In global, highly matrixed companies, it's important to make sure multiple audiences feel valued by the company. Sometimes this can feel like a zero-sum game, where recognition for one department or seniority level has to come at the expense of the other.But when your company is operating optimally, every single employee will contribute to the success of the whole organization. When employees see their contributions moving the company forward, they're likely to be more engaged, happier and more productive (and that's a rarity right now). Use these strategies to help multiple employee audiences feel valued.
A great way to show the strength of multiple teams at once and make celebrities of them is to show how they work together to complete projects. When you key in on cross-functional work, it reduces the perception that one department is more important than another.Employees throughout the company can feel that they're stakeholders in the company's success as they collaborate with other teams. One great way to implement this is to publicize success on a big project by getting input from stakeholders on multiple teams and to specifically have them share how they worked across functions. This could turn into a video or newsletter article.
When you show how different employees have moved up throughout your company, especially from a role on the front lines to a leadership position, you can help employees at lower seniority levels feel included. It's easy for non-desk or unsalaried workers to feel overlooked by the company. By sharing stories of leaders who've been promoted from those ranks, you communicate that you actively look for key decisions makers in those groups.When you give attention to the stories of these leaders, you're also recognizing the hard work that those people are doing today, and you can reinforce the values your organization prizes. Share career development stories through newsletters or in town halls and you'll cultivate increased buy-in across seniority levels.
In any organization, some groups are going to be less visible at times. Boost engagement with multiple audiences when you actively look for who isn't being recognized — these people will likely fall into the dreaded "not engaged" category that defines stagnant organizations.In particular, there are a few groups that often go unnoticed in communications to employees. Are your town hall speakers always from the US and never any of the other countries in your company? Do your newsletters only feature photos of men in leadership? Do you talk a lot about operations, but never accounting or marketing? When you include more groups in your communications, you make it easier for all employees to see themselves as a key contributor.
You know where you want your company to go over the next five years, and hopefully your employees do too. You'll engage multiple audiences when you specifically show each of them how they'll help the company reach its objectives. You can do this by sharing a department's relationship to the vision in their department specific resources, or by breaking down company goals with how each department contributes on your intranet.Looking to boost engagement with all your different audiences? Tribe can help.
