Often times it seems companies spend so much time, energy and money focusing on their customers through marketing and public relations efforts and not enough time on their most important audience: employees.
Internal communications has the power to be the lifeline of a company. It brings people together for the common good of the company and helps employees understand their role in the bigger picture. Effective internal communications has the power to shape a company’s culture, build trust, loyalty, drive brand behavior, support company initiatives and objectives. When employees feel engaged, they have a sense of ownership and their job satisfaction increases. And so does the company bottom line.
Internal communications should be two-way. All communication channels should offer a way for employees to provide feedback, ask questions, give suggestions. This also helps companies measure how well they’re communicating and can indicate opportunities to go back and refresh communications when necessary.
So what happens with internal communications breakdowns? Lots of very bad things!
• The internal brand becomes damaged.
• Employees lose trust in management and the company as a whole.
• The rumor mill spins.
• Misinformation leads to bad decisions.
• Employee turnover increases.
• Productivity decreases.
• The bottom line takes a hit.
• The external brand becomes damaged.
Do you have any stories to share about the power of internal communications? We’d love to hear from you.