Employee Engagement, Employee Surveys, Speaking
Industrial gases firm Messer shares tips for keeping employees informed without distracting them from essential work.
How you communicate with employees has a profound impact on workplace culture.
For Messer Americas, an industrial and medical gases manufacturer, building a better workplace required rethinking how it connected with frontline employees and the unique challenges it faced reaching this segment of the population.
鈥淲e have a very diverse employee population with job roles that provide a spectrum of connectedness,鈥� says
Changing strategies
To solve these challenges, Messer has been experimenting with different ways of putting information in front of its frontline workers. For drivers, each day starts with logging into a company system to check their route for the day.
鈥淲hen we want somebody to take an action, we鈥檒l put a little pop-up message onto the system because we know our drivers will log into it every day,鈥� says scores, especially when the team looked at frontline employees.
Metrics on employee pride jumped nine points, and the number of employees who said they were kept informed about important business changes jumped six-points.
鈥淭hat ties to communications,鈥� Long says. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e seeing a similar percentage increase from our employees across the board 鈥� both in the office and the field. It shows that our efforts are working to reach our frontline folks.鈥�
Now Messer鈥檚 comms team always works with HR to check their 逸遊娛樂城庐 survey results before rolling out a new initiative.
鈥淎nytime we go to do any sort of large endeavor now, we pull up our 逸遊娛樂城 [results] and get a sense of how that demographic is feeling,鈥� Janik says. 鈥淲e use 贰尘辫谤颈蝉颈苍驳鈩� as a gut check all of the time 鈥� we鈥檙e regularly using it to know our audience.鈥�
Connecting to purpose
More employees are reporting pride in their work for Messer in part because the team is doing more to connect employees to the purpose of the company.
鈥淚ndustrial gases pretty much touch every industry out there,鈥� Janik says. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter whether you鈥檙e picking up a piece of electronics or you are grabbing a can of pop, the gases business is a part of the creation of all of those products.
Employees love hearing more about how our gases provide solutions essential to our world and lives.鈥�
Tips for better frontline connections
Here are some tips from Messer鈥檚 leaders about how your organization can improve frontline communication:
1. Don't be afraid to try something new
鈥淲ith communications, things are always changing,鈥� says Long. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a new tool, a new platform, it feels like every second.鈥�
To evaluate whether something is a good fit for your employees, consider your audience. 鈥淚f part of your population is still using a flip phone, it鈥檚 likely they are not on Instagram,鈥� Long says. 鈥淵ou have to know how they want to communicate.鈥�
2. Meet employees where they already go
Consider the technology your employees use, Long says.
Find the places where they already go to accomplish their work. 鈥淔or those employees that use a time sheet, bring information to them there,鈥� Long says.
3. Newer isn鈥檛 always better
A printed communication mailed home might feel old-fashioned, but Long says that traditional tactics still have something to offer depending on your goal.
鈥淵ou are bringing the news to them in their home,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t touches their family. You get to build a sense of pride not only with the employee, but their family base. Some of those things are valuable touch points that still work.鈥�
4. Find ambassadors to increase listening efforts
At Messer, a program it calls the Employee Circle allows leaders to curate feedback from a range of employees. Three or four times a year, a team of 11 volunteers commit to speaking with at least five other employees, in addition to providing their own feedback to leadership.
They are provided with an agenda or two or three questions, and their work consistently surfaces feedback that would never be captured in a survey.
鈥淧eople will say to them, 鈥榃ell, I'd never put this in a survey 鈥� but since I鈥檓 talking to my friend, I know you鈥檙e not going to sell me out,鈥欌�� Janik explains.
5. Make it easy for leaders to connect
If you want frontline employees to feel more connected with top leaders, make sure they have resources to share important information with their teams.
鈥淭hey know their team best, their workers are talking to them and engaging with them,鈥� Long says. 鈥淢ake it easy for them to tell your story.鈥�
Get more insights
Learn more strategies from our workplace culture experts at our For All鈩� Summit, April 8-10, 2025 in Las Vegas, NV.
