When employers think about public relations, often times they think of communicating with outside audiences…mainly potential customers. However, there is another audience that plays an important role in the success of the business that can also be addressed by public relations. This audience is the business’ employees. There are plenty of articles pointing to how, happy employees are more productive, but the same holds true for employees that are aware of what is going on in the company. Below are a few examples of how you can both inform your employees and keep them happy.
The simplest step is one that you should already be doing, and that is having weekly meetings. The focus of the weekly meeting should be to keep the employees up to date on what has been going on in the past week as well as to plan out was is going to happen in the coming week. It is a good opportunity to disclose feedback at a general level and to answer questions. In larger companies, it is also helpful if upper-level management makes an effort to attend some of these meetings instead of always relying on a bureaucratic breakdown.
The next step involves working with your employees in the day-to-day tasks they have to do. While it is true that there are other important aspects of running a business that owners need to keep in mind, sometimes taking the time to work with employees can reveal cost saving fixes or new ideas to generate a new line of revenue. This also makes it easier to show real appreciation for your employees. Showing the appreciation could be a step all on its own, but it plays a big role in keeping up good morale and happy employees. Many workplaces have “worker of the week” awards, but in many situations, verbal gratification may not be enough. People respond differently to support. While some may only need a title, others may feel more appreciated by verbal commendations from their superiors or by winning prizes.
Lastly, and the most public relations-like step, involves publicizing all your effort in increasing morale and happiness. By posting blogs or sending out regular newsletters to your employees you can further improve the likelihood that your work is successful. For example, if you have your weekly meetings on a Monday, sending out your newsletter on a Thursday morning will help serve as a good reminder to finish the week out strong. You could also use your blogs to write about aspects of the business you experience if you do choose to take some time to work with your employees, or you could use the blogs to congratulate a good employee.
Good communication is established by regular outreach. By creating a line of communication between your employees and you, you will not only succeed in helping them stay informed about what is going on in the company but most importantly, you will be able to keep track of how the company is doing in way numbers cannot reveal.
