The importance of internal communication
By transforming your employees into content marketers, you are introducing peer-to-peer dynamics into your internal communications strategy, strengthening both your employer's brand and increasing your chances of attracting more leads, more qualified employees, and better business results. To effectively integrate advocacy into your current communication goals, it is important to think about how you can help employees distribute content that is of direct interest to them, making it easier for them to access the right tools. Whatever the topic, the information gathered by encouraging healthy employee communication will change your business for the better. [Sources: 16]
Organizations that have a solid internal communications strategy are better equipped to speak better with employees about productivity, experience, and engagement. Improving internal communication not only affects shareholder returns, but can also increase employee engagement, build stronger teams, and increase the competitiveness of your company. Viewing internal communication as a strategy for the entire company, rather than as the responsibility of an individual or department, can help your organization eliminate structural weaknesses and create a culture of trust, transparency, and cohesion. [Sources: 3, 11, 17]
As Gallup’s James Harter and Amy Adkins wrote for the Harvard Business Review, “Communication is usually the foundation of any healthy relationship, including the relationship between employees and their managers. According to Towers Watson’s research, there is an effective communication practice. Of companies’ total shareholder returns are 47% higher than those of poorly communicated organizations. Organizations can use internal communication to improve the employee experience. It helps retain employees because working in a company that cares about employees sends a positive message. They know These benefits are of no avail. Use them. [Sources: 11, 15, 17]
Therefore, it is imperative that internal communications help employees better understand the culture of the company in which they work and encourage a sense of connection with the company brand. [Sources: 14]
Employees who understand and believe in your mission, vision, and product offerings are more likely to move on. Companies that want to remain competitive and successful must make sure they attract, motivate, and inspire colleagues. Communication goals need to be shared and implemented from top to bottom, and everyone from executives and managers to lower-level employees must embrace new trends. [Sources: 9, 10, 16]
The more natural your communication and advocacy strategies are, the more likely they are to end up identifying as part of the team. By keeping the channels of communication between you and your employees open, you will help everyone feel respected and willing to contribute to the long-term success of your organization. Be open to feedback, questions and ideas from your team, encourage them to participate, and start a discussion. A personal approach, if properly managed, will increase employee engagement in the company. [Sources: 6, 7, 11, 16]
Two-way, bottom-up communication is essential to engage, retain, and use employee knowledge and ideas. Internal communication allows employees to stay connected and informed, and fosters a common understanding of the company's goals, values and guiding principles. Internal communications are key to keeping employees informed of the company's latest initiatives, building credibility and trust to fight rumors, and facilitating clear and streamlined communication between different departments. For many organizations, internal communication goals include sharing company news, notifying team members of any changes to business processes, and gaining valuable feedback through employee surveys. [Sources: 1, 12, 14]
An effective internal communication strategy is achieved by cooperating with all activities of the organization and establishing successful internal communication among business departments, leaders, employees, etc. Effective internal communication helps business leaders to keep employees informed about brand development so that they can share this information on their personal networks. This form of brand building can affect the success of an organization and stems from clear internal communication that encourages employees to share information. [Sources: 3, 13, 15]
Positive external communication is the key to building up an organization's reputation. When employees talk about the company and share information via social media, they become supporters of it. On social media, employees can like, comment and share interesting information related to your organization. [Sources: 8, 15]
Using an employee communication platform instead of email or intranet is a good way to ensure that employees can easily find the information they need when they need it. Intranet provides people with information and facilitates two-way communication between employees and their companies. Many employees have access to the company's intranet, and they can connect to the intranet at any time and learn about the latest communications. [Sources: 3, 13, 15]
The head of internal communication can bridge the employee information gap between corporate information and official sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and ensure that the shared information does not conflict with each other. This communication platform will become a trusted source of information. By allowing members of multiple teams to promote their activities and plans or share your news, you can provide your employees with the information they need, adding another interesting dimension to their work. [Sources: 0, 4)
To foster open communication in your business, your communication strategy should create a space for feedback, rejection, and public discussion of issues and ideas. Good internal communication means happy, efficient and productive employees who positively influence the quality of employee service; while the wrong actions can confuse employees, make them unproductive and disconnected from business initiatives. And communication is perhaps the most fundamental ingredient for effective change management. [Sources: 1, 4, 14]
Internal communication changes require careful planning and understanding of employees’ concerns and needs. In order to make effective changes and make informed decisions, consider a bottom-up business communication plan where employees can share their thoughts and opinions...and invite them to discuss openly with other employees and management. In terms of internal communication, collecting employee feedback is a good start, but IC and HR teams need to find a way to actually implement employee feedback solutions. [Sources: 1, 3, 13]
Today, field workers across multiple geographic locations and time zones can effectively interact with workers. Because teleworkers and workers are difficult to reach, choosing the right intercom channels is critical. When it comes to effective communication strategies, it's important to remember that companies need to think about not only internal communications but also external communications. [Sources: 6, 13, 16]
Effective communication is critical to the success and happiness in any relationship. Your job as an internal communicator is to deliver honest, truthful, and transparent messages that all employees can understand and internalize without upsetting the rest of the executive team. [Sources: 0, 8]
Your HR and management staff may be in contact with your employees on a daily basis, but your staff still expects two-way interaction with management. Company-wide meetings and newsletters are a great way to communicate announcements, but you can seem aloof if this is your primary way of keeping in touch with your employees. Open and transparent communication is a great way to ensure that employees understand the corporate mission and that everyone agrees with the company's values. It also allows communication in both directions, giving individual employees the opportunity to speak up. [Sources: 3, 6, 11]
[0]: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2020/04/13/internal-communications-is-the-heartbeat-of-any-organization/
[1]: https://www.interactsoftware.com/blog/8-types-internal-communication/
[2]: https://blog.bananatag.com/internal-comms/the-best-free-internal-communication-tools-resources
[3]: https://blog.smarp.com/internal-communication-definition-challenges-and-top-reasons-why-its-more-important-than-ever
[4]: https://blog.jostle.me/blog/why-is-internal-communications-important
[5]: https://www.workvivo.com/blog/improve-internal-communications
[6]: https://www.talkfreely.com/blog/internal-communication-channels
[7]: https://everyonesocial.com/internal-communications/
[8]: https://staffbase.com/blog/how-to-improve-internal-communication-starting-now/
[9]: https://joinblink.com/intelligence/internal-communication-examples/
[10]: https://blog.enplug.com/internal-communications-best-practices
[11]: https://slack.com/blog/collaboration/internal-communication
[12]: https://www.beekeeper.io/internal-communication-guide/
[13]: https://axerosolutions.com/blog/20-simple-secrets-to-totally-rock-your-internal-communications
[14]: https://socialchorus.com/blog/better-internal-communications-for-your-workforce-now-is-the-time/
[15]: https://www.lumapps.com/solutions/internal-communication/internal-communications-benefits/
[16]: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/internal-communications-guide/
[17]: https://blog.weekdone.com/how-to-improve-internal-communications-steps/