Connecting and communicating with employees in a consistent and complete manner should be easy. Workplaces are equipped with digital signage, message boards, email, phones, mobile apps, employee intranets., etc. It might seem like all your bases are covered, but are they? Do you have enough ways to reach your deskless employees? To reach employees during a crisis? One channel that’s rising in popularity is using text messages to communicate with employees. In this blog, we’ll share why it’s so important and how you can use texting to connect with your teams.
Using text to communicate with employees is being used more often by companies. While it might seem “too basic” to be effective, studies have shown that texting is actually a very effective way to communicate.
How quickly a message is read is a learned behavior. When that notification bar lights up on your phone, our instincts are to check it immediately. Tap into that habit to break through the noise to get and keep the attention of your teams.
Before we dive into texting best practices, you might be wondering if it’s even legal to text your employees to share internal comms. And the reality is: yes it is legal to use text message to communicate with employees. Most providers of SMS text will have ways to allow your employees to opt-in to receive texts, and that employee consent is all you need.
So, how can we harness the power of a powerful channel like SMS to drive engagement? Here are a few best practices:
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Given that texting is a highly effective way to reach employees, how does that translate into an internal comms strategy? And how does texting play with your other comms channels?
Let’s talk through four key use cases for text messaging your teams.
Critical and time-bound messages are key to keeping your teams safe and generating the correct response to incidents or hazards within a workplace. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us about the need for real-time information and the need to be ready to rapidly respond to disasters.
However, it is important to have a balance with SMS communications. If you rely on texting too often for so-called emergencies, this can result in “message blindness” where your employees tune out or ignore texts from their employer. So, it’s important to understand the severity of an incident and why internal comms are needed. Then decide what combination of channels and tactics should be used.
To get your stakeholders on the same page about crisis communications, we find it valuable to clearly define what constitutes a crisis. Here are our guidelines:
Bringing on new staff members is always an exciting time, but it can be hectic making sure they show up at the right place, with the right paperwork and identification. You want new hires to get off on the right foot and feel like they are informed and equipped to take on their first day.
Communicating with SMS helps prevent critical information from getting lost in email. But with advanced phishing and spoofing scams, new hires are hesitant to click on email links asking for personal information. SMS helps eliminate that confusion by providing an easier way of communicating instructions as part of onboarding. For example:
Beyond the operational aspects of SMS for onboarding, this channel introduces the new hire to your communications approach. Their first impression of how you communicate with the workforce is everything as you build trust at this critical point in their new employment with you.
The “great office exodus” that started in 2020 continues to have a rippling effect on communications. Where there were once in-office stand-ups and town halls, now there are more virtual broadcasts and recorded engagements. For remote teams, an SMS messaging cadence can provide critical reminders for managerial tasks like performance reviews or approving PTO. For your frontline teams, SMS provides a pathway for them to keep notified of changes to work schedules and locations—as well as any updates to safety briefs or policy changes.
While your remote office workers and frontline workers differ greatly in their messaging and communications needs, they both need access to a reliable channel like SMS. Finding the right balance of channels starts with a solid communications audit. We recommend using our Audit Guide to analyze messages, channels, and message frequency to maximize your effectiveness.
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Your marketing team knows the value of an effective brand impression. Each brand touch has an impact on how buyers consider your brand. This is the same with your employees. Each message has an impact on their impression of the company, the workplace, and the company culture.
Effective use of channels, including SMS, provides the ability to deliver a meaningful message or reinforce a brand promise. Using an SMS messaging or a mobile app to deploy a message and link to a CEO video thanking the teams for a great week, or announcing a key milestone in the business builds trust and engagement, which leads to a stronger workplace culture.
We’re seeing the employee communications landscape continue to evolve as more channels and technologies emerge, all while the challenge to engage employees persists. We encourage communicators to look at their channels, message frequency, and KPIs to create a comms ecosystem for your needs.
Request a demo today to find out how we can help you connect and engage your frontline teams.
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Michael Marino is the Vice President of Marketing where he oversees the creation and execution of theEMPLOYEEapp’s marketing programs. Before joining the team, Mike held marketing leadership positions in both the B2B and DTC spaces in channels that include media, manufacturing, and professional services. Mike is passionate about demand generation, mar-tech, and being able to create campaigns that connect with Internal Comms audiences.
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