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I recently read an article on LinkedIn regarding emoji’s in the workplace for communication. It made me think about how we communicate with our colleagues and clients. The article suggested that using emoji’s ‘de-valued’ an employee’s worth or expertise, and that they should be carefully considered before communicating either internally or externally. My argument – whilst working in a geographically disperse team, where I have only met two of my colleagues, we use many tools to communicate globally.
Group messages, online chat, and our online community page ( company intranet) through our HR software solution allows our global company to share not only company achievements, but personal stories and activities. We also use emojis in these stories regularly as it’s great to express emotions without a multitude of words. Without emoji’s, photos, or continual feedback we are mere machines. Our emails are meaningless, and messaging may not come across as planned, especially when talking to employees or clients who do not speak your first language. Whether you work in an organization that is globally disperse, or if you’re sat in an office 40 hours a week together, communication is key. Sometimes, employees are afraid to voice their opinion in a meeting or via email in case their message is ‘incorrect’ or worded wrongly. The ability to communicate and give real time feedback on a daily or monthly basis allows employees to feel not only that they have a voice, but their work is valued.
The article made me realize that our HR Solution encourages communication and feedback within teams. Not only do we have a company intranet where employee’s can login and see updates, which helps to bring individuals closer as a team, we also use ‘ trackers’ in our performance module. This is a great tool which allows for continuous feedback all year round. We can set it so the whole company can comment on each other, or just each other’s teams. This means when appraisals happen, there is collective feedback from the previous term which the employee can also see accumulating throughout the year. Whilst the Trackers do not allow for emoji, they certainly help to give us a stronger picture of an employees performance throughout the year, and another example of continuous communication. If you’re interested in talking more about how our HR Management Solution can help communication between your teams, and offer real time feedback for employees, please visit www.orangehrm.com