Communication is the bedrock of employee-centric corporate culture. If you are not reaching out and engaging with your workforce, how can you hope to understand them and give them the resources they need to succeed? When you factor in how much has changed in everyone’s working lives over the past year and a half, it’s no surprise that the rate of deliberate reach out has accelerated during the global pandemic. At NAHRES21 Virtual last February, 95% of surveyed delegates said the cadence of employee communications has increased during the global pandemic, while 3% said they had experienced no change, and only 2% of responders said they had reduced their pre-COVID rate of engagement.

What form did our audience of senior HR executives find the most useful way to gather employee voice? The annual pulse/sentiment survey remains the best tool for 67%, with another 12% saying leader feedback was the preferred method. Only 3% of responders ranked weekly polling as their top option. The remaining 19% did not have a specific approach, preferring a combination of methods and approaches.

Here are a few questions to ask about yourself and your business:

  • How often is your HR organization engaging with the workforce to understand them better?
  • How has COVID19 changed the way your company communicates? Would you say you have a clearer understanding of your employees today than you would have had before the pandemic?
  • When you think of great examples of employee-centric companies, what do they all have in common? Is there something from their employee engagement processes you could apply to your own business?
  • If time and cost were not factors, what would you do to improve how your HR team communicates with the rest of the company? What end result would you hope to produce?

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Geoff Micks
Head of Content & Research
Executive Platforms

Geoff joined the industry events business as a conference producer in 2010 after four years working in print media. He has researched, planned, organized, run, and contributed to more than a hundred events across North America and Europe for senior leaders, with special emphasis on the energy, mining, manufacturing, maintenance, supply chain, human resources, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, finance, and sustainability sectors. As part of his role as Head of Content & Research, Geoff hosts Executive Platforms’ bluEPrint Podcast series as well as a weekly blog focusing on issues relevant to Executive Platforms’ network of business leaders.

Geoff is the author of five works of historical fiction: Inca, Zulu, Beginning, Middle, and End. The New York Times and National Public Radio have interviewed him about his writing, and he wrote and narrated an animated short for Vice Media that appeared on HBO. He has a BA Honours with High Distinction from the University of Toronto specializing Journalism with a Double Minor in History and Classical Studies, as well as Diploma in Journalism from Centennial College.