4 Curiously Relevant 15o Year Old Remedies for Flagging HR-led Communication

 Feeling the pressure to process more data and even more metrics?Weighed down with the burden of absorbing copious raw facts on the fly and convert them into intelligent and useful information?Buckling under the obligation to communicate value and results constantly and compellingly across many media channels?Juggling the demands to share information using different communication styles to suit diverse audience preferences and needs?

• Employee Assessments and Surveys
• Recruitment Marketing and Advertising.
• Learning and Development.
• Internal Communications.
• Policies and Procedures.
• Employee Handbooks.
• Job Descriptions/Role Profiles

The list goes on and on.Producing engaging, valuable and business relevant communication in this ever-changing world of work is hard – really HARD. Now this is all very grey and gloomy. Before we proceed, consider this.

Q: Do you want to deliver compelling HR-led Communication that grabs attention and persuades your audience to act?

A: Heck, yes!

Let’s add a little levity and fun to the task via a homage to creativity and the wisdom hidden in between the wit and whimsy of a fantastical 150 year old story -  Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”.

The Remedy

“Drink me” prescription: 1 Teaspoon of Whimsy, Wit and Wisdom to be taken daily.Follow me down the rabbit hole for curiously relevant 15o year old remedies for flagging HR-led communication from the second book of Alice’s adventures - Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There.1. The Power of the Written WordChapter: Humpty Dumpty“The question is,” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.”From reports to blogs, from recruitment advertisements to employee newsletters, from social media content to policies and procedures, the title of Ann Handley’s best-selling book proclaims these days, ‘Everybody Writes’. Of course you know you need to grab and keep your readers’ attention. Make no mistake content is King and Queen. Time to lavish love and attention on your writing skills.Pressed for time?Ann Handley’s book is a practical how-to guide to get your romance with compelling and meaningful content creation off to a great start.  I use my copy like a quick reference guide when I need to write any kind of content. “The question is,” said Humpty Dumpty, “which is to be master – that’s all […] They’ve a temper, some of them – particularly verbs, they’re the proudest – adjectives you can do anything with, but not verbs- however I can manage the whole lot of them!”Transform your content from the yawn-inducing functional and transactional blah.Wrestle with vexatious verbs. Channel your inner Uri Geller and bend adjectives to your purpose.Need help?Snackable, easy-to-apply tips are on hand for the busy and the picky from Henneke Duistermaat over at Enchanting Marketing.Dip into 4 Types of Weak Words: How to Spice Up Bland Content to whet your appetite and then move on to other courses to add energy and clarity of purpose to your communication.2. The Power of a NameAlice and Humpty Dumpty exchange words.“My name is Alice, but-”“It’s a stupid name enough! […] “What does it mean?”“Must a name mean something?” Alice asked doubtfully.“Of course it must,” Humpty Dumpty said, with a short laugh: “my name means the shape I am – and a good handsome shape it is too.”Humpty Dumpty finds Alice’s name stupid as it fails to communicate anything about who or what she is.In an employment context, a job title carries the purpose and aspirations of the individual employee and organisation community.  Proper names have profound significance and meaning.The days of the job roles and functions remaining static stagnant for years are long past. Regular review of roles, function and job titles is mandatory in today’s dynamic and fluid organisations.HR leaders have a critical role to play.  They must ensure that priority and energy is directed in choosing job/role titles and collective employee tribe name with meaning. Take decisive action to root out irrelevant job/role titles and, where needed (re)name your organisation’s tribe to suit the organisation’s culture and infuse relevance to your tribe’s work.3. The Power of the Speaking Up and OutChapter: Queen Alice“Please, would you tell me-” Alice began, looking timidly at the Red Queen.“Speak when you’re spoken to!” the Queen sharply interrupted her.“But if everybody obeyed that rule,” said Alice […] “and if you only spoke when you were spoken to, and the other person always waited for you to begin, you see nobody would ever say anything,…”Keeping your head down, busying with transactional administrative activities alone will not lead to HR being extended an invitation into the royal enclosure.For HR to claim a seat at the top table with the other decision-makers in the organisation, HR leaders must be;a) willing and able to speak up with clarity on areas where HR adds strategic value and tactical meaning to the business.b) ready and willing to speak out to defend the organisation from the infection of negative un-brand behaviours and values which do not serve the employee community and by extension the business.4. The Power of Knowing when NOT to speakChapter: The Garden of Live Flowers“O Tiger-lily,” said Alice, addressing herself to one that was waving gracefully about in the wind, “I wish you could talk!”“We can talk,” said the Tiger-lily: “when there’s anybody worth talking to.” Inject these 4 compelling tips into your broadcasts and conversations, and lift flagging HR-led communications out of the doldrums.Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy 5 Useful Decision-making Tips to Make Sense from Nonsense.So until we meet again next week down The HR Rabbit Hole…