by Chornay C. Marshall.

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Chornay C. Marshall worked as an internal communications manager for five years in one of the largest South African banking institutions (approx. 20 000 employees). After graduating from University of Johannesburg in South Africa with a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) in Communication she went on to complete an Advanced Diploma in Marketing Communications at the AAA School of Advertising, followed by a Foundation Management Programme through the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS).

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This chapter briefly outlines the new context in which organizations exist and how diversity impacts them. It suggests principles, techniques and tools to communicate with a diverse audience and discusses issues that are could arise and how to approach them.

 

Communication and Diversity in the 21st Century

A new type of employee is emerging - One that is empowered and demonstrates a strong sense of individuality; changing the way they define their goals, their purpose and their outlook. This increase in diversity has organizations globally exploring alternate ways to communicate and engage with their dynamic workforce.

Over the last decade the concept of diversity has evolved far beyond the boundaries of racial and/or social lines. Though background, experience and motivation still stand as the backbone of diversity, it seems that things like emotional intelligence (EQ) and even Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) are diffusing into the make-up the ‘new’ type of employee.

The implementation of diversity, has often been limited to the Human Resources department where overt ‘diversity programs’ are initiated and implemented as a result of legislative, competitive or other external forces, when there is indeed a good economic case for UK companies to use it as a tool to:

• develop new market share
• attract and retain talent and
• increase consumer confidence

More organizations are realizing that by understanding the demographics of their market-place and matching it internally, they can thrive in it; and by giving employees a more inclusive employment experience where their various diversities are optimized they gain a competitve advantage. They’re realising that it is talent that makes the difference.

Broader research findings show there is a growing need for tailored communication as our internal audience becomes more diverse. Diversity is defining the way we engage our employees. It has also been found that a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to communications, as was common in the past, has become less and less evident in organizations today both internally and externally. People like and want to be treated as individuals.

Organizations are now considering the different needs of their audiences and finding opportunities to recognize and value these differences whilst matching it to organizational objectives. Done properly, this approach can prove very beneficial to an organization.

 

Looking outside-in

Developing an inclusive culture calls for a different approach to communication techniques. Let’s take a look at your closest news-stand or café and experience their approach to diversity… You’ll notice that the newspapers and magazines that are available on these shelves appeal to a wide audience in terms of age, gender, language, hobbies or special interest groups, and so on. Not only do they come in eye-catching designs, good photography and interesting editorial but they have extended their print material to various multimedia platforms. They give consumers the choice of reading the article in the newspaper, watching and rating video-recorded interviews on their website, listening/downloading audio podcast commentary and even make reference to relevant blogs with tags and links to other websites where you can store, share and discover new sites covering subjects that influence your particular life.

Now step back into the workplace and take a look at the internal magazines and house journals produced by most organizations today - A big contrast isn’t it? And yet we are trying to gain the same consumer mind-space. The external picture has become so much more interactive giving users a choice to use their medium of preference and creating opportunities for conversation. They have diversified their approach and are catering for various income, literacy and technological levels. Just as our external audience has become more and more diverse, and are demanding to be treated accordingly, so too has our internal audience. They want their different needs and their relationship with the organization to be acknowledged.

The ‘new’ way of working is focused on matching organizational needs to employees needs. As platforms converge, an integrated communication strategy becomes vital. Organizations need to start taking a customer-focused approach to employees - identify who they are, what is important to them and develop stories and analogies that they can relate to.

After all, you would think twice of sending your customer more than 10 e-mails a day, mailing them a monthly newsletter that is boring, irrelevant and inappropriate or forcing them to attend a full-day conference to present a dull PowerPoint presentation. It has become more beneficial for organizations to approach internal communications with the same rigour and passion that customer communications is approached.

 

How to adopt this approach internally

What exactly do we mean when we speak about looking outside-in? The ancient principles of marketing and communication apply here. Know your audience, segment them and use various platforms to target them more closely. Like a game of chess – use aspects of art and science in your approach.

• Know and understand your audience

Everyone in the organization is the recipient of internal communications. In a sense all are customers. To meet the needs and expectations of customers in this internal market-place it is necessary to understand the organizational context, the employment conditions, requirements and nature of the job – the wider context in which it operates. It’s also important to know your organisations values, social responsibility, management style, organizational practices and the general mood of the organization when connecting the internal communication strategy to the psychology of the business. If the communications programmes meet the needs of the internal customer then the propensity to achieve effective communications is enhanced and the successful management of change issues is fulfilled. To be effective, communications should be based on conversations employees share. Companies need to converse with employees at their level of understanding and interest. The more personal the message, targeted at the individual or the team or work group, the more likely it is to catch the attention of the workforce. The best ambassador for an organization is the person who works for it. Our internal audience is a powerful force and their requirements for communication are basic – timely, relevant, targeted, honest and direct.

• Segment your employees

As part of the planning phase of an internal communications plan you need to consider which messages are relevant to your different audiences and then segment them accordingly. Some employees may only need to be made aware of a particular initiative, while others require detailed information. Different people need to know, want to know, should know and could know different things through different mediums. Likely audience segmentation could include employees’:

• level in the organization e.g. senior management, all management, non-management, specialists
• role in the organization e.g. marketing, sales, operations, human resources, finance
• geographical area e.g. UK, USA or Africa
• interest in the organization e.g. media clippings, competitor research and intelligence, pension funds, medical schemes
• working arrangements e.g. full-time or part-time worker, contractor, office or home-based worker, site or mobile worker
• literacy levels e.g. high school, higher education
• technological proficiencies e.g. none, beginner, intermediary or advanced
• or all employees.

It can sometimes prove impractical to communicate to so many different groups, with so many different needs; in which case cascading the communication to a functional level should be considered. If your organization is large, certain areas within your organization may already have vehicles in place to communicate to their specific departments. It’s advisable to work with them to achieve a more targeted approach. This will also avoid duplication of communication efforts and minimize communication overload. Other communication tools such as the intranet and internal publications are very effective as a means of getting more detailed information to those who need it.

• Target your employees

Selecting the appropriate medium and successful message delivery are directly related – analyse the channels available, evaluate their key features, when to use them and the type of message that they are best suited for. If you want to maintain interest, manage expectations and maintain credibility with your audience, the question you have to ask yourself is why and in which circumstances people would choose to read the communication – and therefore in which format? Looking at each channels advantages, disadvantages, cost, time factors and feedback opportunities will also give you an indication of the feasibility of using them. There are many communication techniques and mediums available today. It is therefore important to list your key messages for the year and get the content mix right, and then choose targeted platforms to engage the right people at the right time for the best results. Consider:

• Who has access to what medium/s
• How cost-effective they are
• What the shelf-life of that communication is (once-off or continuous)
• How many mediums would be appropriate and if they are relevant

Where possible, integrate print and online communication for maximum output and provide cross platform content to your audience– give people the choice to use their medium of preference. Use the most impactful mediums that cover the largest portion of you target audience, without alienating the smaller segment. Be aware of the language you use because people attach different meaning and emotions to words. Your research will help you find that authentic voice in which to speak to your audience. Different mediums serve different purposes. These days employees are looking for an interactive experience. They are connecting with media such as blogs, wiki’s, podcasts, and social networking sites in their personal lives that has created a form of ‘citizen journalism’ and changed their day-to-day lives. Organizations will soon be expected to take the same progressive approach if they are to captivate their internal consumers’ attention. Look at the benefits that social media can offer your company and how it can complement your other communication mediums.

• 5 ways to make it stick

Communications professionals will continue to face the challenge of using and developing media to target audiences more closely. Reaching audiences in innovative ways through sustainable and consistent efforts will remain the cornerstone to effectively communicating with diverse audiences. Besides attending seminars, training and reading publications to consistently renew your knowledge and understanding of communication and learning about new techniques and strategies makes these five keys part of your thinking in keeping your objective alive and refreshed. 1

1. Look at trends: Keep informed about current events, the latest books and popular trends in communications and look at how these impact or can change your approach to communicating with your audiences. Current external trends like the culture of immediacy and using multiple channels or alternative technological media options - these all influence the way we communicated to our internal audiences.
2. Keep it relevant: You must have an objective when communicating with your audience. This keeps your communication relevant and effective. Understand the way your diverse audience lives, works and play and provide value for them by keeping both the content and the medium relevant – always consider the ‘what’s in it for me’ factor.
3. Give senior managers a lead role: Sell the benefits of your communication plan and win commitment and approval upfront that way it’s easier to allocate budget to the various communication activities. - Give management the framework and the tools and processes but allow them to own the content and delivery of communication initiatives. After all they know their people better than you do. - Find out what type of communication training or initiatives would give management the right kind of support to optimize diversity in the organizations communication process and improve their communication skills. - Keep your interaction with management regular to establish a good rapport. Schedule regular meetings to keep them abreast of communication activities and align them to changing business activities.
4. Build innovation: When it comes to people's mind-space - there is always a competitor fighting for a greater share, whether internally or externally - maintain an entrepreneurial mindset. Tap into the organizations creativity - understand emerging social webs, the new publishing landscape and how to use them to release the knowledge and ideas that exist within the organization. Review new technological tools available and the impact it could have on your audience, consider the opportunities that new media bring into the interactive playing field e.g. wiki's, the intranet, corporate blogging and online employee forums. Act on valuable contributions and suggestions given to you through your feedback systems, make it a collaborative effort and more people will buy into the outcome. Benchmark your organization against similar organizations, that way you can keep track of your progress. Beat bigger with better, complex with simple and ordinary with extraordinary when communicating. Imagine employees had to buy your communications – what would you change?
5. Create constructive conversations: Always remember the key principle - the quality of your output depends on the quality of your input. What you focus on is what you get back. Learn to create constructive conversations with your audience - give them a clearer sense of who they are, what they contribute and how they fit in to the organizations goals. - Tell stories – People like to hear about other people, tell stories about different employees and how they bring the organizations strategy to life. - Speak in a language that everyone understands – Use simple, clear language, that is concise and accurate – avoid vague communication and complex ‘corporate speak’ or corporate jargon. Where necessary explain terms that may not be easily understood. Employees don’t want communications to be ‘cool’ but lively and authentic. - Nurture the bond of trust - Be transparent in your communications. Inform and be informed. Let your employee be the first to be informed about any organizational issues and most importantly stay informed about any changes within or outside the organization that could impact the your organizational strategy.

• Find commonality but encourage diversity - Leverage your unique relationship with your employee by acknowledging and encouraging their uniqueness, their needs and their aspirations. -
• Educate - Editorial, design and content quality all play a role in effective communication but education dismisses any misunderstanding that could occur. To avoid any unseen communication problems you need to make it clear to people why you are communicating to them, what’s in it for them and how the message affects them specifically.
• Encourage feedback - Encouraging an open and interactive feedback system that facilitates two-way communication is vital in getting employees to co-design the communication plan. Recognize and cultivate views or experience of your communication from your audience – it is a valuable technique for the enhancement of your communication programmes and is a means of evaluating what worked and what didn’t in your communication campaigns. Remember, if you are not measuring, you’re not managing.

The future of communication and diversity

In the past there was a huge focus on giving information without considering whether people read, understood and actioned the information that was received. Today’s audiences are very different. They are like hamsters on a wheel. They are busy, distracted and more cynical about communication than ever before. They are hit by thousands of messages on a daily basis whether within the organization or outside the organization. And will therefore choose what they like to read over what they have to read. If we are to draw the attention of our internal audience, it has become a necessity more than a luxury to personalize communications and give life to it. Taking a customer-focused approach to employee communications can create a meaningful work experience for our employees and a delightful customer service experience for the consumer who interacts with an informed, creative, productive, empowered and happy employee.

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