A survey by Stromberg consulting identifies the top 7 macro-trends in Internal Communications. The 2006 paper provides us with some excellent insights on how this business function is slowly being reshaped.
Factors like shifting demographics, changing markets and technological advances do contribute to this changing perception but global (and free) access to social computing tools has accelerated the urgency these trends even more.
It is high time that the Internal Communications department kept up with the Joneses and sees that the proliferation of WEB 2.0 platforms has changed the art of communicating for good. But let's have a look at these trends first :
1. Democratization of Information : powerful tools like blogs, IM and wikis turn communication into influence. With a blog being created every minute or so, it is clear that we want to become part of the information Value Chain. One-way communication or pure information dissemination is passé : it is now Word To The People.
2. Strategic Imperative : Communication has to be embedded in the overall business strategy as it is a proven and effective tool for creating employee loyalty, engagement and giving them empowerment.
3. Employee Engagement : a well informed employee is a happy employee. Companies that see communication as an integral part of their business strategy are likely to have lower employee turnover rates. How to measure engagement? see the next bullet.
4. Demonstrating ROI : this comes basically down to measuring the effectiveness of your communications efforts. Ties back to number 2 as KPIs, objectives, goals are part of any strategy. Similar metrics exist for your sales strategy so why don't apply these for your own employees, after all - they are part of your company's capital right? And for once, measuring the ROI of your human capital isn't a dirty word.
5. Segmentation and Globalisation : This is not so new you know, it is taking CRM one step further and applying the same principles to Employee Relationship Management.
6. Simplicity : Less is more? Only communicate on what is relevant for your employees. Beware of the risk of information overload!
7. Personalization : If you achieve point 5, you're ready to finetune your communications flow in function of the needs of the recipient.
Bottomline of the article can be summarised as follows : The function of internal communications is more than an obligation. It becomes a key tool for engaging, retaining, aligning and empowering the workforce. It is evident that the communications function is shifting towards a twilight zone where the boundaries between HR and communication disappear and will require a tight collaboration between the two. HR and Comms strategy must be synched with each other as one cannot work without the other.
As a consequence, the mission and vision of your communications department may have to be reformulated in the context of the above trends. But isn't this what strategy formulating is all about? Your business strategy will always be subject to changes as it is dependent on the internal, external forces and market trends. Some of the trends have been discussed here - others like a shortage in skilled knowledge workers, employee attrition, sourcing and the lot are clear signals that it's time to change.
A couple of tips to conclude :
- Put communications on the next business agenda
- Understand the power of employer brand equity, collaboration, empowerment and the impact it can have on retaining your talents
- Hire the right people to formulate a holistic communications strategy
- Free up funds to deploy the necessary tools and systems
- Do a employee satisfaction survey for zero measurements and go for SMART communication KPIs
- Do not ignore external trends but follow them or even better initiate them
If there is one domain where being an innovator yields business benefits, it is definitely internal communications so what are you waiting for?
