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Employee Communication
and how to launch a communication plan

Companies know that having an internal communications platform is important. But how does this fit
into a broader employee communication strategy? And how do you know where best to begin?

1. What is meant by internal communications today?

For most of the last century, internal communication was the way that organizations shared
information with their employees. The value of internal communications in the workplace was
obvious, and the role of internal communications in employee engagement was clear.

This was a top-down, one-way form of

sharing updates and facts. “Why are good
internal communications important?” was
a question that in the analog age of
decades past, was largely taken for
granted.

However, in the digital era of today, things

have changed. With the internet and social
media now a daily part of engaged
employee life, professional information has
become a two-way street. And it’s
happened quickly.

A recent Forbes magazine article takes it even one step further. It claims, “There’s no doubt that
social media has changed human behavior over the past decade.” The article goes on to report that
“81% of Americans have a social media profile, and two hours are spent on social media every day
by the average person.”

And these changes have only been accelerated by the Covid health crisis. Remote work has become
the norm, and strong communication is more necessary than ever, to keep employees connected and
informed, and to give them a strong sense of belonging, at a time when distance and uncertainty are
affecting the workforce experience.

Having a powerful internal communications strategy and a valuable tool is a key solution to these
challenges. The new direction is obvious. The times are changing. And as a result, businesses need
to keep up.

2. A new approach to employee communication

Keeping employees engaged and informed is about making sure the company itself becomes part of
their individual online ecosystem, to share in the mix of third-party news, user generated content,
and live broadcast streams.

The truth is, 98% of people currently use at least one social media site for personal use, of which
50% are already posting about their company (sociabble.com). And 71% of employees spend over
2 hours a week accessing company information on mobile devices(fliplet.com).
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Also, according to Statista, people now have more than one access point to the internet on average
– most of them mobile connections. And by 2025, 71% of the population of the world will be
equipped with a smartphone. So no more doubts: mobile is the new way employees receive and
share information.

People now have more than one access point to the internet on average – most of them mobile
connections. And by 2025, 71% of the population in the world will be equipped with a smartphone.
(Digital Economy Compass 2021, Statista)

With that in mind, it’s time to move past internal communications and replace it with a new evolving
need: Employee Communication. This is a much broader concept. One that moves beyond the
traditional boundaries of the company walls.

At its essence, employee communication is simply the variety of ways in which companies can
communicate with their employees. And vice-versa. It encompasses both internal and external
communication. It incorporates new methods of achieving engagement, understanding, and input.

Its strength, though, is that it allows for employees to become informed, engaged, and influential
within their online ecosystem. They read, digest, and interact with information supplied by the
different corporate channels (social media, newsfeeds, intranets, etc.).

They then spread that awareness as thought leaders and brand advocates in their field. They’re more
aware of what’s going on within their company, but also in the larger industry and marketplace.

3. Organizational communication vs. Operational communication

An essential part of developing this new solution for employee communication is to recognize the
fundamental differences between the two types of communication that exist: organizational
communication and operational communication. Most of the messages and information that flow
within a business can be organized into one of the two classes. Generally, they are as follows:

Organizational communication

These are the messages related to overall business, the larger company-wide projects that are taking
place, and news from within the business sector.

This might include breaking news, quarterly financial performance reports, updates to HR policies,
news regarding big events, potential mergers and acquisitions—essentially the news that is relevant
for forming a picture of life at the company, and for understanding its place within the larger business
environment.

Operational communication

These messages cover the nuts and bolts of everyday project communication, especially for frontline
workers. These are often more targeted, because relevance is key, as they relate to specific
undertakings. They aren’t about generating general awareness across the company, but focus on
explaining things like new store guidelines, health regulations, manufacturing processes, or product
descriptions.
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4. Why is employee communication important?

We know what employee communication is. It’s a term that encompasses the new digital reality of
information sharing, and the ways in which those realities can be incorporated into a
broader communications strategy.

The question that remains, however, is why it matters. Why is it so important for a company to have
an effective employee communication platform? What does a business have to gain by becoming a
part of an employee’s online ecosystem and daily routine?

Perhaps the most obvious and timely answer is that many employees are working from home and
feeling disconnected from the workplace. Crucial information is slipping through the cracks and
alignment is often off. An effective employee communication plan with targeted internal
communication newsletter or messages, push notifications and alerts, live video broadcasts, and of
course pulse surveys to monitor the general morale of the team—this can keep employees connected
and informed during a difficult time.

The most convincing evidence is simple statistics, and the figures are hard to argue with: employee
communication doesn’t just matter, it’s an absolutely critical part of any successful company’s
communications strategy today.

For example:

• Excellent internal communications can lead to a 40% increase in customer satisfaction.

• Companies with good communication are 4x as likely to have high levels of engagement.

• Productivity in organizations with connected employees improves by 20-25%.

(Mckinsey.com)

• Companies that are highly effective communicators had 47% higher returns to shareholders.
(Towerswatson.com)

• Highly engaged employees can improve a company’s operating income by 2% over a 12-
month period. (Bluesource.co.uk)

But beyond statistics, there are the more general, qualitative advantages that come with strong
employee communication. It will increase the diversity of ideas, breaking silos that exist within the
company and encouraging the sharing of thoughts and fresh approaches across departments.

It will strengthen the culture of the company by creating a solid, shared sense of identity that
transcends groups, regional offices, and departments. And all of this, ultimately, can provide
opportunities for innovation. Creativity comes from open lines of communication and the freedom to
both inform, and become informed.

Next, we’ll explore the steps and considerations needed to launch an effective employee
communication initiative, supported by a relevant technology.
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5. Optimize your employee communication strategy

o Consider all stakeholders

This is true from the earliest planning stages, right on through to implementation. Many different
people work at a company, filling various roles. Therefore, an effective communication strategy needs
to involve all of them.

This can mean offering extensive mobile support and an internal communication solution for frontline
workers without professional email addresses or regular desk time and amplifying the voices of entry-
level and temporary employees to create an environment of inclusion. There should be no such thing
as a “disconnected” worker. Everyone should be in on the action.

o Set a clear strategy and define goals

From the beginning, decide how and what you want to accomplish. This might include: connecting
frontline workers with the rest of the company, encouraging employee engagement with bottom-up
initiatives, communicating a new company-wide strategy that needs to be adopted, improving local
efficiency through better operational comms, or any other from a host of ultimate objectives.

And to determine success, you need to establish clear KPIs from the onset related to your business
objectives. Solid, tangible numbers that can be both measured and met.

o Empower managers

When managing communication in the workplace, it’s necessary to include all levels in formulating
a communication plan. Ensuring that managers and other top-level staff are leaders in communication
is crucial.

This includes encouraging managers to actively provide necessary information, but it also means
giving them the autonomy and budget to inform and engage their own employees as they see fit.
After all, who knows better what will keep employees absorbed than those who work closely with
them on a daily basis?

But to be effective, the operational communication that we discussed above needs to be seamless.
Employees, especially frontline workers, need constant updates, whether it’s f new best practices, or
new directions for their daily tasks.

For example, even a simple 2-minute video made by an operation’s manager and sent to team
members on a daily or weekly basis can add the personal, effective touch that employees’ need.
And surveys created and sent by local managers allow them to take the pulse at a local level,
something HQ might not be able to accomplish.

o Celebrate internal influencers

There are going to be those at any company who have a better handle on social media. Who are
better known internally and externally, or who even simply have a more visible personality. Don’t be
afraid to use these “influencers” to spread the word.

This can include everything from rewarding engagement with gamification via badges and points, to
simply identifying “influencers” to help roll out new policies and campaigns. In short, there are many
ways to be a leader, and they don’t all necessarily have to do with a position in management.
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o Know your employee communication tools … and consolidate

Email, enterprise social networks, intranets, and good-old fashioned newsletters—you probably have
a number of tools sitting in your kit, and it’s important you use them to the best of their capabilities.
Just as you wouldn’t use a screwdriver to hammer a nail or a saw to measure a table, you wouldn’t
use a company email to conduct an office poll, or Twitter to conduct an employee review.

Learn each specific channel’s potential, and then incorporate them all into a single, unified plan. And
platforms with social media aggregators can help, including an effective newsfeed or content feed.

This ultimately relates to the larger question of how to structure your digital workplace, and why it’s
important to offer a clear purpose for each digital tool. For example: Microsoft Teams to be used
specifically for collaboration on Office documents, an employee comms platform like Sociabble for
organizational and operational communication, and Microsoft SharePoint as a document repository.

And Intranets? Many companies have stopped using them, while some have been able to incorporate
them into a larger structure. Each must have a specific purpose and cohere into the larger workplace.

o Integrate mobile, video & audio

Times are changing, and now more than ever employees are relying on mobile devices. Not to mention
mobile-friendly video channels for information and entertainment. Rather than buck the trend, use it
to your advantage. Make sure your communications are geared toward mobile. And don’t be afraid
to incorporate videos as a major source of content.

This is what will keep employees engaged in the modern era, when many only have a few minutes
over a break or during a commute to check their phones for the latest information they can use.

And of course, audio content can make a big difference as well, specifically when you consider the
popularity of podcasts. According to one stat, 57% of consumers listen to podcasts on a regular
basis. When media is combined to create things like company-wide town halls, it brings everyone
together at once and creates a sense of presence and belonging, even when working remotely.

o Foster innovation through idea collection

Use surveys and open idea-sharing sessions to encourage innovation at your company. This works
especially well in the corporate social responsibility sphere. With the Sociabble platform, for example,
the “Support My Cause” feature empowers employees to suggest causes and charitable organizations
that they want to support, with built-in selection and voting mechanisms.

Promoting this kind of collective thinking not only erases silos and barriers, but will increase the
quality and relevance of ideas within the organization.

o Measure performance

It’s hard to know if something works if you don’t have any metrics to measure. When looking for a
platform, make sure you have the capability to keep track of key metrics like level of engagement,
shares, and views.

This is the best way to determine the effectiveness of different strategies. What works for one may
not work for the other. Essentially, keeping track of the numbers will keep you from wasting time and
energy on ineffective measures. Once you get the right platform, it’s important to benchmark your
internal communications progress.
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6. Create the perfect content mix for the best employee communication

When it comes to evolving from internal communications to employee communication, curating a

diverse content mix is a crucial piece of the puzzle. Informed employees are generally happier and
much more productive.

Engaged employees are a brand’s best advocates. And keeping employees informed and engaged
means giving them a rich and relevant variety of content. Third-party articles, competitive reports,
industry updates, even company photos—you need to keep them informed with a single, steady
stream of useful and interesting news.

But how do you know which mix is best? And how do you put in place an effective management
strategy for all this content? At Sociabble, for organizational communication, we often suggest using
the Content Rule of Thirds. The perfect content mix would be:

o Company news

There’s always something newsworthy going on at any company. This is your chance to showcase it
and keep your employees informed. New campaigns, new deployments, new hires, new offices—these
are all worth communicating, especially across different departments that may not have contact on a
daily basis. But it’s important to keep in mind that sources should be both internal and external.

Compelling third-party content from public feeds drives employee engagement and gives a different
perspective on what’s happening at your business. And be sure to include this as part of your
employee newsletter content as well.

o Industry news

Keeping tabs on what’s happening within the industry ecosystem is a key part of business success.
And it pays for employees to know what’s going on. Making sure 1/3 of your content is industry-
related can help ensure everyone is up to speed on the general trends taking place in the market, or
even at the local level.
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It is the case, for example, with frontline workers in clothing stores who need to be aware of changes
in taste and buying habits. But don’t forget—industry news should involve developments with
competitors as well as partners. Both are important.

o Daily life

If the 1/3 Company News portion is the macro version of what’s happening at your company, think
of this as the more personalized, micro version. This is the chance to show the human side of your
brand. Also, this is a great opportunity to employ more user generated content via social media.

That can mean using badges, quizzes, and even polls to connect with employees. They’re the most
important asset at every company—so make sure they know their voices are heard.

And what about operational communication?

In addition to organizational communication content, you need operational communication content

to complete the picture. This needs to be very local, produced by operational managers or team
members, to inform people about their operational work.

This could mean a store manager who needs to provide information to their specific team members
who work at the store regarding new products or regulations. This might mean specific pulse surveys
to get a feel for how a team or local office is feeling about their work, their sense of purpose, and
their general alignment with the larger company strategy and decisions.

This type of operational content, together with the content mix for organization content, should go
together hand in hand.

7. Use mobile employee communication to stay top of mind

o An effective mobile app

Because many frontline workers don’t have professional email addresses or desktops at hand, it’s
crucial to reach them wherever they are. This means mobile is indispensable.

For example, a retail employee on their feet at an outlet store should be able to check and respond
to the latest company sales report just as easily as someone their desk in the marketing department.
And without an effective mobile communication strategy, you’re simply not going to reach the
frontline workforce.

One thing not to overlook: an effective chat feature with live video capabilities to go with that mobile
experience. This will facilitate the kind of natural, everyday conversations that normally occur in an
office, even when workers are remote.

o Explain that their voice matters

All the mobile technology in the world won’t make a difference if employees don’t feel compelled to
use it. It’s important to communicate from the beginning that their voice matters, that sharing it is
important. Indeed, employees are a company’s greatest resource, and their opinions, ideas, and
suggestions help form a better work environment.

When frontline employees, for instance, see that the company cares about their opinions—and then
actually does something to address their wishes and concerns, they see the immediate value of
engagement. In short, it affects their experience and it can improve their workday.
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8. Employee communication at both a global and local level

The problem? Global and local content streams are all mixed up.

For international companies, information can have relevance at a global as well as a local level. But
many companies can’t separate these two streams even with the best employee communication plan.
The messages become jumbled and confused. Employees receive huge amounts of global information,
but this news isn’t always useful at the local level.

And companies don’t know if content should be sent in English, or in regional languages. Either
employees don’t feel part of the group, or huge efforts go into translation. Neither is good for
engagement, and moreover, both make employees less connected to the company.

The effective management of all information streams is key for any employee communication plan.

The Solution? Content curation at both a global and a local level.

For international corporations with global and local communication streams, it is important to
manage and filter the flow of information. It doesn’t matter where the employee is based. Relevance
and clarity should be maintained.

Therefore, an effective employee communication platform needs to be dynamic. It should allow for
different levels of administration. For large global deployments, this could mean having an
administrator who manages all global content.

But it means also having regional and local administrators who choose which content should flow
into their offices. And language is a consideration, too. The right platform should transition smoothly
between global content in English and local content in other regional languages.

This together will help build employee engagement for a very simple reason: getting informed with
company and industry news will no longer seem like a chore, but a relevant and entertaining part of
each employee’s day. It will become natural, helpful, and in the best cases, even fun.

Wrapping up: The importance of employee communication cannot be overstated in the new
world of work.

Employees have a lot on their minds these days, and company communication need to stand out in
a world of limited time and competing information.

Organizations need to understand what the diverse group of workers need and expect, deploy an
intelligent employee communication strategy, and use the right mix of tools.

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Versión condensada de artículo publicado por Sociabble (firma consultora con sede matriz en
Francia). https://www.sociabble.com/guides/employee-internal-communication/