Internal PR: are you talking to your employees?
It is remarkable how little attention is paid to internal PR in so many organisations, whatever size they are. Information regularly disseminated to employees on any issues within the business, from staff changes and success to new products and services and individual employee achievements are often not shared across the whole of a business. And it’s a lost opportunity. (And, please, memos from ‘above’ are not internal PR).
Now, in this era where many are working remotely from their home offices and sofas, it’s doubly important, as the day to day contact between team members is vastly reduced and the flow of information is more restricted.
An effective internal communications strategy is really important and it should be on a par with your external brand communications.
Why?
By putting emphasis on your employees through engagement, advocacy and workplace culture, you will likely see tangible benefits.
It’s a fact: Results from the Global Employee Engagement Index show that high levels of employee engagement directly relate to a 26% increase in performance, 28% improved alignment and a 60% reduction in employee turnover. Numbers that shouldn’t be ignored.
Good communication with your workforce is a mix of timing, flexibility and evolution. You couldn’t illustrate this better than this very strange year where communication strategies have had to go digital and adapt as the times force us into the unknown. According to the CIPD, senior leaders often struggle to communicate clearly about where the organisation is going and the impact on employees. Equally, managers can lack the skills, confidence and time needed to communicate well with their teams. Their UK Working Lives survey found that around a third of employees reported their manager as being poor at keeping them informed about management decisions.
Your employees are your biggest advocates and brand ambassadors. By keeping them incentivised and happy, they will in turn remain loyal, be happier and more productive, reduce or avoid personnel/HR issues, be more accepting of change and, by extension, have a positive impact on the bottom line.
73% of employees who say they work at a “purpose-driven” company are engaged, compared to just 23% of those who don’t. Also, a 2016 global survey of 26,000 LinkedIn members, taken by the research firm Imperative, found that 73% of its participants want a career in which they feel that their job matters.
If you would like to talk to us about talking to your employees effectively, please get in touch!
Sources:
https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/relations/communication/factsheet
