Everything you need to know about employee communication training

It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, to put their best foot forward, your team need to be highly skilled, effective communicators.
The consequences of poor communication could be detrimental to your organization. From completing tasks incorrectly and employee and customer misunderstandings to low morale and impacted productivity.

Why is communication training for employees so important?

Effective communication is both about delivering your message clearly, and the other person actively listening and receiving it. Good communication in the workplace (and in life) is a two way street. It’s as much about active listening as it is about talking or getting your message across.

When modern organizations work across so many channels, it’s more important than ever to have good lines of communication in place. And this is where your employee communication training comes in.

Whether you’re training for difficult 1:1 conversations, presenting to a crowd or effective remote working, staff communication training should quickly make its way to the top of your list.

What are the consequences
of poor communication skills?

Some examples include:

Poor quality leadership

If your leaders and managers can’t effectively communicate your message from the top down, you may find yourself with an unmotivated, unproductive and uncertain workforce.

Unclear objectives

Your organization needs objectives to grow. If these aren’t communicated effectively, your teams will be left wondering what they’re expected to achieve and what to prioritize.

Cultural faux-pas

If you’re working a lot internationally, your teams need to know what language and communication is and isn’t appropriate to avoid any misunderstandings with your international clients.

Inefficient feedback

The best organizations are the ones that use feedback to learn and grow. If your teams are struggling to communicate areas for growth and improvement, you may find yourself stuck in a stalemate.

Over time, all of these things can result in  frustrated, unmotivated employees, who aren’t sure what’s expected of them. To combat this, you want to ensure you have engaging, effective communication training for both staff and managers.

How can Attensi help you clear up communication training?

Attensi’s groundbreaking training is designed to engage your teams through enhanced gamified simulations. Support your people with high-end VR, AR and 3D interactive experiences.

Good, modern communication takes place across a range of platforms – whether that’s in the boardroom or over devices. Attensi’s mobile-first training is designed to be accessed anywhere, anytime so your team can complete their training as often as they need, at the time and place that suits them best.

What types of communication
training can employees benefit from?

Being a good communicator is about so much more than being the loudest person in the room. There are a number of ways you can support your workforce in nurturing their ‘softer’ communication skills.

This is made up of language, tone and cadence. It’s not just how we speak, but how well we deliver our message.

Examples of when strong verbal communication skills are needed include:

  • Employees feeling comfortable to assert themselves in a way that’s respectful and conveys their needs
  • Giving constructive feedback
  • Recognizing and debating objections
  • Letting staff go
  • Onboarding and training new staff
  • Disciplining team members in a way that’s direct and respectful

This is everything you don’t say. This is inclusive of body language, facial expressions and eye contact, gestures, what your team wears and spatial awareness.

Examples of where strong non-verbal communication skills are needed:

  • Meeting new clients
  • Presenting to groups
  • Dealing with internal disagreements or conflicts
  • Listening to others present or share

In other words, how you get your message across in writing. It’s important to be concise and for messages to be understood. Good standards of spelling and grammar should also be considered, especially if your team are communicating with customers or stakeholders over written channels.

Examples of where strong written communication skills are needed:

  • Written instructions and training materials
  • Emails and written comms with external stakeholders and clients
  • Submitting reports with accuracy
  • Using internal comms channels such as Slack

One of the most important aspects of communication is actually active listening. When we have so many distractions around us on a daily basis, this can take some practice. If you’re already planning your response or next point while someone else is speaking, it’s safe to say you’re not actively listening.

Particularly in situations where a lot of information is being given, or possible situations where emotions are high, staying present and actively listening is an essential skill for your team.

Storytelling isn’t always about words. Visual communication is how you get information across in a range of visual styles such as design, illustrations, photography and art. Visual communication can be an extremely impactful way of ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling’.

Examples of where strong written communication could be used:

  • In any internal comms – particularly around culture
  • Educational training materials
  • Pitches for external clients

How can your organization benefit from communication training for employees?

Communication skills are a huge part of what makes good employee performance. From messages successfully making their way through organizations to delivering training that’s effective, strong communication helps every person in your team to contribute towards your company’s goals.

Currently around 50% of employees feel empowered to make changes in the organization they work in. Imagine the impact on performance, engagement and empowerment if you were to invest in communication training for employees.

Poor communication in organizations can quickly lead to frustration, confusion and uncertainty. Put together, this can make an employee feel pretty unhappy and unsatisfied in their job role.

Communication training plays an important part in ensuring clear, concise and transparent messaging throughout your organization. When two of the biggest causes of job dissatisfaction are inadequate management and lack of development training opportunities, this is an opportunity for you to combat this.

When your customer service teams are the direct connection between your business and your customers, you need to be confident they can represent you and the organization to the best of their ability. To do that, you need to give them the tools they need. And that’s communication and customer service training.

One report showed that almost 90% of companies with ‘above average’ customer service will financially outperform their competitors with lower ratings.

For employees, a thriving L&D program is a key aspect of what makes an organization a great place to work for.

Whether you focus specifically on communication training, or filling any other skill or knowledge gaps, investing in your L&D will certainly give you the competitive edge when it comes to new recruits

The cost of non-compliance to organizations is in the tens of millions of dollars every year. If regulatory changes aren’t effectively communicated, it could mean severe mistakes, and even fines for your organization.

When you’re asking people to work closely together, you want to make sure everyone is catered for. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to learning and how people like to work.

One person may benefit more from verbal communication, whereas others may like to see things written down. It’s the responsibility of managers (and the teams supplying the training to managers) to ensure those crucial communication skills are covered for the most effective teamwork possible.

Communication training should be considered if your organization is on the brink of growth. If you have several members of staff who are highly skilled and knowledgeable, but these skills haven’t been passed on, it could cause you serious problems in the future.

How can you ensure that knowledge is communicated to other relevant members of staff so you can continue to grow sustainably?

What are the main
challenges of communication training?

Putting effective training in place can sometimes feel like an uphill struggle. But with Attensi, it doesn’t have to be. If you’re ready to implement your employee communication training, we’re ready to help.

If you’re not entirely sure what knowledge or skills gaps need plugging within your team, ask them. Employee feedback surveys will give you an insight into exactly what training is going to be the most relevant and effective.

From there, your dedicated team at Attensi will collaborate closely with you to build something that’s completely bespoke and tailored to you and the needs of your organization.

When you’re working with thousands of employees across multiple sites, or even multiple countries, scaling up training can be daunting. But it doesn’t have to be.

Your Attensi training is designed for the mobile generations. Accessible on their own devices – whether that’s mobile, tablet or desktop – you can roll out your training on as many devices as you need.

Now available in over 150 countries, in over 50 different languages, this is training without borders.

You’ve invested in cutting edge training. How do you maintain engagement and interest after the initial shine has worn off?

Your Attensi suite is yours for the customizing. Once your virtual universe is built, you can add new modules and games as and when you need – no coding experience required. Gone are the days where L&D goes stale after a single quarter. This is your way of creating a sustainable learning culture that’s always engaging and always inspiring.

Return on investment is important in any organization. And your L&D is no different.

With a full suite of analytics available on your Attensi platform, you’ll be able to build a clear picture of just how successful your employee communication training has been.

We like to take a digital approach to training. And that’s what makes your Attensi platform the obvious option financially. No need for high venue hire and facilitator costs. No need for continuous printing.

This is your virtual training ground that is yours to mold, adapt and evolve as your organization continues to grow.

How simulation and gamification
will enhance communication training

Immersive learning experience

Gamified simulation training allows participants to really take an active role in their learning.

Navigating situations through a variety of simulations, VR, AR and 3D technologies, you’ll be giving your teams an innovative and immersive way to grow their skills.

What’s more, the repeatable and competitive nature of the gamified learning means your teams will just keep coming back for more. Studies have shown that when we learn something just once, we forget 80% of it within a month. The small, bite-sized modules make your Attensi modules easy to play, time and time again, in a way that’s fun and engaging.

Quick adoption and progress through microlearning and bitesize delivery

Lengthy, time consuming training can often take staff away from their day-to-day roles. In instances where staff are in short supply, this can often mean training gets dropped.

Attensi’s bitesized modules and microlearning approach to training means training can be completed in short bursts. Whether this is during the commute on public transport, during breaks or during quiet periods – your teams can decide when and where is the best place to learn. This gives them greater autonomy and often results in higher engagement, progress and knowledge growth.

How to choose the
right communication training provider

1. Check the training provider’s credentials and experience

Attensi have worked with a number of household names to bring groundbreaking training to a number of industries around the world.

2. Check the training provider’s services and capabilities

If your organization is passionate about helping your employees to be exceptional, then Attensi has the services for you. Pulling together the best of gaming mechanics and design with human psychology, we share your passion for helping people gain skills and confidence, and being the best they can be at work.

3. Check the training provider’s ability to support with specific needs

Our imagination knows no bounds when it comes to building bespoke training for you and your organization. Simply tell your Attensi game-changers the tools you need, and we’ll pull out everything we’ve got to make it a reality.

Are you ready to level up your training?