Internal communication in companies: 5 steps to structure it successfully

It is undeniable that two important words for any company, in relation to its employees, are ‘retention’ and ‘productivity’. And to achieve these, engagement strategies are important. An assertive internal communications strategy helps a company build a shared understanding of a brand’s purpose, values, and future, helping to connect employees around a cohesive culture and empowering them to make decisions that are always aligned with the organization’s goals.

Check out 5 steps to manage effective internal communication!

1. Have a clear narrative

Align employees around the vision of the company, what the plans are for conquering the goals, and what that means for both customers and the organization. A narrative will help connect employees on an emotional level with your brand.

2. Choose the channels to use for your internal communication

With a clear narrative to share with employees, you will need to define which channels you will use in your internal communication strategy to convey the company’s messages. The options are many, but it is important to be careful that employees do not feel overwhelmed by so much information and start accessing it without any engagement.

You need to choose carefully according to what you need to communicate. For example, an automated email in the format of an internal newsletter may be useful for periodic and regular communications involving a large amount of employees, while a face-to-face meeting may be more effective for the adhesion of a smaller amount of people, with a higher level of detail of what is transmitted.

Let’s look at some possible endomarketing channels (among several):

 E-mail marketing

E-mail is one of the most popular means of communication in companies. During a busy workday, it can be difficult for employees to choose which emails contain critical information and which can wait to be opened when the recipient has more time to absorb the information. Aware of this, be assertive when defining messages as “Urgent” in email subjects to prevent employees from trivializing them.

Videos

Nowadays, the vast majority of workers carry a smartphone, and 48% of them consider video the most engaging form of communication. The audiovisual channel is broad and can generate several possibilities for your endomarketing strategy. For example, you can make explanatory videos, institutional videos, “how-to” videos for internal processes, summary videos of presentations or conferences, product demonstration videos, inspirational videos about employees, and others.

Podcasts

Podcasts are the new version of radio programs and have been increasingly used as marketing tools, either for communication with the company’s audience or as an endomarketing strategy.

Transmitting content in a humanized way, using real voices, they can be used in internal communication so that leaders have the opportunity to speak directly to their collaborators and so that complex information is passed in a more attractive way, being a content that is easy to consume anywhere.

Team meetings

The simplest way for team members to communicate that can be used internally, for teams that work remotely, or set up to include both internal and remote employees. Team meetings are for team members to learn about what others are working on, status tasks, and share suggestions.

Within the ‘team meetings’ category, we also have brainstorming sessions, which serve to come up with new ideas, or polish the ideas collectively. No idea is bad in the brainstorm, and that’s what it’s for initially, as a complete creativity flow. Later, the ideas can be further examined and the team can reach concrete solutions to the issue presented.

Bulletin Board

It is still rare to walk into a company and not see a bulletin board on the wall. The bulletin board is still a very popular type of internal communication, especially in organizations that do not yet have a well-structured digital communication toolkit. This way, employees know to look on the company’s bulletin board for announcements that concern them, such as changes in work hours, vacation policy updates, new job offers, employee birthdays, and social events.

Social Networks

Today, social platforms are one of the strongest referral sources for finding information or updates. While some employees may not want to use their personal profiles for work, intranet-based social platforms are easy to set up and offer a number of benefits.

3. Set Goals

Understanding endomarketing ROI has become increasingly important for company leaders. An internal communications ROI should be aligned with the business goals and outcomes that an organization aims to achieve. For example, if the goal is global expansion of the company, an important point of your communication will likely be to support employees regarding time zones.

4. Share success stories

Publicly recognizing the success of your employees may be more important than you realize. And not just for the employee who has achieved goals, but as an opportunity to let other employees know what’s happening, with an inspirational communication hook.

5. Use endomarketing software

Look for a tool that allows for greater communication and engagement among your company’s employees. Whether it is intranet, messaging application, or even just a unified platform for e-mails and calendars, the important thing is to centralize the content, avoiding communication noise and dispersion.

Nowadays, the company intranet is one of the most used communication channels by people in the workplace. But it is important that you decide in advance its main functions, in order to make the most of its use as a true endomarketing tool.

Sometimes internal communication is not about sharing information, but rather about promoting collaboration among employees. For this, forums are a great choice. Forums can exist on an intranet or become separate collaboration spaces.

With forums, you can allow anyone in the company to share updates or ask questions, empower employees and promote collaboration between them, and break down physical and geographical barriers.

Some platforms will also allow you to promote more open and interactive discussions, allowing for chatting, liking, and commenting. These similarities with social media in endomarketing channels can have excellent engagement results and improve the ROI of your internal communication strategy.

Finally, a growing endomarketing trend is the use of apps for employee feedback, through which managers can share surveys, polls, use a suggestion box, and better understand the motivation and overall satisfaction levels of their employees.

Want to know more details about the best solutions for your internal communication strategy? You can count on the partnership of Agência Vision Comunicação. Get in contract with us!