How Employers Can Combat COVID-19 Communication Fatigue
Two key approaches
Posted on 09-03-2020, Read Time: Min
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It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented change to organizations – including both the move to a remote workforce for many companies, as well as an overnight digital transformation. While this has certainly made for key struggles across the economy, there are also pleasant surprises; some businesses are finding that with good working habits, remote employees are actually more productive in this digital landscape than they were pre-pandemic. Many businesses and employees are adapting faster than they ever thought possible – I was speaking to a CHRO recently, who said he never thought his company would support a work-from-home policy, but due to the pandemic they implemented it in just 48 hours. Now, he’s saying it’ll likely stick in some form.
One of the core components of this new digital workplace is internal communications. This remote environment has pushed enterprises to quickly implement several communications-related improvements, including:
- More transparency from leaders. Many executive and c-suite leaders now address their employees regularly, such as in weekly updates.
- New ways to digitally connect. Employees are making more use of social channels like Slack or Microsoft Teams to communicate on a peer-to-peer level, creating what is essentially a virtual watercooler.
- Shorter, more frequent meetings. At Microsoft, they’ve found an increase in overall number of meetings, but a decrease in length of those meetings – a more productive approach to meetings that will likely stick around for the longer term.
- Faster communications and updates. Especially in times of crisis, the ability to keep your workforce up to date on global news as well as company changes has never been more valuable.
However, as part of this change and evolution, it’s clear that the use of digital communications is increasing exponentially. According to an infobrief released by IDC prior to the pandemic, employees at U.S. companies were receiving 576 billion emails per year, and it has only become worse in this new era. Microsoft has found a significant rise in instant messaging use during the pandemic, with 110% more messages sent from managers, and 50% more messages sent from employees. This increase, along with the use of online collaboration tools spiking as much as 943% in recent months, it’s safe to say this trend isn’t going away.
It’s easy to understand, then, that employees are feeling the effects of this extreme increase in communications. “Zoom fatigue,” is one example, becoming a common term after the platform saw an increase of up to 200 million users daily in March. While these new and existing communication tools have certainly helped organizations in their efforts to connect and drive productivity within a newly remote workforce, communication fatigue has emerged as a new obstacle.
However, even in such a noisy, overloaded environment, we still need to manage the growing list of priorities businesses are facing today: Handling the effects of COVID-19 on our organizations, aligning employees with evolving business strategies, and continuing to maintain company culture. On top of this, our core HR programs must still go on – onboarding, Open Enrollment, wellness programs, performance management, total rewards, compensation, HRIS implementations, and more. In the middle of all of this complexity, one thing is a clear common denominator – effective communication experiences will be critical to the success of any initiative.
Without successful communications, we won’t be able to drive the business outcomes we need, which are only achievable through employee buy-in. So, how can we combat communication fatigue and ensure our messages get through and drive these important programs? As it remains unlikely that we can reduce the number of vital programs, we’ll need to make our communications more strategic and effective. Here are two key approaches to reducing employee communication fatigue:
1. Create Targeted, Relevant Communications
Most communications today focus on simply hitting “send” – delivering information, but not necessarily focused on getting through to the intended audience. The result is many one-size-fits-all communications that flood employees with so much non-relevant information that they start to disengage. Prior to the pandemic, IDC reported that 34 billion email messages were going straight to trash annually – and it’s likely only gotten worse. And, if there’s a lack of engagement with the first message, another will inevitably be sent, creating a terrible cycle of more and more messages.
To combat this, it’s crucial to adopt a strategy that acknowledges the diverse employee population you’re engaging with. This means, essentially, that different groups will require different targeted approaches for your message to feel make it relevant and engaging. Here are a few ways to achieve this:
To combat this, it’s crucial to adopt a strategy that acknowledges the diverse employee population you’re engaging with. This means, essentially, that different groups will require different targeted approaches for your message to feel make it relevant and engaging. Here are a few ways to achieve this:
- Personalize your message – Use tone, style, and even employee names and data to make your communications tailored to the employee, making it much more likely that they’ll absorb and engage with what you’re saying.
- Target your communications – Align your messaging with the groups of employees who most need the information. Think about your communications from a location-specific, team-specific, or department-specific point of view, and strategize accordingly.
- Meet employees where they are – The best way to reach an audience is through a channel they already use, especially when the message is time-sensitive. Gartner recently found that more and more people prefer texting for urgent communications – including in the workplace – with text open rates reaching 98%, versus an open rate of 20% with emails.
- Measure your results – Your employees are the best source of information as to what is and isn’t working with your communications. Use data to understand both engagement and sentiment so that you can sharpen and iterate your strategy as you go.
2. More Engaging, Consumer-like Experiences
With this sudden lack of work-life balance, employers are competing for attention not just with other workplace communications, but with Instagram, Facebook, and other social platforms. In other words, employees live in an environment where content is always readily available. To keep up, workplace communications need to employ a consumer-grade perspective to increase engagement, ultimately helping your audience to internalize key ideas and drive the outcomes you’re looking for. Follow these strategies for your communication experience:
- Organize your message into short, clear ideas – Your communication experience should be easily digestible; your employees are likely not interested in watching a “kitchen sink” video or reading a paragraphs-long email.
- Put the focus on your audience – Design communication journeys and experiences with your employees’ point of view in mind. By understanding what’s most important to them, you’re more likely to capture their attention.
- Structure a multimedia campaign – Structure your communication experience to carry your messaging over a strategic period of time, using different elements and media (e.g. videos, infographics, interactive storytelling) to truly engage your viewers.
As companies continue to deal with the complexities of COVID-19, and figure out how to operate in this new era, communication becomes truly imperative to keep the workforce aligned and productive. An effective communication experience will serve to strengthen the impact of any initiative or core program you need to implement, opening the door for the employee buy-in you need to drive your most crucial programs toward success – all while helping to reduce the communication fatigue that you and your employees are experiencing more and more each day.
Author Bio
| Keith Kitani is the CEO and Co-founder of GuideSpark, and brings over 20 years of digital communications and eLearning expertise to creating, building and leading GuideSpark as it transforms workplace communications. Visit www.guidespark.com Connect Keith Kitani |
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