Employee engagement in generations of corporate comms.

Employee engagement is sometimes misunderstood and dismissed as a buzzword — synonymous with employee happiness or satisfaction.

However, we know that employee engagement is more than that; the term employee engagement refers to the degree of attachment an employee has with a company. Employee engagement has become a decisive factor for corporate success in today's market.

However, it is not easy to promote employee engagement. Depending on which stage of development a company's corporate communications is in, various things must be changed.‍

Why is employee engagement so important?

Executives worldwide say that promoting employee engagement is one of their five most important global goals. 71% of them consider employee engagement to be critical to the success of their company.

Employee engagement not only has the potential to significantly impact employee retention, productivity, and loyalty, but is also an important factor in customer satisfaction, company reputation, and overall value for stakeholders. Companies are aware of the importance of employee engagement. Many spend millions of dollars on programs to promote employee engagement. However, the results of employee engagement surveys are often disappointing. How is that possible?

The reason is that many initiatives are only intended for the short term. When companies achieve real success in this area, it's because they're thinking in the longer term. They go beyond trying to overcome current survey lows and redesign the entire employee experience. They create a place where people want to work every day and don't have to. However, it must now be clarified how this is possible in a company.

To this end, we are looking at employee engagement today using three different generations corporate communications.

Generation 1: ‍Top down communication

The first generation has a classic approach. Here, the management level communicates strictly hierarchically from top to bottom with its employees. In this generation, employees mainly consume the information they are given and have only a few opportunities to influence the flow of communication within the company. In the best case, an attempt is made to present managers as role models.

However, company management tends to focus only on the basic needs of employees. Companies of this generation often show higher employee turnover and lower employee satisfaction. Such companies persist in the “same as always” attitude and are unable to adapt to the changing business environment. With regard to digitization, for example, they are struggling to switch from email to chat. As a result, the entire company generally develops rather slowly.

As far as employee experience is concerned, such a company fails to create a positive culture for employees, which leads to a lack of team spirit between new and old employees and dissatisfaction with management.‍

Generation 2: Intranets and Employee Generated Content

In the second generation, communicators recognize that a strict hierarchical communication model disrupts internal communication and that a solution is needed so that employees can better connect with their colleagues. One of the second-generation solutions to facilitate these interactions is the use of employee platforms such as intranets. Social intranets are being introduced not only to pass on information from top to bottom, but also to introduce the concept of “engagement” and to give employees the opportunity to exchange ideas better with each other.

On Generation 2 intranets, employees can “like”, share and comment on contributions and interact with their team. In this way, employees have begun to tell their stories and experiences in an authentic way. The more employees get involved in social intranets, the clearer it becomes that the era of Employee Generated Content (EGC) has arrived. Employees are getting involved and creating more and more content that not only has an impact on a company's internal communication and culture, but also on the company's external image. This happens when employees start posting their EGC on public platforms (LinkedIn, Kununu, etc.).

However, there are also unresolved questions among the second generation. As with any other platform, the question is how much content should be controlled and moderated. Concerns about shitstorms, backlashes and poor publicity are matched by the desire for authentic content and improved brand perception. There is also the question of which medium is the most promising. Videos are increasingly being used as an alternative to text, infographics and appealing images. Especially when it comes to addressing the TikTok and Instagram generation, this question becomes relevant. As companies start to recognize video as an important tool, they are still uncertain how to use or utilize it in a way that fully realizes its potential.‍

Generation 3: Everyone in the company is a communicator

Only a few medium-sized companies in Germany have reached the third generation. It is about the decentralization of corporate communications and the integration of digital platforms. The third generation is the result of changes in traditional working models, which have been accelerated by the pandemic. People have tools and channels to communicate effectively regardless of where they work and have more freedom to share information.

In the third generation, communicators and managers are responsible for ensuring that employees are no longer just consumers of information, but actively shape and improve corporate communication. During this change, employees become the face and voice of the company and represent the corporate culture. They become corporate influencers. The new challenge is to encourage employees and give them the opportunity to design the optimal communication process for them.

When employees actively participate in corporate communications, they are encouraged to become more committed to their work and to help shape the environment and culture in which they spend a large part of their day. Increasing employee engagement is often seen in terms of high employee retention and low turnover, but it does much more. It promotes team spirit, reduces hierarchical differences, employees feel heard and are not afraid to contribute new ideas or question conventional ideas. Such an employee experience is a major competitive advantage today and ensures that companies are agile and adapt to the rapidly changing environment in record time.

Internal communication is now free of hierarchical structures, which supports agile planning. Employees also support each other more and give each other tips, for example, to cope with stress, lack of focus or burnout. At the same time, employees promote the positive work environment by posting positive EGC on social networks, which recruits new talent.

There is not just one path to employee engagement

Finally, it must be made clear that there is no clear path to reaching the 3rd generation or employee engagement. You and your team may need to try out different approaches to find the right path for you. It is important that you focus on how your employees experience your company on a daily basis. This means that you need to listen to your employees to really understand how you can solve your company's internal communication problems.