3 Simple Ways to Enhance Your Internal Communications
Internal communications is often seen as the poor cousin of its more glamorous counterpart - customer experience. However, the most successful companies know that engaged and informed employees are the key to satisfied customers.
A recent global study linking employee and customer satisfaction found that each one-star improvement in a company’s Glassdoor rating corresponded to a 1.3-point out of 100 improvement in customer satisfaction scores.
Whether we like it or not, the responsibility to improve internal communications often falls into the hands of HR. So, what can you do to improve internal communications within your business? Here are four simple ideas.
1. Make each new hire’s first day count
Like many things in life, first impressions matter. And if communication between new starters and existing staff doesn’t get off to a flying start, you’re setting a poor precedent for ongoing relations.
The first few weeks and months after taking on a new employee are a crucial time for onboarding them into their role within the company. Considering 20% of employee turnover happens within the first 45 days, and a third of new hires are looking for a new job within their first six months on the job, this is not only a cultural imperative but a smart business move as well.
If you’re working remotely, this can be a little more challenging, but still possible with virtual meetups and networking sessions.
By doing this, you are not forcing unnatural communication. Rather, you are supporting and encouraging natural communication to occur between people with shared interests, which boosts employee engagement. By planting seeds like this, you’ll be helping your employees communicate better, more organically, as your company grows.
2. Make company documents more accessible
A global study by Igloo found that 43% of employees did not share a document with a colleague because they couldn’t find it.
If your employees have a question about their employment, then they normally have two options: Ask somebody else or find the answer themselves. This is something you can improve internal communication in a more passive way,
Of course, while SharePoint, Dropbox and Google Drive are all good solutions for sharing documents, if you are a People HR customer, then you already have your own dedicated document storage area within your People HR system. Employees can then access these documents from anywhere, using the
3. Make Internal Communications work for your people
We live in a world full of emails, push notifications and text messages. And the workplace is no different – people expect their workplace technology to mirror the experience they enjoy in their personal lives.
If you’re a verbal learner, you might be tempted to communicate in the style that suits you – writing reams of emails or giving presentations. But it’s important to consider how your employees take in information best. You can even go one step further with your visuals, by using video content to share company updates.
Using chat tools like Teams, Zoom or Slack for internal communications is a great way of keeping employees in touch with each other. They were built for collaboration, meaning you can share documents as well as ideas. You can form team chats for different departments, as well as non work-related chat groups for employees with similar interests.
What’s more, HR can capitalise on this, by using these platforms for keeping employees in the loop.
We hope these tips will help you deliver more effective internal communications programs for your people. If you’d like more information and advice on HR best practice, have a browse of our HR blog.
