Employee Engagement in changing times of Social Media Communication

Many employers think of converting a recruit to an employee the same manner as conversion of a girlfriend/boyfriend to wife/husband — once they sign on the dotted line, the romance between company and employee goes away, and they’re left on their own to deal with everyday work issues. Marriages can only last if both sides honestly communicate between them. So transparency in communication is what matters for better engagement. It is also essential for organization to practice integration of forward and backward communication channels as it help to analyze whether expected messaging has reached all the stakeholders in uniformed manner. This has been proved by various studies and every one of us will agree. Rather organization has to strategize engagement levels for different set of employees as each person is different so have to engage on different level.

It is clear that employees want consumer-like experiences. They don't want a job; they want a career with growth objectives. Money matters less, than fun, purpose and work-life balance. Regular engagement surveys are conducted to monitor employees' engagement levels at work. The future of employees depends not on their qualifications and skills, but their capacity to self-brand in the age of social marketing.

Marketing and human resource departments can play vital role in engaging and developing employees through a combination of initiatives digital and non – digital as well. In future the businesses admired by consumers / customers will be the best places to work, and being employed by those organizations will strengthen employees' personal brand image, which in turn will support the growth of organization. Finally as, LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner said, “The world's best recruiters are increasingly thinking like the world's best marketers." Marketing is about storytelling, influencing and creating a differentiation in the story about brand.

In last decade the growth in technology has fueled increased in communication, bridging gap between the two worlds i.e. marketing and HR, despite apparent differences between these two functions, the digital world has brought them closer by eliminating differences between employees and consumers. So much so, those organizations have started seriously considering hiring their best customers.

Social media has revolutionized internal communications, allowing companies to communicate directly and instantly with their stakeholders i.e. employees, marking a shift from the traditional monologue, to dialogue between company and employees. Digital disruption by social media has increased channels of communication combining multimedia opportunities for better engagement with employees. Organizations have been increasingly thinking of launching internal social networks for engaging with stakeholders.   

Importance of COMMUNICATION in Healthcare

Every industry has realised the importance of communication. The constitution itself proclaims Right for Information. This same stands true in Healthcare scenario. But their is a difference, because a small mistake in Healthcare Communication can create a huge crisis. Healthcare is related to Wellbeing, Life, Health, basically connected to us HUMANS. Hence entitles for utmost care in communication.

The Healthcare sector has realised this and to the birth of specialised communication consultants like Bioquest, Imprimis Life Therapy, Sorento Healthcare, Watermelon advertising, etc. It is rightly said "Need is the Mother of Invention", so it is important to understand this sector companies, their offerings and briefs. These specialised consultants have resources trained and experienced to understand the nitty gritties, issues, Government policies, Information on new innovations, discoveries, etc.

In Indian scenario Healthcare Communication is mostly managed by experienced resources, but it still lacks the understanding coz doctors themselves are not involved. The international trend involves doctors coz they bring with them the understanding on those Healthcare subjects/issues.

India lacks Healthcare professionals, so it is very difficult to involve them as resources in the business of Communication. Now, what can be the probable solution to this problem of resources?

According to my suggestion the Healthcare Communication Consultants can use experienced Medical representatives as advisers. They are lots of Medical Representatives working for different Pharmaceutical companies, Lab automation manufacturers, etc. Medical Representatives interact with doctors daily and equipped with information on specific diseases, they also have understanding on Healthcare issues and policies. Medical representatives are the marketing executives of the Pharma companies and also their Brand Ambassadors who often meet the Doctor’s (Clients).

It is also important to take help from KPOs working in Healthcare sector coz, they are the people who conduct surveys, prepare reports on diseases and drugs, which are then shared with the key doctor’s. This helps the doctor’s to get better understanding about the products/ drugs.
But, taking into account ICMRs (Indian Council of Medical Research) liberal policies in this era, lot of Healthcare companies are investing to develop communication strategy, to differentiate itself from the competition. This industry is also experiencing lot of lobbying through govt associations, media and policy makers, so the portfolio of the Communication consultants has also grown or increased. It is difficult to predict how big Healthcare Communication industry will grow. But the Indian Healthcare Industry is expected to grow @ 12% annually taking the total worth of this industry to US $25 billion (approximately Rs. 1, 00,313 crores) by 2010.