March 1, 2023
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Businesses are constantly asking: what does the customer want, and how can we give it to them? Marketing, sales, and customer-facing departments do their best to answer this question and deliver.
But another important question is: what do the employees of these departments want, and how can we give it to them to help them succeed?
This is the question internal communicators answer.
Internal communications refers to the process and communication in an organization that keep employees informed, aligned with the business, and connected to each other. Communication helps unify the entire organization to work towards a common goal, rather than separate departments working on separate tasks.
However, some people only see internal communications as the “arts and crafts” of a business who are just there to make things look pretty. This sentiment could not be farther from the truth.
The importance of internal communication within a company is often overlooked - even sometimes by those in leadership roles. But as growing organizations can tell you, it is ever-evolving and necessary for the development of a successful company.
In this article we will explain why transparent communications is vitally important for your business, and how you can translate this significance to the C-suite.
For any company to be truly successful, it’s necessary for all employees to be on the same page. Alignment to the company’s mission, vision, values and goals directly impacts job performance, employee job satisfaction, and employee retention. Surprisingly, only 40% of employees claim to feel well-informed about their company’s goals
Internal communications plays a key role in the solution to this problem.
A good internal communications strategy is built to provide employees with the resources needed to align them with your company’s core values and goals. When employees are aligned, they have a more informed and positive employee experience.
Companies whose employees have a positive experience at work report around triple the ROI compared to companies who don’t foster this positive experience. Internal communication teams play a vital role in ensuring employees enjoy their work experience and feel valued, which results in higher job satisfaction.
Happy, satisfied employees can really make a difference at your company.
A solid internal comms strategy helps foster company culture by helping employees stay informed and connected with both the business and each other.
Industry experts know a positive employee experience creates a strong company culture, and a strong company culture drives real business results.
This means an internal communicator’s direct impact on employee experience is also a direct impact on the results a company will see when it comes to sales, customer satisfaction and experience, employee retention, and revenue.
This makes internal communications professionals much more than just talented writers and communicators – you are business partners who drive outcomes.
The key to developing a successful internal comms strategy starts by asking these questions:
To answer the aforementioned questions, you have to understand the audiences within your company. And by “audiences,” we mean everyone! Your familiarity with employee breakdown, location, communication style, interests, etc., is what makes you a key player in the strategy of your business and how it communicates with its workforce..
Tools like OfficeAccord make it easier for internal communicators to better understand their audiences:
Once you understand your audience, you can better understand the data they give you. OfficeAccord provides tons of analytics valuable to internal communications professionals, such as:
Monitoring your employees’ communication patterns and experiences has never been easier.
This ability is enhanced with more of OfficeAccord’s features, including:
Employees rotate between an average of 9 different tools per day, which is expensive and unideal. Companies are realizing solutions like OfficeAccord are the perfect way to invest in just one tool that hosts communication channels, analytics, announcements, and everything you need to understand your company and its culture.
This is an internal comms professional’s ideal solution – it will be easier to understand the demographics of your company as well as build your strategies when everything is in a smart, all-inclusive area. Not to mention, your boss will appreciate the money your saving and the value you're bringing in.
One of our clients used OfficeAccord’s survey feature to reveal new hires in the IT department felt out of touch with company news, goals, and direction. This data showed them they would benefit from focusing an internal comms strategy on creating a more effective pre-boarding, onboarding, and communication process for IT hires.
These features worked to improve the communication in their area of focus. They then were able to measure how new employee sentiment improved over time. The employee feedback proved IT hires felt more connected to the company in just a few short months – and also proved how the team’s internal comms benefited their business!
Employee analytics help guide internal communicators on where workplace communication needs assistance -- which are exactly the areas you need to focus your strategies.
Leading companies use our solution for similar scenarios to discover what was working in their organization and what was not. They then come up with a plan to improve communication so employees can feel more connected while delivering quality, profitable work.
Now that you know what to focus on, it's all about building a strategy capable of improving those areas. Here's a high-level list of things you should present within your plan:
Making sure your internal communications plan is measurable is often an overlooked step. However, this will be a huge factor in selling management on your case.
Those in leadership roles are concerned about how your plan will translate to ROI. Present a complete internal comms plan and strategy to the C-suite to effectively translate the value your plan will add to the company.
All strategies cost time and money, and it’s up to you to communicate to your C-Suite why and how your business strategy will drive results. Management typically doesn’t grant a budget unless you can prove your business case, and show how your request will generate ROI.
Business leaders speak in terms of data, numbers, and outcomes, so as internal communicators, we must learn this language to sell them on our strategy and its significance.
Though numbers and data may not seem like communications metrics, they often correlate to the quality of the company’s internal comms because they are a reflection of the company’s success and results.
Some examples of strong data and outcomes you can include when pitching your internal communications strategy include:
OfficeAccord provides powerful data and analytics for you to show the way your strategy causes these outcomes and more.
This is because OfficeAccord gives you access to important statistics and information on your people and their communication – which are exactly the measurements that give you power as an internal communicator.
Well-executed internal communications connects and aligns your distributed workforce. When your entire team is aligned, there is a direct correlation to improved employee engagement, retention, and productivity.
OfficeAccord acts as a central, enterprise-grade hub that makes it simpler and faster for you as an internal comms professional to execute and deliver.
Your importance should never be overlooked – use OfficeAccord as a tool to prove your internal communications strategy, boost your company culture, and improve morale for you and your entire team.
OfficeAccord is an all-in-one Employee Experience solution to improve the hybrid work experience and increase employee retention. Connect to learn more at hello@officeaccord.com.
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