Achieving good internal communications isn’t something that can happen overnight. It requires commitment from both the employer and employees and a dedication to creating a fantastic company culture.
It is worth the effort, the time and the investment because the consequences of good internal communication are extremely positive for a business.
When you have great internal communications practices in place, your employees understand your company and its values and purposes and the role they play in achieving goals. Employees are more engaged, which means improve morale and boosted morale and greater productivity.
Many companies around the world realize this, and strive to put in place innovative internal communications solutions that fit with their own unique corporate culture.
Here are some examples of what other companies are doing in the internal communications space:
1. AXA
The UK branch of the multinational insurance firm was suffering from a drop in employee engagement following a change to the company’s business structure. People were feeling uneasy and there was a big divide growing between management and staff.
The company organized an employee-centred event that included participation, games and conversations about the changes to the business structure aimed at making employees feel valued.
Ahead of the event, staff were sent Valentines Day cards that said “you complete me”.
Afterwards, 82 per cent of participants strongly agreed the session was engaging, 91 per cent felt feedback is being listened to and acted upon for positive change, and AXA found a 20 per cent increase in the understanding of key messages.
2. O2
The British telecommunications company consistently records a “world class” employee engagement score on Hays Group Insight with more than 70 per cent.
The company embeds internal communications into all of its practices, considering it to be two-way rather than “an afterthought of PR”.
Innovative internal communications practices at 02 include having a DJ from a popular commercial radio station host the company’s internal radio show that staff can listen to once a month. They also have a TV channel that streams business news and employee events.
3. Microsoft Services Asia
This Asian subsidiary of the software giant has the challenging situation where it needs to communicate with 5,000 employees based in 17 different companies where many of them, on average, are receiving around 200 emails a day.
It became obvious that to cut through and reach staff, traditional internal communications channels weren’t going to be sufficient.
The organization devised “Five-minute Fridays” – a series of weekly video podcasts that allows management to communicate with staff in a more personal way.
Staff have said they look forward to these videos each week, and many employees ask to be included to showcase their work. Tracking on the videos delivers a range of metrics, such as if the videos have reached their audience, how many times they have been downloaded and so on. Feedback is always sought to help shape future content.
