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Effective communication in the human resources (HR) department is pivotal to creating a brilliant workplace culture. The most important reason for enhancing HR communication is onboarding new employees successfully.
When you have a good way of talking with new people starting the job, it makes getting started easier. This can make more people stay in the job and be happier.
Still, mastering this process is easier said than done. In this guide, we’ll cover several ways to enhance communication throughout the hiring journey.
HR communication – what it is, why it’s important, and its benefits
HR communication means how the people who work in the HR department talk to the people who already work at a company and also to the people who might start working there.
This idea is important for making sure everyone talks well with each other, keeping the company’s culture strong, and making sure everyone hears the same things. In simple terms, when you talk well with new employees, you’re being open and honest about what it’s like to work at your company.
Plus, miscommunication costs more than $12,000 per employee per year.
Improved engagement
Effective communication helps make a nice and team-friendly workplace where people work together happily and trust each other.
When employees feel their voices are heard, they’re more likely to communicate openly with the HR team and other departments. Improving workplace engagement is all about giving all necessary information to new employees during the onboarding process.
For example, once you have extended the job offer to the new hire, it’s essential to communicate all relevant job information.
HR should be prepared with a good onboarding process, including an employee manual, employee scheduling, and applications or software employees will use.
Increased productivity
Effective communication can lead to a better understanding of goals and expectations, improved collaboration and teamwork, and enhanced employee motivation.
HR teams can benefit from automating parts of the onboarding process. For example, HR can use a work schedule maker app to generate the best employee schedule with the new hire onboard.
Also, some schedule-making programs have a way for team members to talk to each other in their online schedule. This helps sort out shift-related stuff fast and keeps a record of what happened.
Overall, open communication between new employees and HR teams can boost productivity and workplace morale for everyone.
Increased retention
Better HR communication helps increase employee retention by creating positive work environments. Strategies and communication initiatives can include recognition programs, regular check-ins, and career development opportunities.
It’s the job of HR teams to lead these efforts and make sure new employees have everything they need to do well.
Improved trust
Every successful business runs on trust. Trust is fostered through honesty and open communication. When you’re clear about your expectations for new employees, they’re more likely to trust you.
Otherwise, things might get really confusing at work. To make a company work well, people need to trust each other, and the way HR communicates is crucial for building that trust.
Types of HR Communication
There are several types of communication styles to choose from. The most common types of HR communication include:
Upward HR communication
Upward communication happens when lower-level employees can communicate with upper-level management. This scenario occurs when employees need to submit feedback to improve business processes.
It can also take place when employees submit their complaints and suggestions to their supervisors and managers.
HR teams should foster upward communication as they act as intermediaries between lower and higher-level management.
Downward HR communication
Downward communication is when important messages come from the top bosses and go down to the other levels of the company.
For example, a memo from the CEO to project managers shows downward communication. This form of communication is necessary for implementing company-wide HR changes, usually after upward communication has taken place.
Cross-functional HR communication
Cross-functional communication is the process of two teams working together simultaneously to achieve the same goal. This takes place every day in a company.
For instance, the sales and marketing teams talk to each other to get new customers and make deals. Both teams are working to bring in more business, money, and profits for their company.
7 Tips To Improve HR Communication In The Workplace
Now that you know the basics of HR communication, here are seven HR communication strategies you can try in the workplace.
1. Prioritize communication during the onboarding process
When navigating the onboarding process, it’s essential to practice open communication with new hires.
Good communication when someone is starting a new job helps them feel welcome and sure about what they’re supposed to do. When thinking about making communication better during the hiring process, it’s important to deal with certain important things right from the start.
This is especially true for recurring issues, such as hiring contractors instead of employees, which requires an understanding of how to pay a contractor and how it differs from traditional payroll. While the people you hire to do work might know about these steps, as the boss, you might have questions about how and when you pay them and how the billing works.
If you get ready for these and other important things when someone starts a job, it will make talking with them better, and everyone will understand each other. Paying attention to these little details will make communication go more smoothly and work better.
2. Be open and transparent
Transparency is key to building trust with your employees. When someone joins a company and finds out their experience isn’t what you described, they’ll become frustrated quickly.
Thus, you should always strive to stay open and transparent with new employees during the onboarding process.
One integral part of this process is maintaining transparency about the benefits and compensations of the position.
For instance, a prospective employee might be considering several job offers and a single benefit could make your company rise above the rest. Unique benefits, such as tuition reimbursement, student loan refinancing, or pet insurance benefits, are becoming more popular with employees, who collectively have over 1.73 trillion in student loan debt.
Why? Employees are looking for workplaces that support their personal priorities and financial stability.
Communicate the benefits you offer early in the hiring process to show your organization’s commitment to the candidate’s well-being.
Talking openly and early not only shows that the company cares about the employees’ future. It also starts a relationship based on trust and being clear. And both of these are important for a good working relationship.
3. Lead with your company culture and values
Many people are looking past salary when applying for a new job. Instead, they want to join a company that aligns with their values and a place where they feel welcome.
So, when you’re getting new people started, start by talking about what makes your company special and what’s important to it. Matching how you talk with people to these important parts of the company can help them feel like they belong and want to stick around.
Also, effective communication of company culture and values can help create a positive work environment and strengthen employee engagement.
4. Align your strategy with organizational goals
Fostering better workplace communication also includes aligning your hiring strategy with your broader organizational goals.
The only way to improve workplace communication is by intentionally setting up a strategy. In particular, you need to create a plan to communicate effectively with new employees.
One of the ways to enhance communication throughout the hiring journey is to use business intelligence tools to analyze data and generate insights. Business intelligence is the process of transforming raw data into meaningful information that can help organizations make better decisions.
For example, HR managers can use business intelligence to:
- Track the performance of their recruitment campaigns
- Identify the best sources of talent
- Measure the quality of the hire
- Optimize the candidate’s experience
Using business intelligence, HR managers can communicate more effectively with their stakeholders, improve their hiring efficiency, and align their talent strategy with their business goals.
5. Make internal documents accessible
Keeping internal documents accessible and readily available is key for smoothly navigating the onboarding process.
Otherwise, you could delay onboarding, putting more stress on your employees and driving down efficiency. So, make sure you’re using a file-sharing system like Google Drive or Dropbox to keep all your files available and secure.
6. Obtain and act on employee feedback
Collecting employee feedback can help you identify areas of improvement in your onboarding process.
This will also help you figure out and solve problems fast, so the next people who start working here have a good time. You can use forms or quick surveys to get feedback from employees and look at what they say.
7. Connect employees for collaboration and teamwork
Connecting employees during the onboarding process creates a sense of togetherness in a company.
Here are some great ways to foster company-wide teamwork:
- Promoting cross-functional projects
- Organizing team-building activities
- Employing digital communication tools
- Creating knowledge-sharing channels
Why I wrote this:
HR communication helps organizations onboard new hires more efficiently and fosters togetherness among all employees.
It’s a critical process every company should implement with urgency. To get started in optimizing your onboarding process, request a demo with Ongig today to create more inclusive job descriptions.
Author Bio:
Luca Ramassa Outreach Specialist at LeadsBridge, passionate about Marketing and Technology. My goal is to help companies improve their online presence and communication strategy.
