During the last 18 months, businesses have been through significant change, particularly in response to the turbulent economic times.

While many HR functions work in conjunction with internal communications teams, HR professionals still need to use their communications skills daily. For example managing the communication around hiring new employees, training and development, communicating HR strategy to key stakeholders or communicating business transformation initiatives to the employee base. Communications skills are surely a key competency of any HR practitioner? It seems, however, that these skills are often overlooked and taken for granted. How often during an interview process or an annual appraisal, for example, are communication skills examined in detail?

In recent months, communication skills have been put to the test with the vast amount of business change; often with disappointing Results. Managing the message poorly can have a severely detrimental impact on employee engagement.

The importance of two way communication should not be underestimated.

Paul Myrlea, head of press and media relations, BBC:

“More than ever, we are talking about engaging staff to deliver more and better – and after the credit crunch, in some cases with less. To do this, we need to have a dialogue, to listen and to work together.”

This sentiment is supported by CIPD research that finds that having the opportunity to feedback to the business and feeling well informed about what is happening in an organisation are vital to improving the psychological contract between the business and employee. Effective communication which fosters a culture of employee engagement can lead to improved productivity, increased profitability, an improved employer brand and reduced levels of attrition.

 Phil Smith, CEO, Cisco UK & Ireland:

“I believe strong internal communication is key to any leading organisation and the number one skill leaders need to have to be successful today and in the future. The associated Benefits range from strong employee engagement right though to the message stakeholders receive in the marketplace.”

While many HR professionals would no doubt be concerned if Challenged about their communications skills, I am sure that, on further examination, room for improvement could be identified. The CIPD Autumn 2009 Employee Outlook Survey supports this view as less than 50% of the 2000 respondents felt either “fully” or “fairly” well informed about what was happening in the organisations.

So what Lessons can we learn about effective communications practices? Clearly, this is a highly involved area with many aspects to consider but here are a few tips:

1. Understand your audience

The method and content of communicating to an employee on a production line will differ from the way in which you communicate to the finance director.

Katie Deeble, Downstream-One Integrated Stakeholder Communications, Shell International:

“Internal communication has a lot in common with the principles of marketing. It’s about segmenting audiences, finding ‘selling points’ that resonate and address the issues and questions, and delivering communication in a way that grabs people’s interest and attention among everything else they see and hear. You’re often asking employees to ‘buy-in’ to a corporate strategy after all.” 

2. Be consistent and act as an ambassador for your message. The message and sentiment you communicate to the business should be upheld rather than voicing differing opinions to your colleagues.

3. Communicate the good news as well as the bad. A focus on the positives will enhance employee engagement.

4. Deliver your message through a variety of channels. We all respond differently with some preferring a verbal communication above a written one. The advent of social media has also added another channel which may suit some employees more than traditional email or intranet led communication.

5. Don’t forget that you may have had time to assimilate the news you need to communicate. Do not under estimate the impact of how the news may be received by employees who are hearing about it for the first time. Discontinuing private healthcare for your employees, for example, may not be a key consideration for you but it could be vital for someone else.

6. Do not overcomplicate written material. Try to use the active rather than passive voice. It tends to be more direct, less formal and more appealing to the reader. For example: “I heard it through the grapevine”, in the passive voice would be: “It was heard through the grapevine by me” – not very catchy.

7. Encourage an environment of open communication and feedback. Employees should be encouraged to provide their opinion and to feel that their ideas are valued, their concerns listened to and their questions addressed.

(Source: VMA Enhance, specialists in communication development for HR professionals)

VMA Enhance is the professional development arm of VMA Interim performers. In conjunction with Jenny Nabben former head of internal communications for HSBC, we are running a series of workshops around “Managing the Message.” For further information please go to http://www.vmagroup.com/professional_development/index.php.

For a style guide on effective written communication, please contact Emma Flaherty at eflaherty@interimperformers.com.