Many communications professionals aren’t aware of the new technologies and new philosophies that will transform internal communications in 2015 and beyond. I’m a big believer in the power of employee messaging, so to help you better engage your workers, here are the latest trends in internal communications.
Getting visual
While emails, intranets, and employee newsletters are still important, many companies are moving beyond them with visual communications. This means more photos of employees at events, volunteering, or celebrating milestones. It also means creating infographics, a visual trend that I love. Infographics can make any subject interesting and are great for conveying complex information — like, say, changes in leadership or company benefits — in simple, eye-catching ways. Organizations are also speaking to employees through video, since it has become so easy to create, with a camcorder on every phone. The HR Trend Institute calls these “Explanimations,” and recommends they last 75 seconds or less, and “avoid talking heads!”
Speaking of which, these photos and videos should feature real employees, your real workplace, and real events. Many HR experts and forecasters agree that stock photos are on the way out, since they seem insincere. This dovetails with another trend of transparency, which means communicating bad news to employees and making messages less polished and more human.
Going mobile
“BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is a grass-roots movement that is happening in your organization whether you like it or not,” writes organizational communications expert Shel Holtz. While some workers are being issued mobile devices from their employers, more workers are simply using their own phones and tablets at work. This presents an opportunity to send them internal communications via text message. It also allows you a chance to let them access the company intranet through their mobile device — even when they’re out of the office. To optimize this opportunity, companies must make their intranets and company emails responsive, so they can be read on a phone screen without having to zoom in and scroll around, one of my pet peeves.
With text messaging, there’s nothing to design. Open rates usually increase because the message goes to the employee’s phone, not their (probably crowded) inbox. And it gives the employee more chances to see the message and engage with it, such as on the commute to and from the office.
Being social
As with so many other aspects of business, social media is seeping into internal communications — and from both directions. On the inside, more companies are using ESNs (enterprise social networks) like Yammer, Chatter, and MangoApps. Social networking engages employees, helps them collaborate, lets them learn from each other, and is often more productive and efficient than email. Engagement is important, since Gallup just found that nearly 70% of American workers aren’t engaged in their jobs.
On the outside, some companies are speaking to employees through public social media channels. UPS has led the way with its @UPSers Twitter account, which “celebrates the heart and soul” of the company — its people. I’m also a fan of Marriott, which poses questions to its thousands of employees on Facebook, with no fear of inappropriate or snarky responses. These are bold moves, and the workers appreciate them. I think both peer-to-peer communications and real-time responses will be part of the future of internal comms.
Gaming on
Gamification is the one of the latest trends in corporate wellness and employee rewards, and I’m beginning to see it in internal communications as well. Companies can reward employees for simply reading internal communications, or for sharing them with their peers (using an ESN, perhaps). You can create quizzes based on recent messaging and publicly recognize the winners. What about giving prizes to employees who live the company’s values — which are communicated through the intranet or newsletters?
Accenture is implementing some of these ideas in its Spain office. The company created a solar system on its intranet of company values. It created a game to help employees reduce their carbon footprint, an initiative that I don’t think would have worked as well as a brochure or an email. Finally, Accenture turned its recognition program into an internal communications tool, making it both individualized and team-based, and basing it on the company’s values, which were communicated through a video and a blog. “Level of participation is higher when the initiative entails gamification, beating participation in other internal communications initiatives between 30% and 50%,” says Paloma Cabrera, the company’s marketing and communications director.
Which of these four trends can your organization take advantage of? Do they all sounds scary or difficult or expensive? My agency, Brandemix, has done internal communications work for Chico’s, Estée Lauder, and Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest. I’d love to share my expertise with you to help you engage your employees and increase productivity. Contact me for more information.
Jody Ordioni is President of Brandemix.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.
