The easiest way to connect with your Employees

Now’s the time to communicate like a pro. This means inspiring and informing your people when they're afraid and uncertain. And it means doing it in a way that is clear and simple to understand and that's going to grab their attention. The best comms and engagement tool for this right now? Video.

Video - from animated and explainer vids to live action and whiteboard videos - is already seen as a vital component of successful employee communication initiatives, and at times when the sky comes falling down it really becomes an indispensable tool in your engagement arsenal.

Here are a few reasons why I see it as the Swiss Army knife of comms during times of crisis:

It cuts through the noise

When the going gets tough, rumours and fake news fly thick and fast. Video - especially when its slick and well produced - can be used to grab your workforce’s attention and help you communicate clearly, creatively and effectively without any room for erroneous interpretation.

It brings everyone into the fold

Remote working has suddenly become a part of most companies’ way of working, whether they’re accustomed to it or not. If your employees are not quite used to the notion of collaborating from home, the medium of video can make all the difference. Plus, at a time when as many as 42% of large South African organisations have some employees working from home full-time and up to 56% of South Africans regularly telecommute, it's time to embrace this medium whether it was on your immediate to-do list prior to recent developments or not.

INSIDER TIP: Problems that may arise from having to adapt to working from home unexpectedly aren’t limited to the technical aspects of the job. Many of your employees may become lonely and this could affect their engagement and overall productivity. This is yet another reason why video makes all the difference.

It’s quicker and more effective

Collaborating via email can be long-winded and laborious, especially when you’re trying to explain complicated information and want to get to the point quickly. Video calls, visual communication, video emails and company-wide live streams can get everyone on the same page quickly and save a lot of time in situations like these.

It’s great for engagement

Even before the proverbial pawpaw hit the fan, local statistics told us that only 9% of the South African workforce is actively engaged and that of the 91% who were disengaged, 45% were actively disengaged (i.e. very negative about their job environment and likely to spread the negativity to co-workers). This is pretty bad at a time when we know that highly engaged teams always outperform their competitors.

Video is a great tool for engagement because your employees are already used to digesting information in this way. In fact, the average human currently watches around 84 minutes of video per day on social media and other online platforms, and it's estimated that this number will increase to 100 minutes in the coming year. As such, it only makes sense to speak to them in a way they're used to.

There you have it – a few reasons why this is the time to show rather than tell.

Please feel free to reach out to me if you’d like guidance around clearer communication and easier collaboration during this time.

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