Many businesses will look at the year 2021 as a turning point. Employees will have to be more educated, engaged, and driven than ever before in the changing workplace. You’ll perform a better job if you know how communication plays a part in this endeavor. The executives in charge of connecting with and caring for the people behind a company’s operations were given the impossible job of keeping everyone connected as companies tried to overcome the extraordinary difficulties brought on by a worldwide epidemic.
Transparency, collaboration, and clear communication have never been more critical to the success of your business than they are right now. In reality, the pandemic has altered many aspects of how companies interact internally, and those who did not place a high priority on internal communications before the outbreak are doing so now. There is a need for a fresh understanding of how and, more importantly, who informs our workers about what’s going on due to what we learned. Hence, there is an enhanced focus on tools for communication like advanced radio interoperability systems.
Suppose the current focus on internal communication is any indication. In that case, we expect it to continue for some time to come. As we near the end of 2021, we thought it would be helpful to highlight critical trends in internal communications to help you prepare for the year ahead.
Here are some key trends that shape industries around the world:
Source of Information for Decision-makers
In-house communicators have long understood that creating change in the workplace requires good communication. It’s critical to a company’s long-term success, too. While trying to persuade decision-makers to invest in internal communication, many colleagues have found themselves at a dead end. Providing clear and up-to-date communication to workers is just as essential as all the other operational procedures. This will keep them motivated and allow them to discuss and exchange tales and experiences. As a result, businesses today are keen to investigate new technologies that improve communication and cooperation.
Prioritizing Employees
After everything we’ve been through in the last 18 months, there’s much focus on keeping your workers informed. It has been critical for companies to stay operational throughout the epidemic by opening internal communication channels and telling workers about how well the business is doing, what new health and safety precautions have been put in place, and what employees should know before returning to work.
The emphasis on workers underscores the significance of enhancing the employee experience. As a result of the outbreak, how have workers who are no longer physically present in the workplace maintained ties to the organization’s corporate culture as a whole?
Creating a focus on workers and their experiences is one of the trends that will last long beyond 2021. To facilitate two-way, open communication inside your company, emphasizing employee experiences, an internal communications platform like Workplace by Facebook (Workplace) can assist.
Workplace brings your company into the 21st century by allowing you to concentrate on real-time, immediate communication instead of delayed responses.
People Behind the Wheel
Professional communicators are much more knowledgeable on how to handle a crisis. They can be considered cabin crew members because of their proximity to the passengers (employees). Workers want managers to be sympathetic and trustworthy information sources, and they must utilize their expertise to assist managers in fulfilling that expectation. It can’t be avoided because workers want to hear from the pilots, plain and simple. CEOs need to be present and spend more time with their workers if they’re going to develop or retain trust.
Increasing the Amount of Visual Information
Internal visual communication will be pretty popular in 2022, according to research. Advertisers can learn about our communication preferences by studying our online activity on personal social media platforms. Visual communication engages employees much more than text-only communication. When actual individuals present a message, it is seen as more genuine, authentic, and believable. A high-production video doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars, however. Now that mobile phones have improved so much, everyone can afford a high-quality communication device.
With 2020 behind us and 2021 ahead of us, these communication patterns should continue in the years to come. Companies are laser-focused on providing frontline employees with the skills they need to succeed as the emergence of the frontline worker and the vital role in keeping society running amid a worldwide epidemic continues to unfold. Companies that have recovered and rebuilt by 2021 and beyond will almost certainly witness an improvement in operational efficiency and digitalization of the frontline staff due to these efforts.