4 Reasons Why Your Employees are Ignoring Your Internal Comms (And How to Fix It)
“I didn’t know that was happening,” my colleague mentioned to another member of our team.
“I. SENT. AN. EMAIL.” I responded through gritted teeth.
As an Internal Comms Specialist, I go through variations of this every day and every day it upsets me because I work really hard on the back-end to ensure that employees are not overwhelmed with communication but still are receiving updates on business events, policies, etc.
If you’re struggling with engagement or just hearing crickets after sending out communication, here are 5 reasons why your staff are ignoring you and how to fix it.
1. Employee Disengagement
The worst possible option and honestly if you’re here, you have bigger problems. Employee disengagement shows up in a bunch of ways- staff who are more tired, more cynical and less involved with work.
How to Fix It: Figure out what the source of the disengagement is and fix it. How to do this? TALK to your staff. An employee survey MIGHT help but only if employees believe that there is still something worth fighting for.
2. You’re Sending Out Communication Too Often
This is definitely one I have been guilty of. If you’re sending out communication too often, employees will tune out. In this case they might see some of your updates and miss out on others.
How to Fix It: Monitor your responses- open rates, click-through rates, understanding of policy updates and match it to how frequently you are sending out communications to judge what is best. Sometimes 2 pieces of communication is enough and sometimes if employees are busy, 2 might be too much.
3. You’re Not Using the Correct Channels
Different people consume content differently. One department may prefer email, another WhatsApp or an announcement on the intranet. If you’re missing out on your target audience’s preferred communication channel, you’re missing out on connecting with them.
How to Fix It: Get to know which channels resonate best with which departments and adjust your communication efforts accordingly.
4. The Information is Difficult to Digest
This one is something I am guilty of. If communication is too long or I happen to be busy when it is delivered, I will read it but not actually absorb anything written in it.
How to Fix It: Use simple wording and try to avoid jargon. Ensure you have sufficient white space so that your content doesn’t come off as too overwhelming.
These are just some of the reasons I discovered Internal Comms are ignored. Do you have any tips that I might have missed? Let me know below.