Internal communications are important for any company no matter its size or industry.
Think of internal comms as the “nervous system” of your organization. Just like our body needs a healthy nervous system to carry out functions in a systematic manner, a strong internal comms strategy is needed for an organization to function effectively.
When it comes to internal communications for manufacturing companies, having an internal comms strategy specifically for manufacturing employees is particularly crucial. These employees are hands-on. They’re not sitting in front of their computers all day, which can make them more challenging to reach using typical communications channels.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that the production line moves efficiently without any interruption. This is no small feat and it’s not exclusively linked to internal communications, but internal communications can definitely help achieve this outcome.
There are four types of internal communications that we believe every manufacturing organization must apply.
- Leadership communication
- Management to employee communication (Top-down)
- Employee-up communication (bottom-up)
- Peer-to-peer communication
We’ll discuss how each of these apply to a manufacturing company.
1. Leadership Communication
“The art of communication is the language of leadership.”
-James Humes
When I started working as a content writer, I was practically an entry level writer. I was reporting to my editor and I got feedback from him on all my writing. I remember one day, three months in to my role, the Chief Editor walked by, and even though she was hurrying to catch up a meeting, she stopped by me and said, “Your article on Perks of Being a Travel & Tour’s Guide was amazing. Keep up the good work!” Those words still echo 15 years later.
Feedback from leadership can leave a lasting impression. Manufacturing companies must understand the need for communication between leaders and workers to boost productivity and make the employees feel appreciated.
This doesn’t have to be one-to-one communication like it was in the story I shared above. That’s simply not realistic or sustainable for large companies with thousands of workers working different shifts. But posting leadership content on your intranet or sending it via email may fail to reach these workers.
One smart and effective way to deliver leadership messages to manufacturing employees is by using SMS or a company-branded mobile App. With Sparrow Connected’s solution, manufacturing employees can receive these communications without even having a company email address.
2. Management to Employee Communication (top-down)
“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.”
- Anthony Robbins
Top-down communications are typically business protocols, plans, strategies, and directions being passed from management to employees. Communicating these clearly and in a timely manner is especially important because a lack of communication of critical information could result in failures on the production line.
We mentioned SMS and mobile Apps as being the most effective channels for reaching manufacturing workers. If those are not available to you or you’re taking an omnichannel approach, you can look to other channels, including:
- Intranet
- Portals
- Slack
- Email
- Microsoft Teams
We’ve also heard from other manufacturing companies that digital and paper signage in the manufacturing facilities are effective ways to supplement digital communications to really ensure the messages are being received.
3. Employee-up Communication (bottom-up)
In manufacturing, production line workers are the engines of the company. They know the products and processes better than any other department in the company because they’re hands-on, day in and day out. This is why communication from the bottom-up is so important in manufacturing.
Asking for input, feedback and suggestions on a regular basis can help manufacturing employees feel valued and connected to the greater organization. Rather than relying on surveys that typically have a low response rate, try using a platform like Sparrow Connected that lets employees react to internal communications by liking and commenting on content. Use the engagement data and comments to get a better understanding of what’s important to manufacturing employees and what they’re thinking and feeling and use this information to improve not only your internal communications but your business operations as well.
4. Peer-to-Peer Communication
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” – George Bernard Shaw
Peer-to-peer communication is organic in every workplace, including in manufacturing. While the conversations that are happening between employees cannot be controlled, companies can take steps to guide the conversations and promote safe, healthy, and positive communication between peers.
Keeping a positive culture where employees feel safe and accepted on the manufacturing floor pays dividends in output and productivity. If things that happen in the organization are not communicated or are communicated poorly, employees will make up their own stories and the rumor mill will start running. I’ve seen this many many times in my own career. To prevent this, internal communications need to ensure that accurate information is being shared and be the source of truth for important news and information. The internal communications team needs to strive to be the source of truth in order to prevent toxic gossip and rumors.
Step up your manufacturing communications.
It’s time to start communicating more effectively with manufacturing employees. But before you do so, make sure you have the technology you need to deliver your content to the channels these employees actually use (think mobile) and that you can measure, analyze, and report on the impact of your communications – not the number of reads or likes – but the outcomes of your strategy that impact the business.
Check out Sparrow Connected. The communication platform that is accelerating business performance and elevating the world's communication leaders.
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