How Do Fortune 500 Companies Excel in Employee Communication and Engagement?

Hi,

I am working on an assignment that deals with employee communications and relations. Could someone tell me what the best practices are followed by Fortune 500 companies? Also, what are the latest trends followed by HR professionals to make employees feel special?

Waiting to hear from you all! 😊

Thanks and regards,
Ganesh

Hey Sunayna & Ganesh,

Good to know that you people are doing a project on employee relations.

Something strange happened with me today in my office. I feel like sharing it with you and having your feedback on the same.

It has become a practice in our office that the appraisals get delayed by about a month or two every year, but the effective date of the salary revision will be 1st April. This year too the same has happened, and we are yet to give out the appraisal forms as we are making some changes in the form to identify the resource gaps and make it more objective. Thus, employees have started complaining about it. The senior management is more concerned about the changes which are supposed to be worked on and want to implement them this year though it gets delayed.

In the course of a discussion, I happened to make a statement, "How does it matter if it gets delayed by a month or two when the effective date of the revision will be the first of the financial year?" One of the managers seems to have felt hurt by this statement.

I am totally confused and wish to know if I really committed a big mistake by stating it or if he is making a hue and cry of nothing. I am about a year old in the HR field.

Looking forward to your reply.

Shradha

Dear Shradha,

I am not an expert in the field of HR to give you sound advice. I can't really say who's wrong here. There are a lot of factors involved - like the tone of your voice when you said it, your working relationship with that person, the situation under which you said those words. I think at the end of the day, if you feel your relationship is strained with that employee because of the statement that was said, you can always apologize. It has never hurt anyone. We, as HR professionals, shouldn't misuse the position and power that come with our profession. I hope this helps you out.

Love & Regards,
Ganesh :mrgreen:

Hi Shraddha,

I'm a little confused. Changes are to be made in the performance appraisal, right? And that is the reason for the delay? And that is why the employees are annoyed?

Let me know if I got it right, and I will answer really soon.

Hi, Shradha...
Try using a really slow internet. Click on one link; it will take ages to open. Eventually, it will open, and your internet cable guy is going to charge you only for the data transfer, so financially you are not at a loss. But what about the time taken?

All of them want to know how much raise they have got. Some of them might have already made assumptions and budgets accordingly. One delay can make a lot of difference at different levels. Financially, they may not be affected, but what anxiety, curiosity, suspense... How many people can handle that, especially when it is somebody else's fault who is not having excellent relations with the person?

But here we are deviating from the topic started by Ganesh.

Dear Ganesh,

I have not worked for Fortune 500, so I don't know much about the practices followed by them, but I would definitely like to know. If you get any material, please post it on the forum so that all of us can benefit.

Ajmal Mirza

Hi Sharada,

I think the person got angry not due to the delay in the salary revision but because he may not like the changes that are going to happen in the appraisal. It is just resistance to change. So, this salary issue has been taken as the way to express his anger. I think before you change the appraisal, try to see how well it is being welcomed by the people who are going to face that change.

Okay, see you. Have a nice time.

Bye