Internal communications used to be an afterthought, a term for sending around a mass email or making copies of the employer handbook. But those days are gone.
Now, internal communications is coming into its own and being recognised as one of the more important areas of communication and one that impacts everything from employee morale to recruiting to public perception. Needless to say, if you’re ignoring internal communications, you do so at the peril of your company’s reputation and your employees’ job satisfaction.
Don’t take our word for it. Research conducted by Towers Watson found that…
— Companies that are highly effective at internal communication are 7 times more likely to outperform their peers.
— An engaged workforce enables 2 times higher productivity, 3 times faster profit growth, 2 times lower employee turnover and 19.2% growth in operating income. Internal communicators know that when their employees are in-tune and aligned, they will perform better and yield greater return for the organisation.
— Effective communication is intrinsic to change and broadening the array of approaches used to communicate with and engage staff helps build morale and share knowledge and issues, thus encouraging two-way conversations. Developing more avenues for sharing organisational wisdom, imparting information and bringing staff together, will help organisations to see the value of communications in maintaining healthy staff relations. This will encourage greater engagement and focus across the organisation.
It’s obvious that internal communications are a win for both employers and employees. Let’s move beyond the reason why to communicate internally and talk more about how to effectively do it. There are a wide variety of tools available to help spread the company’s message internally.
When done correctly, internal communications becomes something that can bring employees together, give them a sense of mission and provide transparency into what other parts of the company are doing. More and more companies are realising the importance of an engaged workforce and investing in tools and people who can do internal communications properly.
We have experience creating internal magazines for blue chip clients (that win awards!) and would love to help your company get started. Let us know how we can help you to better communicate with your employees!
