Keeping pace with change in the marketplace can be difficult for many companies as they often need to modify products, process and procedures to accommodate the change required. Making the organizational changes needed to respond to the market place includes communicating with employees.
The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations will be extended to all UK companies employing more than 50 people from 6th April 2008. These regulations give employees the right, in most cases, to request that their employer sets up or changes arrangements to inform and consult them about issues in the organisation for which they work. Given the rapid pace of change this may require several consultations in a short space of time as employees will expect it.
Those companies well versed in employee consultation and communications know the value of rapidly bringing employees up to speed with changes in the marketplace and the impact this will have. Employees in these companies learn quickly that a new product is to be launched or a new process is to be used and are educated as to how this affects them. The effect is that change is implemented more quickly because there is greater understanding of it and less resistance to it.
Information technology helps ensure that such rapid communication takes place but it is note a stand alone solution. E mails, electronic memos or on-line technical manuals are often used to update and educate employees, but they are often difficult to understand because they are written using legalistic language, contain too much jargon or are difficult to read, and employees switch off very quickly
Mike Healy, a Fellow of the CIPD, argues that employee communication can learn from the advertising techniques employed in the television industry. He says When dealing with large groups of people, especially in geographically dispersed organizations, it is important to send out clear messages that are easily understood. So many corporate communications are written in a way that keep the organization legally protected, but often the message is lost as a result. TV advertising focuses on delivering the message in an interesting and creative way. Often very little reading is required because graphics and sound require little effort from the consumer and the message gets through very quickly.
His organization, WiseUpAtWork, has developed a low cost on-line approach to rapidly update employees about the changes going on around them. He says Our Cognito programmes are very simple, very short and very creative. They respond to the rapid/mass education and communication needs of companies who are managing change. Clever use of simple graphics, sound and plain language is the secret behind the success Cognito has in making complex ideas easier to understand. You can view free Cognito programmes at www.wiseupatwork.com to see for yourselves
Responding to concerns that creating bespoke programmes can be very expensive he adds. The internet has created a culture and expectation for information to be provided in short, fast downloads that people can digest and then get on with the rest of their day. These short, fast downloads can be created very cost effectively using rapid development tools and can be hosted cheaply on a company's network or by an external host for all employees to view.
Given the need for rapid response to change and the need to share information with employees, the combined used of information technology, rapid development tools and creative ideas would appear to be a very powerful method of ensuring employers keep employees up to speed with change.
Mike Healy is Director of WiseUpAtWork (www.wiseupatwork.com) He can be contacted at: mikehealy@wiseupatwork.com or telephone 0845 643 2649
Employers Get Your Message To Employees - FAST
Keeping pace with change in the marketplace can be difficult for many companies as they often need to modify products, process and procedures to accommodate the change required
