HR Guide Through Internal Communication in 2019

The profession of HR management has also been greatly impacted by technology. This continued impact was both indirect, in forcing the profession to adapt to the changing circumstances of the workforce in general, and direct, with technological advances that have greatly simplified a number of responsibilities of HR managers, but also placed brand new challenges before them.

The emergence of remote teams and the workforce’s general reliance on modern technology has increased the importance of internal communication in the contemporary workplace. With the physical aspect of a shared workspace growing smaller in importance by the year, healthy and effective internal communication and the creation of a quality employee experience become more and more crucial to the well-being of a collective.

The line between HR management and internal communications is becoming increasingly blurred. These responsibilities vary between companies - some have specialized teams for internal and external communications, others have dedicated communicators within their HR department, while some don’t have designated communication roles at all.

Regardless of the organizational structure, HR managers are expected to take a greater role in defining and communicating company culture and the development of engaged and motivated employees.

Over the following lines, we will analyze some of the key functions of present-day HR managers where communications and technology play a vital part.

*Healthy and effective internal communication, as well as the creation of a quality employee experience has become crucial in the modern work environment.*

Talent acquisition

While recruitment has been the responsibility of HR managers in a previous era, just as it is today, the very nature of recruitment has gone through a dramatic shift. Through the emergence of various professional platforms and the power of analytics, recruitment of today is less about identifying suitable candidates and more about convincing them of your own suitability as an employer.

Today’s recruiter is a marketeer. HR managers should play a vital part in developing and communicating a strong and positive company culture. This culture should be reflected in all visible aspects of the company’s workings, from its messages to the broader public to its internal communication.

HR managers are responsible for defining, formulating, and relaying shared values that are both clear and relevant to the employees. This requires a comprehensive effort to create satisfied employees who will, in turn, become the company’s most valuable ambassadors and reflect the shared values to the broader community.

Onboarding

With the wave of remote work showing no signs of slowing down, effective communication plays an ever-growing role in the onboarding process for new employees. This process is becoming more and more digitized, emphasizing the importance of effective communication across a variety of technological tools and platforms.

From everyday work logistics to knowledge sharing and workplace socialization, onboarding requires a well-organized infrastructure that enables new employees to seamlessly integrate into established processes while also providing an effective platform for collaboration and socializing.

A dedicated internal blog can be of great help to HR managers, as it serves as a central informational hub that collects all the necessary digital tools and resources, provides a knowledge base, and enables collaboration and communication - all in one place.

Employee engagement

With the employee experience steadily shifting more and more towards the digital realm, the challenge of providing a fulfilling working experience grows exponentially larger. HR managers are tasked with the responsibility of turning individual professionals into highly functional teams.

This requires them to employ and provide a variety of communicational tools that will help employees feel and connected both to their colleagues and the organization as a whole.

Company culture and the instillment of common values play a crucial role here as well, as the growing lack of physical proximity between employees continues to make the traditional models of workplace socialization feel more and more redundant.

This, in turn, places an even greater onus on well-structured communication and other efforts to make employees feel included, respected, and mutually connected.

*One of the most important tasks of Human Resource Managers is to shape a community of professionals with shared values and goals through high-quality communication.*

Employee retention

The ever-growing demand for the highly skilled and specialized workforce has benefited the workers, as it has forced organizations to invest a far greater effort into employee satisfaction.

This trend will only continue along with expanding the talent race. The role of HR managers in this area is not different from previous eras in its objectives, but it is in its methods.

Financial rewards are only one part of this equation, albeit an important one. The other part involves a number of factors that could all fit under the umbrella of the “employee experience”.

The development of engaged, included, motivated and satisfied employees is a comprehensive effort that requires HR managers to constantly keep their ear on the pulse of all individuals that are a part of the collective and focus on building a community of professionals with shared values and goals. It all starts with quality communication.

Conclusion

The work of HR managers is more multi-disciplined than it has ever been. Technology has presented a number of never-before-seen challenges but has also provided countless tools to help overcome them. It is down to HR managers to harness these tools in order to communicate the shared goals and values of an organization and nurture a culture that empowers employees to be the best version of themselves.