An employee town hall is a form of employee training in a single day. These town halls are meant to engage the employees and give them information on topics they need to know about. They typically focus on organizational goals, vision, mission, and values. It is more intense than a more practical scale training program because the employees are more concentrated in one area.
1. Be Clear on the Goal of the Town Hall
There is no point in having an employee town hall if you don’t have a goal. The goal can be to inform, excite, train, or help employees succeed. It is essential to know your intentions so you can achieve them efficiently and effectively.
2. Set a Schedule for the Town Hall
A schedule is a great way to stay on track during an employee town hall. The schedule holds employees accountable, preventing them from getting distracted during the event. You may need a schedule if you don’t have a set time each day to hold the town hall.
3. Be Precise with your Words
Everyone needs to understand what is going on, so be clear, crisp, and concise with your words. e.g., If you are asking for suggestions, be clear about what should be included for the suggestion to count If you want to get more out of an event, you need to provide the right amount of information
4. Encourage Questions
Questions help employees understand the message and understand how it may relate to them personally. So, ask questions you know need to be answered. The town hall can be successful if you ask everyone involved any questions regarding the topic.
5. Make the Town Hall an Exciting Event
It is where you need to show off the company’s strengths. You can bring in an outside business speaker to bring a motivational or encouraging aspect to the town hall. You could also do a giveaway by picking a winner from the employee attendees or asking trivia questions about the company for employees to answer.
6. Allow Time for Discussion
If you do not allow time for discussion, your employees will be confused about what they should do next or what the message means to them specifically. In addition, if any questions arise from the town hall, employees will worry about asking them in public during a Q&A session.
7. Stay Positive
One of the essential things in holding an employee town hall is to stay positive. Employees may want to voice their concerns or ask difficult questions. If you are a leader, try and stay positive even when employees ask negative questions or express how unhappy they are with the company and its values.
8. Keep Employees Involved
One of the best ways to make an employee town hall successful is to involve employees throughout the process. Many companies hold an employee town hall or special session. Still, it is also essential to involve all employees as much as possible to see how changes need to be made, who is responsible for it, and what needs to be done for their input to help change the organization.
On the whole, those who have held town halls have enjoyed them and have learned new information that helped their company get better. They were able to be more confident about communicating their ideas and also had been able to work faster with the information because of their willingness to learn from others.