In Part 1 of this post I talked about why HR needs marketing communication role. I left you with the idea that communication is a sender-encoded transmission delivered to a device-decoding receiver.
What does that mean? It means when you try to sell talent management transformation to your organization by putting up a poster in the lunch room (or any communication channel), that message gets decoded by the employees.
So what does all this have to do with getting your managers to adopt a new talent management system?
Well, just about everything… Look at the example of two messages below.
MESSAGE 1:
“We’ve made a significant investment in a new talent management system that will save considerable time and expense in managing our talent programs, and ensure every employee has the opportunity to be considered for long-term growth opportunities.”
Sender-Encoded Messages: (what is intended)
• Company is investing in tools for managers
• Saves time & expense
• Employees will be treated fairly and be considered for future
Receiver-Decoded Messages: (what is heard)
• Another system? Really?
• Company values cost cutting
• Consider (about as passive of a word as possible with no promises)
Has the person sending this message really spent any time thinking about the value of the new system to the employee or manager, or rooted the message in an overall talent management or business strategy?
Contrast the above with…
MESSAGE 2:
“As a manager, your time shouldn’t be spent trying to wrestle with how to enter and store talent information. You shouldn’t have to worry whether your people are being treated fairly. We want to provide you with the right tools to make sure you’re able to do what you do best: build and align a top performing team to meet our business goals.”
Sender-Encoded Messages (what is intended):
• Company values the manager’s time
• Company values employee contribution
• Empower managers to use talent management tools to build and align team to meet business goals
Receiver-Decoded Messages (what is heard):
• I am valued
• My people are valued
• A tool that works the way I need it to work to be successful
In both cases, HR may still need to nag some managers enter data correctly and meet timelines. In both cases, HR will need to enforce consistent policies that may affect how people feel about their talent and processes. In both cases, HR will likely have to deal with folks who blame “the system” for a range of frustrations.
However, once the value has been clearly established in the mind of the user – and linked to the business strategy – users will find ways to knock down barriers to realize the value of your talent management efforts, rather than put up obstacles that get in the way of them.
The other thing that is so important is not to talk about the system but talk about a new HR transformed process. Blame the process, not the system. Once you blame the system, harder to regain credibility then to tweak the process.
Another infusion of knowledge…
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