The topic of employee communication makes managers’ eyes glaze over: They’ve been there and done that. Besides, business is about the bottom line, not “feel good” initiatives, right?

But a recent study of the communication habits of companies should make managers take note: Better communication means better profits.

Watson Wyatt Worldwide studied the practices of more than 260 companies and found that firms with the most effective employee communication provided a 26 percent total return to shareholders, compared with 15 percent for companies that communicate ineffectively.

“Employee communication is no longer a ‘soft’ function, but rather a business function that drives performance and contributes to a company’s financial success,” said Kathryn Yates, director of communication consulting for Watson Wyatt’s global practice division.

The good news is that technical innovations are making it possible to communicate with more people in more ways than ever before. Field office staff, line workers and night shift teams are all within reach of a company committed to effective communication.

Here are some ways managers can effectively communicate with their workers.

The Intranet

Intranets — limited-access, in-house Web sites — are nothing new. But how many companies have them? And how many companies with intranets make the most of them?

One unifying feature of an intranet site is its ability to link company sites around the world or around the block. An intranet site can provide company-wide news in addition to site-specific information.

Effective intranets can save money on printing and slash the time the HR Department spends answering redundant questions about benefits, holidays and tax documents. Forms can be made available for completion and submission online.

“Put those kinds of functions out there and let employees do it on their timeframe,” said Jim Minihan, a partner and president of Orlean, Va.-based IMERGE Consulting.

Closed-circuit television can also bring a sense of unity to diverse work groups separated by distance and time. Electronic bulletin board systems, such as those created by Targetvision, can broadcast a series of slides to multiple locations. Streaming into break rooms and lobbies, they can feature company news releases, sports scores and even real-time data from the production floor.

“These are very effective, especially in manufacturing environments where intranets or traditional newsletters are not very effective because you don’t have people sitting at desks,” said Diane Gayeski, CEO of Ithaca, N.Y.-based Gayeski Analytics and a professor of communications at Ithaca College.

Beyond the Conference Call

Web conferencing is also an effective tool for connecting multiple sites.

“It can be more effective than a simple phone call because you can pull up visuals and share documents,” Gayeski said.

These tools (produced by companies that include Webex and Centra) can be used for training, presentations and customer communication.

In addition to conferencing, Minihan said technology has brought new opportunities for employee collaboration. Tools such as Microsoft SharePoint and others offered by such companies as Hummingbird and Groove Networks facilitate this process.

“The enterprise in effect extends out to its partners,” Minihan said. “We can collaborate from multiple points in the country or around the world.”

These capabilities take projects far beyond the constraints of e-mail. Multiple users can look at a document simultaneously and communicate live.

When changes are made, users are notified. No one is left out of the loop.

A multinational corporation with field offices around the globe can use this technology to develop a product around the clock. The project moves from office to office as one shift leaves for the day and another signs on.

“Twenty-four hours have transpired and this has been worked on literally the entire time,” Minihan said.

PDAs: More Than Address Books

Wireless handheld devices are ubiquitous these days. But Gayeski pointed out that many of these PDAs are underutilized and function only as expensive address books.

She said the devices are valuable in manufacturing operations because supervisors can use them to reach people who are rarely at a desk, phone or even a laptop. These tools are becoming more valuable as they grow in sophistication and features, including cameras and phones.

They can be used to beam safety reminders throughout a plant and to film and transmit on-the-job training videos. Employees can listen to training courses or company news while working or even exercising.

In addition, today’s technology can put corporate radio programs in reach of many companies, Gayeski said.

Own Your Company’s Information

In addition to improving day-to-day communication, companies need to ensure that they are preserving vital corporate data. Many manufacturers are held hostage to the information that is locked away inside employees’ minds. If they quit or die, that information goes with them.

“Companies don’t really own the intellectual capital that their people develop, which is a huge gap that we need to close,” said Gloria Kamph, president and CEO of Interliance Consulting, based in Costa Mesa, Calif.

One of Gayeski’s clients developed an innovative automotive component manufacturing process, but had only one in-house expert.

“When anything went wrong, he was the only one who knew how to fix it,” she said. “It’s 2 a.m. and the machine goes down. What the heck are we going to do? It’s very risky to have that reside only in the head of one person.”

The solution was to film a series of digital videos of the process that were stored on the company’s server.

IMERGE’S Minihan helped a client identify all of the areas of expertise on its staff by creating a virtual resume. The end result includes all of the knowledge areas in the organization and can be updated as employees acquire new skills. Now, users can easily see who has the expertise needed for a project.

Kamph cautioned that, while technology can capture a company’s knowledge, it is only one component of an overall strategy needed to methodically assess, document, preserve and build a company’s knowledge base.

Experts also emphasize that firms should have reasonable expectations when undertaking any sort of endeavor to preserve corporate knowledge.

“We always tell them to plan big and execute small,” said Carl Thomas, president of Solution Quest, based in Trenton, N.J. “Don’t try to solve it all at once. As you implement solutions, you become more knowledgeable and you become a better purchaser of solutions.”