2022 - what next for Internal Communications?
Good riddance 2021 and hello to a happier and less tumultuous 2022. It’s what we’re all thinking or, at least, hoping, right? That things might, finally, get back to normal.
But what does normal look like now? The ‘new normal’ we all had to adapt to in 2021 – the horribly-termed ‘hybrid working’ – is now just, well, normal. Expected. In fact, if an employer doesn’t now offer some form of flexible working they’ll likely find they struggle to recruit and retain staff. More and more, prospective employees are demanding the ability to work how and when they want.
From an internal communications perspective, if there are any positives to come out of the pandemic it’s that it’s accelerated the introduction of positive working practices which were already starting to emerge. Take, for example, the ‘Your day. Your way,’ scheme introduced at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which gave its staff amazing flexibility in deciding how to go about their working day. The organisation now boasts an 89% staff satisfaction rating with its working culture, not to mention multiple awards for making such a transformative change. Their Chief HR Officer, David Blackburn, believes ‘work is an activity, not a place,’ (hear, hear!) and that post-pandemic, the office will no longer be just where you go to work but the place where people meet for ‘connection and collaboration.’ Sounds great, don’t you think? Yet such is the speed of change that’s been enforced on many organisations by the pandemic, not all leaders are yet on board with the idea that the traditional 9-5 office-based job is gone forever. One of our most important jobs this year as Internal Comms specialists, therefore, must be to help those leaders who aren’t yet convinced that what we have now is better than what we had before. We’ll need to provide evidence that shows how being more open and trusting can lead to greater productivity and business success.
Then there’s helping to ensure the businesses we work with are agile enough to deal with whatever’s thrown at them, given it seems new variants and all the uncertainty they bring are going to be with us for some time yet. For Internal Comms and HR, that means two things:
1. Making our communications more personal and engaging
And
2. Shining a light on mental health.
Let’s look at point one in a bit more detail first. Within the next decade 58% of the workforce will be either Millennials or Gen Z. Tech-savvy, mobile-driven, they want workplace communications which match the way they get information in their personal lives. Think Tik-Tok or Insta stories – storytelling that’s highly visual, quickly and easily consumed. We need to not just be reading about internal company news but watching and listening to stories from individual employees, recognising and valuing great work. And the tech behind this will be crucial too. Mobile-first internal communications apps like Blink or Workvivo are the future. The challenge for those of us working in internal comms will be to keep on top of the technology, making sure we know what best suits the organisations and people we work with.
Then there’s point two, which, for me, could be summed up simply as: be kinder. That’s not just a fluffy-sounding desire from me to always work with nice people (although we all know it makes a big difference!), it makes business sense too. If you have a moment, do take a look at Deloitte Global’s 2021 ‘Building the Resilient Organization’ report. It contains lots of interesting stats about business resilience, but the one that struck me was that 82% of leaders who felt their organisations had done very well in providing mental health resources also felt their businesses could adapt quickly and pivot in response to disruptive events. Confirmation of what many of us intuitively believe – that if staff feel valued and happy at work they’ll deal with change and upheaval better. So, let’s make 2022 the year when we focus on well-being initiatives. Listen to what your people need and take action! Organise walking meetings, make lunch breaks mandatory or offer yoga and meditation classes. Ultimately, make sure that colleagues know their workplace values them taking time to look after themselves. That way, if 2022 isn’t the smooth ride we all hope it will be, we’ll be in a much better place to successfully ride out the next storm.
