The role of Internal Comms in an employee experience
Our purpose at Cosy Meerkat is to help build great employee experiences through simple internal communications. We work with various departments including HR and People teams, marketing, and of course internal comms teams too. But where does responsibility for the employee experience lie?
Enhancing an employee experience doesn’t fall only to an internal comms function, but in a world where communication remains so important, I think they play a pretty pivotal role.
We had a meeting yesterday where we covered some of the things we think are important to consider when thinking about employee experience - and the ways to how elevate it:
Clear communication goals
Alignment with organisational goals: make sure you’re clear about your comms objectives and that they’re aligned with the broader business goals. For example, if your company’s goal is to increase sales, your comms goal might be to inform and motivate people behind that.
SMART objectives: make your communication goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound). This means setting clear, quantifiable objectives that can be tracked and evaluated. What does this mean to each individual and their role in the business? Giving purpose makes for a better employee experience all round.
Employee engagement: a common communication goal is to boost employee engagement. First think about what those two words mean to you as a business? Do they mean increasing participation in company events? Do they mean inspiring people behind a vision? Do they mean increasing survey responses? All of the above? Employee engagement means different things to different people, make sure you’re all on the same page before you begin.
Consistency
Tone and style: maintain a consistent tone and style in your communications to establish a recognisable brand voice. This consistency helps build trust and reliability. All too often we see words spelt differently, or different ways of communicating because it’s a different person behind the message - these seem like little things, but consistency is so comforting - and therefore key.
Frequency: decide how often you communicate with employees and keep going back to that decision. Regular updates are important, but overloading people with information can lead to fatigue. Sometimes they need to hear more from you, other times they don’t - always be open to adapting your approach.
Message alignment: ensure that all messages align with your company's values and mission. Consistency in messaging reinforces the company's identity and it doens’t take long to go back to your core purpose and think about whether a message aligns with it. If it doesn’t - don’t send it.
Employee feedback
Structured feedback channels: implement structured feedback channels such as surveys, suggestion boxes, or regular town hall meetings. Encourage honest and constructive feedback from employees. How do people feel comfortable providing feedback? Really think about it rather than just ticking a box.
Prompt response: act on the feedback received promptly. Address concerns, implement suggestions, and communicate changes resulting from employee input. This shows that opinions matter and are valued. It’s a good idea too to encourage employees to really think about the details in their ideas/feedback - what change would they like to see, yes, but how would this work day to day?
Anonymity option: it’s still the case that people feel more confident if they’re sharing opinions anonymously. Offer anonymous feedback options to encourage employees to share their thoughts without fear of reprisal. This can lead to more honest feedback.
Advocacy
Employee training: provide employees with the tools and knowledge to effectively advocate for the company. This includes sharing company news, values, and achievements on their personal social media profiles. Think about adding templates (see Content sharing below) to onboarding processes so it’s easy for people to shout about the business.
Recognition and rewards: recognise and reward employees who actively advocate for the company. This can include shout-outs in company newsletters or incentives for promoting the brand. A simple thank you note from a leader could make all the difference to someone working hard with little exposure to the top.
Content sharing: make it easy for employees to share company content by providing shareable resources, like pre-written social media posts or graphics.
Measurement and Evaluation
Key performance indicators (KPIs): define specific KPIs to measure the effectiveness of your internal communication efforts. Common KPIs include employee engagement scores, open rates for internal emails, and participation in company events.
Regular surveys: conduct regular employee surveys to gauge satisfaction with internal communication. Use the data to identify areas for improvement; compare where you’ve improved and what needs improving since the last survey.
Feedback loops: establish feedback loops within your internal communication team to continually evaluate and adjust your strategies based on results and feedback. Just because ‘it’s always worked’ doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be refreshed or changed!
Benchmarking: compare your internal communication metrics to industry benchmarks to gain insights into your company's performance relative to peers. Select industry peers when analysing data look at similarities, trends, differences - reasons to celebrate, and key areas where you may be falling short. Data is powerful!
It takes a lot more to enhance an employee experience, but we believe that considering these points will give you a strong start. By focusing on: clear communication goals, consistency, employee feedback, advocacy, and measurement, you can build a robust internal communication strategy that not only elevates the employee experience but also contributes to the overall success of the organisation.
