Getting Employees to Participate in the Conversation

In Marketing 101, every marketer learns the four “Ps”:  Product, Price, Place and Promotion. And they learn how putting together the right combination of these can yield optimum sales results. Recently, I read an article about how marketers can better engage customers using a fifth “P”:  Participation. The idea is that customers who participate in dialog with a company have more trust, better engagement, preference, word of mouth and brand loyalty to that company.

Can this same principle be applied to HR communications? Absolutely! This is about getting your employees engaged and interacting with the company to benefit BOTH the employee and the company.

Companies that get their employees to participate in “corporate conversations” are going to be more likely to have happier, more engaged and more productive employees than those who are not. There is a wide range of vehicles that allow for two-way conversation, including social media, meetings, events and other two-way communications.

Consider the possibilities:

• A benefits manager is frustrated by low response to a new healthcare alternative that the company thought would be popular. When the manager is researching options for the following year’s benefits, he brings together a small, inter-departmental focus group to help him understand why the employees didn’t enroll for the new benefit. With their input, the benefit is changed. The employees in the focus group spread the word on how this new addition will benefit employees. As a result, the enrollment for the newly-changed benefit is widely embraced and used by employees.

• A company lost a major account. Rumors are circulating. Employees are worried that layoffs are eminent. Productivity declines. Employees are spending increasing amounts of time speculating what could happen to their jobs and the company. To counteract this, the management team takes two steps: Senior management attends department meetings and apprises them of the situation – a need for increased productivity and cost cutting measures, and asks employees to submit ideas. The company starts an internal blog, giving updates on key successes and progress against goals. Suggestions are submitted and the company adopts the ones that make sense. Productivity returns. Hallway conversations are now generating new ideas.

Introducing a "conversation" with your employees can bring some welcome results. What have you tried to get your employees to participate in the conversation? What were your results? Share some ideas that have worked for you.