Live coverage from Ragan’s Employee Experience Conference.
“Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edge,” a line from the 1982 track “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, is more relevant to communicators during times of change than they might realize, Daviera Powell, musical connoisseur and director of strategic internal communications at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said during Ragan’s Employee Experience Conference Tuesday.
When employees feel when they don’t have clarity during a major organizational change they are left fighting, well, to not go over the proverbial edge and spiral into disarray.
“Poor communication is going to complicate every single thing,” Powell said. “It’s going to breed chaos. Communicators must over-explain again and again using very plain language.”
Here’s how to develop and integrate a framework that will foster trust and put a stop to unwanted confusion during change.
Empower employees with information
Start by defining your objective. What is the goal of the change? Once this is defined, provide employees with as much information as possible by tailoring your messages at every stage. Be absolutely clear with all forms of messaging, Powell said.
This includes emails, town halls, surveys, and in-person or video chats. It’s crucial to use simple language. The more plainly you can explain the message, the easier it will be for employees to soak it in, Powell said.
“You want to eliminate confusion,” she said. “Eliminating confusion helps build employee confidence and takes away the guesswork.”
It’s equally important to go beyond what changes are being made and share why they’re being made. This gives the context and helps foster trust, Powell said.
Actively listen and open a dialogue
Sentiment can fluctuate wildly after change, Powell said. Go beyond hearing and work to actually understand employee emotions and concerns.
The messaging shouldn’t be a one-way street. It is critical to actively listen to feedback.
“Feedback loops aren’t optional,” Powell said. “We want employees to speak up otherwise communication feels one-sided.”
When employees are invited into the dialogue, they feel valued, heard and are less likely to walk away scratching their heads or feeling concerned.
For instance, when the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society appointed a new CEO, employees had an opportunity to submit questions about the restructure through a survey. The communications team helped prepare the CEO to address those questions before a live town hall with a Q&A session. Once the town hall concluded, the organization updated its FAQ document on its intranet to address lingering concerns. Then it continuously addressed employee sentiment using informal channels as well as an anonymous platform.
“Don’t let your efforts feel like repeated mistakes without genuine engagement,” Powell said. “Again, use empathy when you’re listening to feedback and make sure you’re closing the feedback loop by actively listening.”
Recalibrate culture for recovery
Once comms teams have laid the message out clearly, opened a dialogue and provided feedback, monitoring company culture is imperative.
“Change disrupts culture,” Powell said. “This can cause an erosion of trust.”
After a major change, it is up to comms teams to intentionally shape the post-change environment, she said.
“At this point, you have to shift the message from ‘what happened?’ to ‘where are we going?’” Powell said.
To do this, celebrate the positives of the change. What are the wins? What is the impact? Highlight progress to build momentum, including highlighting individual employee successes. It’s important that employees understand how this change helped them be successful too, Powell said.
But be careful not to be overly positive, which can perpetuate a sense of disingenuous praise, she added.
From here, foster resilience and adaptability. Promote new norms and reaffirm why the change mattered and helped improve overall operations.
Then continue to sustain recovery through ongoing and transparent communication, Powell said.
“This framework paired with strong communication will help retain talent as well as (employees’) job to their mission,” she said.
Courtney Blackann is a communications reporter. Connect with her on LinkedIn or email her at courtneyb@ragan.com.
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