There are many kinds of corporate communications tools that focus on different aspects of employee engagement and communications. Depending on what your organization needs from its employees, different corporate communication tools may be appropriate in different settings.
Employee Engagement Elements
Corporate communication tools are only as useful as the employees that use them and the managers that put them in place. Tracking progress, providing or accepting feedback to and from employees, and creating a reward system are typical elements of employee engagement that corporate communication tools can make easier.
Feedback is an integral part of any employee engagement and communications strategy. Most organizations reward their employees based on their quantifiable performance. If employees don’t know where they stand and why they should be trying harder to improve their performance, they become disengaged and less productive. Feedback systems, therefore, are extremely important in keeping employees engaged. Cloud-based corporate communication tools come into play here because they make it easy to create leaderboards, unlockable badges, or they make it easy for a manager to send a simple recognition message to a few employees who are going above and beyond. When other employees see this recognition, they know exactly what is expected of them and become motivated to exceed those expectations.
Progress is important in some organizations because it can be very difficult to know which team is in the process of what project at one time. Progress tracking is usually a big part of corporate communication tools because it allows not only managers to get a snapshot of how well a certain team is performing in a certain area, it can also give other employees the information they need in their own projects. Sometimes projects are reliant on other teams. Knowing that team’s progress on a project is essential to cooperation and eventual completion of larger, collaborative projects. A simple progress meter can be used in this situation at times, or sometimes a system that enables instant communication is needed to track progress across multiple work groups.
Rewards and a system to fairly distribute them is often a key element of corporate communication tools when implemented in an organization. Managers and executives are charged with handing out rewards fairly and to those that truly deserve them. Employees need to know that their work is being recognized, and sometimes all the positive feedback on their work isn’t enough to motivate them in the future. Many corporate communication tools are designed to help managers track progress and reward employees or team members who excel and show their worth to the entire organization. A coherent and easy-to-use reward system is a key element.
Corporate Communication Tools Create and Support a System
Whether using gamification or other means to drive employee engagement, corporate communication tools make it easier to reach your employee communications goals by creating and supporting a system that plugs your employees into the heart of the organization and each other.
