14 min read
Why Change Management Fails Without Communication – And How to Fix It
You could have the best communication strategy for change management, the right tools, and a clear business case, but if your employees don’t...
During a global crisis like COVID-19, there’s a lot of focus on the importance of effective business communications. At a time like this, it is critical that your employees understand your company’s approach to issues around COVID-19, the ways that the company will be affected, the strategy to resolve these issues, and ongoing mitigation as the crisis continues.
The situation is constantly evolving all around the world. Some countries are barely impacted, while others have a large chunk of their populations under mandatory government lockdown. And things can change rapidly in just a few short days.
Your business needs to be prepared to deal with a range of scenarios and be ready to communicate to your employees as soon as possible.
A lack of clear, consistent information from senior management as the situation evolves and unfolds could cause unnecessary fear, anxiety, anger and panic among your employees. They may feel disengaged and disempowered.
And while it may be tempting for some organizations to focus on external communications at a time like this, remember that neglecting your internal communications could be seen as neglecting your employees and your duty of care to them… which could, in turn, become an external communication and reputational issue you’ll have to manage on top of everything else.
When you’re developing your coronavirus internal communication plan, take into account that one of the biggest time delays in communicating quickly when things change is writing the messaging to employees. You can help to alleviate this by having templates written beforehand that you can make minor changes to and distribute as appropriate, using your preferred communications channels.
Always use clear, consistent messaging and communicate the facts that have been provided by a reputable source.
There are a number of different messages you can promote with your employees about appropriate hygiene, health and safety.
This includes:
Existing company policies should be communicated to staff whether they are working from home or in the office throughout the crisis. You will probably have new policies that emerge during the crisis that you also need to communicate.
Examples include:
For example, a Google employee tested positive for COVID-19 after traveling to Italy so the company announced a ban on international travel.
Your company may already have working from home protocols or it may need to develop some in response to the growing need for employees to work remotely.
Things you need to consider communicating include:
COVID-19 is having enormous impacts on businesses all over the world, resulting in entire industries unable to function while others are being overwhelmed by demand.
Some of the things that could affect your business that employees need to know about include:
Apple, for example, has announced that it probably won’t meet its revenue guidance for the first quarter.
For example, Amazon directed its employees to begin working from home when an employee contracted coronavirus.
For example in the United Kingdom, companies like Rolls Royce – an automobile manufacturer – and Dyson – an appliance manufacturer – have been asked by the government to contribute to the COVID-19 response and begin manufacturing much-needed medical ventilators.
Around the world there are different responses to the pandemic in place by different governments. Most countries have closed their borders. Some entire populations are in lockdown. In other countries it is only being enforced in certain regions.
As the situation evolves you should ensure your employees are aware of how it will affect your workplace, including:
Eventually, things will resume again… we just don’t know when. You need to be prepared for that happening and let your people know what is planned.
Including:
Remember that communicating with your employees is essential and there may be more challenges than usual in reaching them while they are working from home. Look at using a range of communications channels to be sure that your messages are cutting through and reaching them and they don’t miss out on any critical information.
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