Internal Communication might be the most mission-critical practice that no one is practicing
Internal Communication – also known as Employee Communication – is at its most basic, facilitating strategic connections and conversations within your organization. This communication takes place between leaders, managers, and employees – or peer-to-peer, from leader-to-leader or employee-to-employee, for example.
And when it’s smart, this Internal Communication ensures your people are committed to achieving ground-breaking business results, by helping improve collaboration, productivity, and performance. It empowers them to deliver your business strategy by supporting the beliefs, behaviors, and culture that shape this– and your company’s future.
We’re talking about employee engagement, or tapping into what motivates employees and leveraging that energy to retain top talent and generate results.
According to a recent Gallup poll, only 30% of employees are engaged in their work and this correlates with Internal Communication. Ironically, the recovering job market isn’t helping much either. Employees today are more empowered than ever to change jobs if they aren’t inspired by the work, aren’t emotionally invested in the company, or don’t see opportunities for career growth.
For employers, this lack of employee engagement is a serious business. Consider these facts: a 2012 Towers Watson work-force study showed that companies with the highest number of “sustainably engaged” employees had an operating margin nearly three times those with the lowest traditional engagement scores. Other studies have shown that return to share-holders is 36% higher in companies with strong employee engagement. Highly engaged employees are 87%less likely to leave than their disengaged peers, saving turnover costs of 50% or more of an employee’s annual salary.
Bottom line: employee engagement has a direct impact on the bottom line.
So what does this have to do with brand marketing? A lot, actually. Whether you realize it or not, you have a unique employer brand that should be a clear extension of the corporate brand you market to consumers. Because retention has a direct line to the bottom line, it’s up to your company’s executive, human resources, and marketing teams to create a cohesive, consistent employer brand that resonates inside and outside the company.
“Companies should think of their current and prospective employees as audiences of the brand,” says Brian Burgess, Global Director, Employee Practice, MSL GROUP PBJS. “The messages and channels will be slightly different to appeal to these groups, but they should feel the same as the corporate brand, which is why it’s so important for marketing and HR to work together.” Your employer brand is more than just the written word or the video or the website; it’s a culmination of all these things to create an employee experience.“
An employer brand guides how you act as an employer, how you talk to employees and prospects, and how you recruit talent,” says Tony Osborn, VP, Employee Practice at MSL GROUP PBJS.
When your recruitment starts to look and feel like consumer marketing, it moves everyone toward the same goals.
Clearly, this new reality calls for a new perspective. In our next edition, the industry’stop experts on employee engagement offer a peek inside their practice and give actionable tips, insights, and strategies to kick start your employer brand and ignite your workforce right now, including:
- The anatomy of an employee-driven engagement strategy
- How to get to the root of the engagement challenge and reveal the opportunity
- Three ways to boost engagement and transform your employer brand
- How to craft the right narrative to run through all employee journey touchpoints
- Employee influencers: who they are, why they’re important and how to engage them
- Real-world examples of engagement strategies in action and the impact they made
Your people are your greatest assets, but only if they’re fully engaged in their jobs.