Member Article

Yorkshire communications specialist creates new way to Welcome Back employees when lockdown eases

A Leeds-based communications agency has created a Covid-19 ‘Re-boarding Portal’ for businesses looking for a clear and consistent way to communicate with employees as the country starts to consider how and when to get back to work.

Employer brand agency Chatter Communications has created the ‘Welcome Back’ portal following insight gained from a group created to enable HR professionals to stay connected and share best practice during the pandemic.

Members of the ThinkTanc LinkedIn group and wider business connections are being regularly surveyed by Chatter to find out about their experience of the current situation, from both the employer and employee perspective. Communication was found to be a key issue, with 40 per cent of employees currently on furlough saying that more regular communications from their employer would be welcomed. Although 67 per cent of respondents had praise for the way their furlough was initially communicated, positivity fell to 53 per cent when respondents were asked how they felt about on-going communications, with this having a knock on impact about how positive they felt about returning to work.

Figures show one in five people are currently furloughed, some 6.3 million people – with most others getting to grips with changed work environments, from working at home to social distancing.

Welcome Back acts as a re-boarding tool both for those who have been furloughed and those who are adapting to changing working conditions either at home or at business premises. Working as an out of the box microsite which can be live within a week, the hub is personalised to meet an individual company’s requirements. The portal can be home to a multitude of information including communications from the leadership team; updates on company news; IT, health and wellbeing support; details of new procedures and back to work checklists.

Paul Ainley, managing director at Chatter, said: “Fake news is something we’ve all been very aware of during this crisis – and the same thing happens at an individual business level. The jungle drums can be dangerous and in a void of information, people often jump to their own conclusions. It is clear through our ThinkTanc LinkedIn group that HR teams are busy planning for the next stage of getting back to work but are looking for ways to centralise consistent and clear communication. Similarly, it is apparent that employees often aren’t sure what is going on and that is making them anxious. Their feedback is that they don’t want generic or vague communications – even though they appreciate companies might not have all the answers yet, they want to feel reassured and valued.

“This isn’t a box ticking exercise, it’s about helping people have access to everything they need, updated as regularly as is required, and to give a positive experience of getting back to work. From a business perspective it also helps people get back up and running as quickly and efficiently as possible. There have been some high-profile examples of businesses which have fallen out of favour with the wider public because of the way they’ve treated employees during this time, so it’s more important than ever to get that communication right.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Shona Nutter .