Stop Chasing Every Employee. Start Meeting Each One.

Many of you have big chunks of employees who are hard to reach. This causes you and others in your orbit much angst.

It shouldn’t.

Here’s why: If you have hard to reach employees at your company, then your company has probably always had hard to reach employees. And yet, somehow, products still get made, services still get delivered, customers still get what they want and the company is still in business. And that’s ok.

Among those you have a hard time reaching are employees who don’t feel the need to be connected. They probably have some kind of access to whatever it is that’s in place if they want to connect. But they choose not to. And that’s ok.

Among those who choose to be connected are employees who are likely keeping others connected, usually in ways they themselves don’t even realize. You probably don’t know who they are, even though you could. But even if you never know who they are, they’re doing some of the connecting for you anyway. And that’s ok.

Just because you and others think your hard to reach employees should be connected doesn’t make it true. There are plenty of folks in this world who love what they do and who they do it with and for. They find all kinds of joy and contentment simply from that. This may or may not show up on your “engagement” surveys or your comms audits. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. And that’s ok.

In a digital world that rushes to connect TO EVERY employee, overlooked is the value of connecting WITH EACH employee. Sometimes those connections happen because of what you do. But most times, those connections happen despite what you do. You devalue those relationships and the impact they have on both the business and the employees when you insist that your way — the one that results in connecting TO but rarely connecting WITH – is either the best way or the only way. Neither is true and should never be. And that’s ok.

Ask any employee anywhere on the planet what they like about working there. I’ll bet an entire year’s salary not one of them will say “the newsletter” or “the app” or “how frictionless the town hall is.” They will all talk about the pride of doing a job well done, how much they love their team, feeling like they’re doing something great for customers and maybe even the realization of the difference they’re making in the world.

These are not the feelings of employees who are disconnected or discontented. These are the feelings of employees who are highly connected and deeply content.

If you and those in your orbit insist on measuring connection and contentment the way you measure watts per hour or units shipped per day, then you’re missing the point entirely.

Yes, what matters gets measured. That’s what makes them valuable.

But sometimes, what matters the most can never be measured. That’s what makes them invaluable.

And that’s ok.

Written by Jason Anthoine, SVP, Managing Director of Arketi Inside
Jason Anthoine is Senior Vice President and Managing Director of Arketi Inside, Arketi Group’s internal communications offering dedicated to workforce communications and change management. Anthoine helps organizations engage and inspire employees to build thriving cultures. He has worked with hundreds of companies to transform workforce communications, strengthen the employee-employer relationship, and create more resilient organizations.