Communicating on the inside

For an organisation to achieve optimal employee engagement, it must communicate with its audiences clearly, appropriately and consistently and back this up with appropriate behaviours. Employees need to believe what they read, hear and see.

The CEO and senior team need to champion communications that inform and motivate employees, that consistently reinforce company values and attitudes with a ‘look & feel’ and voice that is recognised as belonging to that organisation. They must demonstrate a caring and responsible attitude and always remain visible and accessible.

Communications play a key role where regular ‘face to face’ meetings are difficult to arrange – either because people are in different locations or they simply cannot find the time as a result of intense workloads. They bridge the gap of painting the bigger picture of ‘what’s happening at the top’ and how it impacts on the way the business is run and its future potential.

Feed in the ‘bigger picture’ messages as well as the day-to-day stuff. Communications to employees should clarify the organisation’s vision, direction and values on an ongoing basis. This will deliver a level of comfort that the organisation is in safe and capable hands and reinforce the importance of the role that employees play in achieving objectives.

“I’ve really no idea what they have in mind”
When communications don’t happen, employee engagement diminishes.
> CEO and senior management start to become invisible
> employees become critical of the senior team and perceive that they don’t care or don’t want to make their intentions known
> employee morale begins to suffer and motivation goes out the window

“I’m busy. I’ll read it next week”
Too much communication on the other hand can be bad. Employees can find it difficult to filter out the important messages that they need to take note of. Communications can become bland, featureless and struggle for original content. They ‘move off the radar’. Once this happens it is very difficult to re-engage with employees.

“That’s not what my manager told me”
Frontline managers often become the messengers of organisational goals, strategy and performance. Care must be taken to ensure that they communicate messages accurately and consistently and have the necessary training and tools to do so. Failure to do so may cause them to shy away from the responsibility or make a half hearted effort which is inconsistent with communications from other managers. Fragmented and diluted messages may do more harm than good. Managers should be well briefed on the objectives and content of communications to ensure enterprise-wide consistency and take up. Organisations should adopt best practice by briefing managers, sharing the information with them and giving them direction on how it should be delivered to employees.

“Some of it got lost in the translation”
Avoid disengagement with other offices and business units. Internal communications are more difficult where offices are in multiple locations or an organisation comprises different business units. They may need to be adjusted to suit local audiences, local culture and languages. What works in Papua New Guinea may not work in Manchester, and what works in a filling station may not work at the refinery. Respect cultural differences and ensure communications are tailored specifically to local conditions. It requires help from people on the ground who possess insight and in-depth knowledge of the local audience –
> does the message need to be adapted? 
> does it need additional explanation?
> does it need to be translated?
> will it cause offence?
> is the style and tone appropriate for this audience?
> will it make any sense?

“We forgot to include the creative WIIFM factor”
One of the main aims of internal communications is to motivate employees and hopefully inspire a change or enhancement in behaviours. To achieve this often means engaging with them creatively on an intellectual and emotional level and delivering on the WIIFM factor – What's In It For Me. By this I mean having a recognisable theme such as sports to provide a performance-related aspect to the communication – teamwork and striving to win... or space travel – the quest to go beyond accepted limits and chart new territory. The hope is that the employee will relate to the metaphor and be inspired by the brand vision, embrace the challenge, engage as a team member and push the boundaries.

“The community has a lot of respect for my employer”
More and more employees want to be reassured that they are working for an employer that conducts itself in an ethical and responsible manner and respects local communities and the environment – an employer that is not subject to adverse media attention for unseemly CSR behaviour and malpractice. The big mistake many companies make is not to involve employees in the development of CSR strategy and communications. Let them contribute and be part of it. Get them to understand what it is all about and how important it is that the required behaviours must be demonstrated by everyone, not just the company. It deserves a lot more effort than just ticking the boxes in the annual CSR report.

Remember that it is highly likely that the investment you make in internal communications will not only have a positive effect on your employees but also on the financial performance of your business.

Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
www.brandsynergy.com.sg

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