Keeping it real

I like to think of myself as an optimist; the type of girl whose wine glass is always half full. But I also believe there is a time and a place for honesty. Even if it presents a less than appealing reality that I would rather fling off my stilettos and run away from than face head on. It's all a matter of balance and having a solid connection with the real world. In the corporate world it could be called emotional intelligence - something that is instinctive in all great internal communicators.

I am a great believer in the power of internal communications - employee engagement is so important in driving forward a united, motivated workforce. But it's not easy. Especially at the moment. Honest communication with staff is a lot more scary when things aren’t going well. The sound of lively chatter and champagne corks popping to celebrate a new deal have in the last year gradually been replaced with miserable silence. The carefully thought out newsletters, intranets and forums that thrived in the good times are now a chore as you scramble around to find any good news stories to cover up the grim reality of the recession.

The question I pose is: Should we be trying to fool our employees by providing communications that offer them nothing more than rose-tinted glasses?

Not in my opinion, although others may disagree. Burying our heads in the sand and trying to pretend the good times never ended isn't going to engage disgruntled employees. But it may just insult them. As companies face unachievable bonus targets, pay freezes, redundancies and reshuffles, staff are left unsettled and disillusioned.

But they’re not delusional. Morale won’t suddenly rise from the deepest of ditches and reach an all time high just because a communication goes out about a new contract and inviting them to a cake sale. No matter how yummy the baked produce is.

Employees will, however, want to know the true situation, understand the impact on them and the role they can play in recovery. Internal communications, therefore, need to be balanced to be meaningful and honest in order to motivate the support of employees. Otherwise all the effort to create glowing intranet stories and amusing newsletter features risks being dismissed as leadership propaganda.

I'm not trying to spread doom and gloom, but we shouldn't be too scared to cover the difficult subjects too. They are after all, the ones that will dominate water cooler gossiping and feed a potentially morale murdering rumour mill if allowed to fester.