“Forty of our volunteer staff for tomorrow’s event called out,” Samantha, your operations coordinator, tells you.
“We’ve got to get on the phones,” you respond anxiously. “We’ll be in a bad position if we’re short forty people tomorrow night.”
“I’m on it,” Samantha shouts. She rushes out of her cubicle and begins recruiting Brian, Ashley, and Kerry from guest services.
“I’ll see if we can get some of the security guys to help us too,” Brian tells the group. He walks out of the Administration office in a hurry.
15 minutes later, a few guys from the security team stroll in behind Brian to lend an extra hand.
“We need forty people,” you remind the group. “Let’s start calling,” you scream one more time before realizing something.
“Wait, who do we call,” you ask Samantha. She’s flush, and you already know what she’s going to say.
“Luke keeps the list of event staff in a folder that he always carries,” she stutters. “He always has it with him in case he needs to call for extra help or make arrangements with temp staff,” she continues.
Without delay, Samantha gasps as she puts what might be the final nail in your coffin. “Luke’s out sick.”
You have no choice. You call Luke and make the 90-minute trek to his house.
But, you have text communication!
So, why didn’t you use this system to communicate with employees from the beginning?
The Proactive Way to Communicate with Hundreds of Staff
We’re used to talking about text communication for the customer experience.
But, we’ll admit – we never share how it benefits you from a human resources perspective.
That’s why you’ve got to keep reading.
Regardless of your property type, you have a lot of staff.
Whether it’s 20 or 400 or 7,000 staff members, you need to communicate to your employees.
How are you currently communicating with your full-time, part-time, and temporary employees?
We’d guess:
- Phone;
- Email; or
- A costly time clock solution that charged you tens of thousands of dollars to get their solution up to par for your operation
So, which one is it?
We hope you read this before you commit to number three, especially if you’re already using text communication for customers.
Talking to your staff is as easy as communicating with customers. Trust us; it’s simple.
Send out urgent messages to staff:
- Emergency alerts
- Severe weather notifications
- Traffic alerts
- Work requests (Applies to our introduction scenario)
- Work schedule changes
- Schedule meetings
- Anything else you might need to communicate to several hundred staff members at once
Now, what’s the beauty of all of this?
Coordinate with your staff in the same system you use to communicate with your customers.
Keep reading; we’ll show you how easy it is.
Value of Text Communication for Human Resource Management
Today, you need to start using your software solution for staff communication.
- User Groups Are an HR Game Changer
- ‘See’ Who Has Responded
- Track Conversations to Review Need-To-Know Details
- Efficient Staff Communication Is Vital for Proactive Operations
- Get the Facts on Staff Adoption
User Groups Are an HR Game Changer
This step is where your start.
Create user groups for employee-related communication.
It’s a convenient way to communicate critical information.
Samantha contacts 150 employees in the “Available for Work’ user group, rather than relying on Luke’s list.
She sends an alert to the group, automatically or manually, and includes other administrative personnel like yourself.
You’re in the loop, and nothing slips through the cracks.
This process is quick.
Now, we wait.
‘See’ Who Has Responded
Less than 60 seconds later, 12 employees reply.
Received messages are color-coded for efficiency.
Samantha has a visual representation of the new messages.
Samantha can mark each message based on the status.
A few people confirmed available for tomorrow night’s event, but others cannot make it.
She can see the outcome in your solution.
Prioritize messages in real time.
Samantha will now know which stage in the process the message is.
She might be waiting on confirmation, or she’s going back and forth with an employee to work through a few details.
The system prevents any confusion.
Samantha – and the rest of your team – can get tomorrow night’s event covered in no time.
Track Conversations to Review Need-To-Know Details
Your conversation thread provides your employees with an in-depth visualization of what’s occurring.
The system displays the thread of any two-way conversation in progress.
Remember the two-way conversation we mentioned Samantha might have, in the last section?
Your discussion thread helps manage dialogue with employees.
It’s in an organized format.
All messages are reviewable for relevant information.
Use this solution to make real-time human resources decisions.
Efficient Staff Communication Is Vital for Proactive Operations
Response templates let Samantha and the rest of your team respond to a message in a couple of clicks.
Predetermine and create responses for different types of communication between your administrative staff and employees.
- Meeting confirmations and details
- Work request confirmations
- Details of a canceled event
- Traffic alerts for a last-minute emergency staff meeting
We’re sure there are plenty of response templates you can create to talk to staff.
All of this helps your efforts to get things done promptly.
It’s Proactive Operations.
Get the Facts on Staff Adoption
A solution is only as good as how much it’s used.
We talk about text communication often.
We also explain how they’re only as valuable as their usage.
Reporting and analytics give you the insight needed to know staff adoption.
We hope everyone gets on board, but only data will tell you the truth.
- How many people respond to communication?
- How long does it take for staff to answer?
- Do you receive more participation from texting, email, or phone?
People like texting because it’s discreet, easy, and doesn’t require too much interaction.
We’re confident the numbers will fall in its favor.
Over to You
Often, text communication is only used for customer service-related situations. However, this software solution is robust with other useful benefits, including communicating with your staff.
Implement this system to take Proactive Operations from your customer-facing operation into human resources. Save time and money while you lose the headaches of communicating with 20 or 7,000 employees.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2016 and has been updated for comprehensiveness and freshness.
