COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA

Bearing these in mind (and some of the cynical, if realistic, perceptions they contain), the following means of communications media can be used to draw from, together with some of their more appropriate uses:

• poster campaigns - for creating expectations for, say, a new pay or performance management system;
• staff newsletters - for explaining new policies or providing updates on how a new policy (job evaluation for instance) is being implemented;
• E-mail - to alert staff to policy changes and new reward options, which they can then discuss with their manager or HR;
• personal letters - to explain the personal impact of policy developments;
• brochures/intranet entries - where a major policy has to be explained, eg a PRP contribution-related pay system or a new pension scheme;
• individual meetings - where a personal, confidential or difficult message has to be got across and maximum impact is needed;
• videos - where a large number of staff in distributed sites have to be reached - good if a charismatic chief executive can convey his or her commitment to policy changes or development;
• team briefings - to inform groups of employees, consult with them and ensure they properly understand change (eg to an incentive scheme).

Whatever the chosen media, the presentation should be as professional as possible. Ill-conceived, hasty and scruffy presentations will always give employees the impression that the organization does not really care about them and that it is doing as little as it can get away with. This is not the area for penny pinching - the price in terms of justifiable resistance and cynicism is too high.