Many of these tasks could be turned into content that can be shared on your social media feeds. They can help demonstrate a positive, proactive corporate culture that could help HR staff with recruiting.

It’s hard to recreate an in-person environment over video, e-mail, Slack or project management software. But these and other tools have become our reality and with a plan and a commitment to internal communications, the effort to do it right will reap rewards for everyone involved.