June 20, 2005

Learn About Demographics to Better Reach Employees

Part 1 of a two-part series

“Know your audience” is one of the tenets of effective communication—after all, the more you understand who you’re communicating with, the better you can appeal to them. And one of the best ways to begin to know your employee audience is to learn their demographics. This issue of Smart Tips focuses on three areas of demographics analysis; in the next issue, we’ll provide insights on how to use this information to communicate more effectively.

Demographics are defined as “the characteristics of human populations and population segments, especially when used to identify consumer markets.” Comprised of specific characteristics—such as age, gender, family status and size, education, employment, income, nationality, and home ownership—demographics are used extensively in advertising, marketing, politics and other fields to understand what people care about and what they might be willing to buy.

Although not a foolproof predictor of behavior, demographics are so valuable that it’s surprising when communicators don’t have employee information at their fingertips. Everyone knows how many employees work at the company, but many communicators can’t answer questions like these: “How many locations are there? What is the average length of tenure? Age ranges? Job categories?”

This is a missed opportunity because demographics provide insights into almost every aspect of what we do, especially how (for example, print vs. electronic) and what (message development) we communicate.

Three essential demographics
The list of potential demographics categories is almost limitless; for example, consider employment status, gender, level, language and education. But don’t get overwhelmed by the possibilities: Begin by focusing on three essential areas:

1. Geography
   Location, location, location. When it comes to how employees experience organizations, geography is an important factor. (For example, employees in remote locations often feel more out of the loop than those at headquarters.) That’s why you need to understand:
   
   

   –	What is your organization’s geographic scope? Nationwide or global? Pinpoint all the locations on a map of the country or the globe and see how your organization is distributed.
   –	How many employees at headquarters? What divisions and functions are centered at HQ?
   –	Besides headquarters, how many large or major locations are in your organization? What is the function/focus of each? How many people work in each?
   –	How many field/remote locations are there? How small are these outposts? What work gets done there?
   –	Do you have a significant employee population that works at home or at a client location? How many? Where?

   
   
2. Tenure/length of service
   Some organizations have long-term employees who stay at the company for decades until they retire. Others—in retail and foodservice, for instance—have very high attrition, with as many as 80% of their employees turning over each year. Longevity obviously has significant implications for how much employees understand about the company—and what they remember about past events.
   
   What trends can you discover about tenure in your organization? Complete this table:
   

   Length of service	% of employees
   Less than 1 year
   1 – 3 years
   3+ - 10 years
   10+ - 20 years
   20+ years

   
   
3. Age ranges
   Here’s a demographic term for you: “generational cohort.” A generational cohort is defined as “the aggregation of individuals who experience the same event within the same time interval.” Sociologists and marketers use terms like “baby boomers” and “Gen X-ers” to describe groups of people bound together by broad shared experience.
   
   Examine your employee audience to see what age ranges predominate:
   

   –	Under 18
   –	18 – 24
   –	25 – 34
   –	35 – 44
   –	45 – 54
   –	55 – 64
   –	65 and older

Where to get information
The best source for demographics information within your organization is Human Resources, particularly the Payroll department. The good news is the more sophisticated HR’s database, the more finely you can slice demographics data. The bad news is that, even with today’s complex systems, many organizations don’t centralize payroll, requiring you to hunt down information on various groups of employees.

While it’s obviously ideal to obtain data that’s as accurate as possible, don’t obsess over every detail. The point is to begin to paint a picture of the people in your organization, getting to know them better so you can think about how best to reach them.

Next issue of Smart Tips: A closer look at our three key demographics, what they mean, and what to do.

To gain fresh perspectives on the significant trends reshaping your workplace and strategies for responding to these trends and building effective communication, contact Alison Davis at:

1.877.399.5100 (toll-free in the U.S.)
1.201.445.5100
alison.davis@davisandco.com