A growing number of companies are recognising the potential benefits of effective internal communications. These are most starkly presented in the 2005/6 Watson Wyatt Worldwide Communication ROI Study which found that companies that communicate effectively have higher levels of staff engagement, lower staff turnover and a 19.4 per cent higher market premium than those with poor internal communications.
Jane Valentine, senior consultant at brand consultancy Dragon, says, Companies that don’t communicate well and openly with their staff run the risk of the gossip mill the fastest, most effective communications machine in any business. If you don’t tell people what’s happening it will take more time and effort to correct the rumours and misinformation can lead to internal discontent, distrust of management, silo working and a ‘them and us’ attitude which can severely affect business performance.
Nor is this only an issue for large consumer brands. For many B2B companies it is their employees who deliver the brand experience and so have the greatest impact on how the firm is viewed by existing and potential customers. Read on for a ten-point tutorial in implementing effective internal communications in your company.
1. Communicate continuously. Suzanne Peck, chairman of Communicators in Business, a 1200-strong body that represents all those involved in business communications, says, In the last decade, internal communications has changed enormously. While in the past the management might send round a memo to announce a merger or mass redundancy, most are now more professional about it and recognise the need to communicate at all times. This means that if something does go wrong the lines of communication are already open and so employees will trust what management has to say.
2. Use technology. Marketers have seen the emergence of a plethora of technologies that can help employers communicate with their staff. These include email, PDAs, MSN and pop-up alert systems. Andrew Wilding, European MD of Vividas, video streaming agency, says, Video streaming to a PC, especially if delivered as a full-screen experience at broadcast quality, delivers a far more engaging TV-like environment that compels the user to watch. Our recent study found that users are up to three times more likely to watch a video message to its conclusion if it is delivered in a full-screen, high quality format. Furthermore, internal communications using video costs far less than many people would imagine.
3. Remember it’s about people. Although technology is powerful, you shouldn’t rely on it too much. Jan vels Jensen, VP marketing EMEA at software development specialist Borland, says, Most people use an email-only approach. It’s convenient, but not effective enough. Email has a distance to it that other channels such as face-to-face communication do not. If you want to use internal communication as a way to change behaviour and motivate a workforce, then your email communications have to be accompanied by other channels like face-to-face sessions, ‘all collaborative hands’ office meetings, cross functional meetings, web casts, posters, live notice boards, war rooms and so on. You have to open the channels of communication up.
4. Don’t use jargon. Guy Walshingham, MD at Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, a business writing consultancy, says, The language you use to communicate with your employees sends out clear messages about you as a company. Your company handbook, intranet, even your recruitment ads, all shout out what you stand for as a business. Communicating well through them will help create a healthy and happy company culture. So be careful what, and how, you write.
The basics of good business writing should also not be overlooked. Avoid spelling mistakes and typos. Make your writing clear, to the point, relevant and engaging to the reader. Avoid jargon. Most business writing can be cut virtually in half and say the same thing. Often the best advice is to write it as you’d say it.
5. Give it to the best communicator. Internal communications is one of those areas of business activity, like corporate social responsibility, that tends to fall between several departments. Consequently too much time is spent with HR, PR and marketing all discussing who should be in charge. The best solution is to ensure a team is responsible for ensuring it happens and that the actual task of communications is given to the best communicator in the management team. While this is frequently the CEO, it is not always the case.
6. Encourage a two-way dialogue. Paul Sweetman, associate director at communications consultancy Fishburn Hedges, says, Companies need to ensure that their employees have the opportunity to give their feedback or ask questions. Communication with employees must be two-way. Otherwise they feel their point of view is not considered and so they can become less committed and productive. Appropriate feedback channels to consider are question and answer sessions in team meetings, focus groups and employee surveys.
7. Keep it simple. Sweetman also advises businesses to keep it simple. He says, Effective internal communication is a pre-requisite for sustained business success. During times of change it can smooth the process and help deliver the required change more quickly and with a greater degree of employee commitment. However, it is most effective when it is based around simple processes and not over-complicated.
8. Remember the internal aspect of external marketing. Amy Grundy, board account director at Intelligent Marketing says, Imagine you’ve spent thousands of pounds on a national advertising campaign promoting your brand. The response is amazing with customers flooding into your stores find out more. Unfortunately they’re greeted by a member of staff who has no idea about the campaign, cannot answer any of the enquiries and is unenthusiastic. The bubble bursts and the excitement dies.
She continues, There is no point promoting an external message without getting buy-in from the inside first. Your staff are the best brand advocates you could have, so you need to get them on side. When we launched ‘Beans, beans’, the recent campaign encouraging more businesses to switch to HSBC, we sent campaign packs to each of the branches. Each pack included written details about the campaign and also a packet of jellybeans to share, with jellybean mousemats for each commercial manager. These gifts had novelty value and made sure the campaign stayed front of mind for the next few weeks.
9. Fund it properly. Chris Wilson director at Loewy says, You need to allocate sufficient budget to communicating with your internal audience. It’s probably your most important audience so it’s foolish to see such communications as a waste of money. More importantly, the big budget spent on a high profile ad campaign could well be wasted if customer-facing employees don’t know about it.
It seems as though this message is getting through. A recent study by Communicators in Business of almost 600 large, mostly multi-site organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors, revealed that internal communications budgets have increased in 42 per cent of organisations in the last three years.
The report found that smaller companies tend to spend more of their budgets on internal communications. Organisations with more than 5000 employees spent approximately £10 a head, while those with fewer than 1000 but more than 500 spent £66 a head.
10. Walk the talk. Finally, you need to practice what you preach. Richard Bush, MD at B2B marketing agency Base One, says, The most impactful communication is what you do. Taking actions that demonstrate to employees what you are asking them to do will prove to them that you are serious about it.
For every internal communications campaign we work on, we always ask the senior management what they are going to do differently to demonstrate that they are serious. Management’s non-verbal communications are more powerful than any other internal communications, but it’s the hardest aspect to initiate and influence.
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