http://www.instituteforpr.

org/engaging-employees-effectiveness-traditional-vs-new-
media-channels/

The Web 2.0 era has changed the basic landscape of communication, including that of
the internal communication of companies. Organizations today can access various
communication tools for reaching and engaging employees, ranging from traditional
print publications (such as newsletters, magazines, and posters) to phone calls,
intranets, face-to-face communication, and emails to Web 2.0 tools (such as blogs,
instant messengers, and social networking sites). Although some companies now use
social media for internal communication, many others dont or do not recognize the
benefits of using such tools. The Towers Watsons 2013 Change and Communication
ROI Survey found that only 56% of organizations use social media as a part of
their internal communication initiatives to build community. Only more than a third of
these organizations rated social media as highly effective.

The medium is the message. With its two-way, interactive or dialogical, communal,
and relational features (such as webcams, embedded audio or video, commenting and
sharing, and online chat functions), social media can help personify the organization,
blur internal communication hierarchies, facilitate employee conversation with
management, and most importantly, build communities. However, do social media
alone engage employees? If so, how effective are social media compared with traditional
communication channels? What should companies do to truly embrace new technology
and capitalize on its advantages?

To answer these questions, I surveyed 400 employees from different medium-sized and
large corporations across more than 20 industries in the US. The results show that
although social media are still the least commonly used channels for employee
communication in the workplace, they effectively engage employees. The organizations
use of social media (i.e., internal social networking sites, employee or leader journals,
blogs, wiki sites, instant messengers, and audio or video streaming) including the
leaders, positively impacts employee engagement. In other words, the more often
companies use social media to connect with employees, the more engaged employees
feel. When employees are engaged, they feel empowered, involved, emotionally attached
and dedicated to the organization, and excited and proud about being a part of it.

Additionally, the results show that traditional channels of face-to-face interactions (such
as employee meetings and communication with direct managers) and emails strongly
influence employee engagement. These two-way forms of communication facilitate the
exchange of information, listening, and conversation. However, the widely used
traditional print media, such as memos, brochures, newsletters, reports, policy manuals,
and posters showed negligible effect on employee engagement.

Without doubt, social media are essential elements of employee engagement that
increases productivity and are the driving forces of community building within the
company. Although there is no clear consensus regarding the most effective social
medium (i.e., one that is effective for a company may not be effective for another), and
the overall cost-effectiveness of social media remains inconclusive, companies that aim
for employee engagement cannot simply ignore these thriving digital platforms.

Of course, engagement in social media within the company is not really about the
software or the crowd. Its more about people who instill vigor, spirit, and emotions into
the cold community. Likewise, embracing new technology to engage employees does not
necessarily mean abandoning traditional forms of communication. As my research
shows, the most personalized and richest channelface-to-face interactionsand an
indispensable part of the daily routine of employeesemail communicationsremain
effective in building dialogues and engaging employees.

Therefore, organizations should strategically optimize their platforms for internal

communication to engage digital-savvy employees. There might not be a one-size-fits-all
 approach to such strategic development, but the following tips based on research may
help start such efforts.

1. Understand the advantages of each medium and know which works

for what.
2. Align multiple media solutions to business and communication
goals.
3. Be open-minded, embrace up-to-date technology, and develop a
roadmap to sequentially use social media tools.
4. Identify internal thought leaders (including executives and
supervisors) who are authentic, transformational, and charismatic
and help them develop communication and social media skills.
5. Encourage the participation of employees by rewarding social
employees and fostering a culture of collaboration, sharing,
community, and learning.
6. Enforce a solid social media policy that clarifies what is and is not
acceptable.
7. Develop measures and metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of
communication and engagement through different media.

1. Vanessa
October 30, 2013 at 5:31 pm Reply

Good overview of the Study, Rita!

2.
Rita Men

October 30, 2013 at 1:34 pm Reply

Thank you very much for sharing your experience and insights, Jeffrey! What your company have been
doing is exactly interactive and engaging, a great case on how modern organizations should utilize
these digital tools.

I totally agree with you that there is a tipping point at which organizations start to use interactive
channels. A lot of companies today first use social media for engaging consumers, increasing their on-
 line visibility, and building a good image, and then realize their employees are digital-savvy as well!
But the problems, not every company makes the best of these tools. According to Tower Watsons
recent research, only 40% of the companies that use social media found it cost-effective. That said, a
lot of companies are still trying to figure out what the best practices are. There are so many tools
available, which are the ones that best fit your organization? I like your suggestion that making
informed decisions based on real data specific to your organization, and moving out in measured
steps, while continually assessing results Measurement is the key. That might be a critical factor
that differente you from many. Thank you so much again for sharing a best-practice case of the
organizations internal use of interactive channels!

3.
Jeffrey M. Bishop, APR

October 30, 2013 at 8:10 am Reply

We found that there is a tipping point at which it is the time for any given organization to bridge from
more traditional channels to more interactive channels; when the right technology was sufficiently
available, when we had the skills and resources to build and facilitate it; when staff had sufficient
social media literacy something we assessed along with other employee communication program
results we made the transition.

* We integrated interactive webinar technology into our monthly national All Staff calls; this includes
all-way chat for Qs/As, webcam and video streaming, and the ability to record sessions for
asynchronous viewing.
*We also stood up an employee-facing blog and put all 40 managers in the guest blogger rotation
which has helped us sustain regular posts and the blog itself, while also providing broader plurality of
perspectives.
* We are now considering transitioning our weekly eNewsletter to a discussion board for real-time
news, user-generated content (takes us from content creator to product facilitator role), and audience
feedback / interaction.

Making informed decisions based on real data specific to your organization, and moving out in
measured steps, while continually assessing results, has been key for us transitioning our program to
one that is more engaging for our workforce.
Technology is an absolute need we cannot escape from, it has a very big role in most aspects of our
lives. In other words, it answers most of Mankind problems. Across centuries technology evolves.
The importance of technology is aiming for comfort of use in whichever form it is. It always directs for
easiness in life. Take the mobile technology for example. The faster the world is moving, the more hi-
end the features are offered. Laptop gets thinner and smaller. It becomes more compact every year
and offers more capabilities and top performance. It should load a lot of stuffs in a more concise
shape. That is the need. People should not take time to think of what should be brought over a sales
presentation in the southern state since everything is already "filed" in the laptop. Also for telephone.
The need to be able to communicate anytime, anywhere, has inspired scientists to create cellular
phone. And it gets smaller and smaller. And then it has more features, more games, more
entertainment, and now offered more professional like having a computer in the pocket. And then
from costly, it goes cheaper and better and faster and become more reliable. The fact that the
importance of technology in our daily basis is undeniable has inspired scientists to make
improvements from time to time through their invented tools and devices for us to use, just to make
our lives easier. We always tend to make one step ahead. Technology can help not just with the
present but also approximating the future. It can calculate the potential profits and losses. And based
on these, we can create plans and a list of pre-cautious steps for the future of our descendants.
No one can escape from the absolute need of technology in our daily life. Every one of us is so
dependent on technology that we cannot do without them. Starting from computers to keeping fit, we
require technology at every step. Technology helps us to keep in touch with people who are away
from us. We use the telephones and computers to talk to them and even see them. Our daily office
work is also technology based. No longer do people use the pen and paper to complete their work.
We maintain our health by going to the gyms. There are machines in the gym which help us reduce
our weight and keep fit. The use of technology has made our life comfortable. We cannot think of a
life sans technology. We get to keep a lot of information in a small device and use it when we like.
Cars have also become better with the use of technology. Thus technology is undeniably an
important of our life.

No one can escape from the absolute need of technology in our daily life. Every one of us is so
dependent on technology that we cannot do without them. Starting from computers to keeping fit, we
require technology at every step. Technology helps us to keep in touch with people who are away
from us. We use the telephones and computers to talk to them and even see them. Our daily office
work is also technology based. No longer do people use the pen and paper to complete their work.
We maintain our health by going to the gyms. There are machines in the gym which help us reduce
our weight and keep fit. The use of technology has made our life comfortable. We cannot think of a
life sans technology. We get to keep a lot of information in a small device and use it when we like.
Cars have also become better with the use of technology. Thus technology is undeniably an
important of our life.

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7 sep 2015