Dive Brief:
- While change management is considered the most valuable communication skill among HR teams, 61% of the more than 1,300 communications and HR professionals surveyed by Gallagher said their companies have “no formal approach” to change communication, according to a report released March 10.
- As pressure rises at work, companies are counterproductively overwhelming employees with messages, prompting trust and burnout risks; 83% of respondents said information overload is “a growing problem.”
- Close to 7 in 10 firms surveyed had six or fewer people in a communications role, regardless of if the company “has 500 employees or 50,000,” Gallagher said.
Dive Insight:
Communications are a key part of the employee value proposition, Gallagher’s report noted, and employers have trouble truly embedding EVP into the day-to-day routine. This is particularly true for workforces with employees that are not primarily at desks, the report said.
“Without a structured approach, internal teams are increasing their volume, but if every message carries a sense of urgency, employees begin to tune out rather than listen closer,” William Ziebell, global CEO of Gallagher’s benefits & HR consulting division, said in a statement.
Employee feedback is key to communications, but HR teams have reported they are too stressed to handle action on that feedback, a Perceptyx report from last year noted. Without action, however, employees may lose trust and become less engaged, that report said.
“The value of the human insights cannot be underestimated when seeking to improve engagement,” Ziebell said. “Employees want to know their feedback is being heard and in-person events and townhalls are the best venue for this.”
Change management, more broadly, remains a weakness for many organizations. Only 25% of employees surveyed in August last year told Eagle Hill Consulting that their company effectively manages major change. To accept change, employees said they wanted to understand why it was made and have effective communication throughout the process, according to Eagle Hill’s report.