BECKY LEONARD
INSIGHT AND CONTENT MANAGER
“What else are you hearing from your clients?”
October to December edition
We know that working in-house as an internal communicator can be isolating. It’s difficult to know what other organisations are doing or if you’re up to date with the latest trends and solutions.
You told us how useful you found our last summary of the top trending internal communication (IC) issues we’re hearing about from our clients. Well, as you know, the world of work is ever-changing.
As we head towards the end of 2024, here’s the latest on our client challenges and the actions we’re advising organisations take, now and into next year.
“What do I do with all this data?”
Technology is always evolving, which means the data that it produces is too. We can see what our employees are looking at, when, and for how long. We can analyse the sentiment of their online exchanges to see if they’re onboard with new ideas, or concerned about change. And over time we can build a picture of their preferences, such as whether they prefer to watch the CEO’s video update on their phone on the way home, or read his remarks on their laptop when it hits their inbox during the day.
There are so many possibilities. It’s exciting. But it’s also overwhelming. Where should internal communicators start when it comes to managing all this data?
Do a little, often
Take stock of what analytics you have available. What is going to be most useful for you when you’re building your strategy and proving your worth as a function? Just because you can measure something, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should, or it’s going to give you information you can use to make better decisions.
For example, it might be just starting with five minutes a week to check your most popular intranet stories. This will soon add up to an interesting insight into what your people are engaging with, and help you to argue for more (or less) of this type of content.
And if you’re worried about having the time to pull your different channel analytics together, we’re helping clients get insights effortlessly with DASH, our all-in-one analytics dashboard. DASH links into your existing digital channels to aggregate metrics and produce reports, which helps you to unify your internal communication data.
Remember to blend quantitative and qualitative research so you’re not just reliant on the numbers – find the stories behind the data to bring those numbers to life and help you build the evidence to improve your approach to internal communication.
“What do I do about return to work mandates?”
You’ve likely seen the headlines. Many
organisations – including the likes of Amazon and Santander – have declared that their employees must be back in the office for a set number of days a week.
Evidence from the recent IC Index report also reflects this development. More than a quarter of survey respondents said their employer had told them they had to spend a certain amount of time in the office.
But it seems this is having a damaging impact on employee engagement. The same report shows trust fracturing between employees and organisations, saying that almost 70 per cent believe their employer lied about the reason they want people back in the office.
So what can internal communicators do
to start mending fences?
Focus on shared goals
First of all, you need to acknowledge people’s feelings about the return to work. It’s no good banging on about the benefits of returning to the office if people aren’t ready to hear it. Be empathetic, telling people that you hear their concerns, and offer a feedback channel so people have an outlet for their thoughts.
Next, build trust by focusing on shared goals and how a return to the office can help you achieve them. This is particularly effective if you use the feedback to understand what your people care about. For example, if you’re hearing concerns about wellbeing, focus your communications on how to provide support for work-life balance as part of the return.
“How do I make sure we’re at the top of our game?”
So with all of this ongoing change, it’s no wonder that employees are feeling stressed about being left behind. As jobs roles are amalgamated, people feel like they have to be a jack of all trades. And as artificial intelligence expands, people feel they need to learn new technical skills.
In fact, LinkedIn research shows that 64% of professionals feel overwhelmed by the pace of change at work, and 49% are worried about being left behind.
So what can organisations do to help their people feel better prepared to take on these new challenges?
Build better links with HR
HR is the internal communicator’s natural ally when it comes to developing a learning culture. We need to work closely with them, agreeing shared goals and clear responsibilities when it comes to helping employees engage with development opportunities.
We have seen many organisations give learning a sense of occasion, with themed learning weeks or months to kick-start people’s interest and motivation. While HR, or Learning and Development, may decide the content of the week, we have helped our internal communication clients to encourage participation through persuasive messaging, themed communications, and interactive activities.
