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Many HR professionals will tell you that they were disappointed with employee attendance or employee response to company communication events.
In what follows, we will discuss events that are voluntary rather than those where attendance is mandatory. We will examine why some of these things can go so wrong and disappoint the sponsoring organization.
Why is the hiring of employees so low in terms of available places?
It is impossible to say for sure and further analysis would be required.
Typically, however, poor employee attendance at company-sponsored events can be attributed to one of two generic things:
- morale in your organization is low and/or;
- there’s something fundamentally wrong with the logistics of the session, which means it’s either not in the interest of most employees or it’s just too difficult for them to be there.
Our post-event feedback analysis showed that most employees did not find the session helpful. Why is that?
Again, some detailed questionnaires would need to be filled out to get to the bottom of that. However, an extremely common factor in such negative responses is often the fact that employees perceive the material as simply not relevant to them in their daily jobs.
For example, some corporate events unfortunately involve senior managers essentially “dumping brains” into employees.
It is highly desirable that employees participate, in advance, to help define the objectives, structure, and agenda of the session, rather than simply imposing on them what management thinks they need to know.
Why did some refuse to attend because of its effect on their personal lives?
The old first, second, last company models have long since disappeared from the minds of many employees.
If you schedule sessions to take place at a date and time that is convenient for your organization and minimizes work interruption, but at the same time negatively impacts your employees’ home lives, you can expect resentment.
How can we guarantee a higher occupation of the available positions by the employees next time?
Numerous studies have shown the following to be effective:
- provide transportation for employees. Even limousine rentals can be extremely profitable. If the numbers are higher, use a luxury coach instead;
- consult employees in advance and ensure that items that are of direct daily relevance to them and their jobs will be covered;
- structure your session so that there is more interaction rather than a series of presentations, do not hold them in places or times that will cause a serious interruption in the personal lives of the employees concerned;
- plan the work impact of the session. Employees are unlikely to attend enthusiastically if they know they’ll have twice their backlog of work on their desk the next day when they return.
Why are some sessions at these events unpopular?
This has already been covered in many of the answers above, but a key point is about interest levels.
A recent presentation at a major employee communication session was on the “mechanics of the balance sheet.” By definition, and with all due respect to accountants, this type of session is highly unlikely to be of interest to the vast majority of employees.
Another key point here is that some organizations insist on putting people in front of an audience who have had little or no public speaking training. While some people may be naturally gifted in this area, many are not.
The end result of someone lacking both innate abilities and any form of developmental training can be extremely painful and embarrassing.
How can we turn our corporate communication events around?
If you’re really struggling to get people to show up and show that they’ve enjoyed the session when they do, minor cosmetic changes are highly unlikely to solve the problem.
Failure breeds failure and once your corporate events have gotten a bad rap among employees, it is highly unlikely to change unless radical action is taken.
It may be necessary to wrap them up for now, while you call in specialists who can help you rebuild and relaunch them in terms of employee perceptions.