8 strategies for effective internal communications

Internal communications departments are busier than ever. Along with the usual business updates, you are now communicating on a growing list of topics from employee wellbeing to allyship, and purpose to sustainability. Technology has brought new channels like employee apps and forums that require community management and maintenance. Workplace culture is going up the corporate agenda. And to add to this noisy and busy internal communications world, the volatile and uncertain environment businesses are operating in is throwing a never-ending set of curve balls at you.

It’s no wonder then, that it can be hard to pause and reflect on what’s working and what’s not. Grab a coffee and let’s take some time to review what strategies drive effective internal communications.

1. Leading with accessibility

From accessible channels to the way communications are written, your message can only get through if it’s accessible. Let’s look at a few things that often get in the way: 

•  Literacy exclusion: In the UK, the average reading age is 9-11 years old meaning that many communications could be inaccessible to large parts of your workforce. To overcome this, lean on your trusty AI tools to help you simplify the messaging.

• Digital exclusion: We recently talked about the findings of the Communication and Digital Committee report which served as a great reminder that not all of our workforce have access or the capability to access digital channels. You can combat this by ensuring more traditional channels like posters, noticeboards and newsletters are still available.

• Neurodiversity exclusion: From careful font choices to breaking up text, and changing coloured backgrounds to introducing text-to-speech tools, there are so many opportunities available to help make communication more accessible. To make communications more effective and equitable, offering reasonable adjustments to increase accessibility is a must.

 2. Going beyond broadcast

A helpful perspective on your communication channels comes from the recent Gallagher Internal Communication and Employee Experience State of the Sector Report, categorising communication channels into three distinct buckets:

• Broadcast channels: To get an important message heard, nothing does it better than a face-to-face, virtual townhall or all-team web conference call. Interestingly, text messages are also hugely effective yet very rarely used. The use of environmental channels, like posters, banners, and TV screens is shrinking possibly due to hybrid working) but be careful not to overlook place-based employees who still rely on these formats. Reducing comms, quietening the noise, choosing the right channel, the right message and at the right time will increase cut through. Next time stakeholders ask for yet another internal email comms to go out, it’s a great opportunity to share

• Collaboration and interpersonal channels: Community is becoming king or queen, the importance and effectiveness of knowledge sharing from lunch and learns to ERGs or topic-based committee sessions is growing.

• Self-serve channels: It’s probably not a surprise that employee apps get the highest score when it comes to effectiveness but what might be surprising is that their year-on-year use has slightly decreased.  Perhaps a victim of post-pandemic more face-to-face opportunities opening up.

3. Cutting through the noise

We all feel it. The overwhelming overload of messages we’re all exposed to from the minute we wake up to the moment we fall asleep. Some suggest we’re now being bombarded by around 4,000 – 10,000 ads per day. No wonder comms teams struggle to get the cut-through you want, but adding more (countdowns to important dates, reminders, and more newsletters) is not the answer.

Reducing comms, quietening the noise, choosing the right channel, the right message and at the right time will increase cut through. Next time stakeholders ask for yet another internal email comms to go out, it’s a great opportunity to share that 35% of emails are never read.

Your workforce will prioritise urgent and business-critical messages first, leaving the latest newsletter to fester flagged and unopened. In fact, the IC Index 2023 suggests 7 in 10 UK employees say they spend 15 mins or less per day reading or reviewing updates from their employers, while 25% said they spend ‘hardly any time’ in this way.

To make the most of this narrow window, take a long hard look at what messages are being repeated in multiple channels, have the least engagement, or could be reduced to simplify your communications.  

4. Choosing clarity

“If I’d had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.” 

 We’ve probably all heard this quote, but it is a great reminder that as comms teams battle to juggle their multiple projects and priorities it’s easy to overlook the importance of editing the latest article from the demanding subject matter expert, the long introduction from the senior stakeholder or the latest insert to the newsletter bulletin.

Effective communications are well-positioned, quick to the point and clear on what the audience needs to think, feel, or do. The well-established single-minded proposition approach applies well here and could help internal comms teams focus on a more disciplined approach.  

5. Building trust

We all have a choice of what we tune in and out of. Being human we make our emotional choices based on trust and likability before our rational brain even has a chance to make a conscious decision. Think about how quickly you scroll through social media streams without making rational decisions on which posts you pause on. These same emotional decisions are being made at work. Employees are quickly deciding what they trust, so it’s vital we give them clear trust signals in our communications. This could look like sharing clear facts, referencing employee feedback, being consistent with previous messages, aligning to ongoing strategies and attributing/naming articles with key recognisable figures in the business.  

6. Harnessing creativity

 We might be biased on this point because we champion the use of creativity in communications, but it’s also proven that humans process visual content 60,000 faster than text and process 80% of what we see, 20% of what we read and only 10% of what we hear. We know a creative-led communication strategy that leans all our senses is the optimal format to deliver results.

7. Understanding human psychology

Drawing on well-established psychological behaviours, such as the fear of missing out (which stems from the psychology of scarcity) and loss aversion, as well as techniques like framing and gamification, communications need to be tailored for humans rather than robots. A deep understanding of human behaviour is key to success.

8. Adapting to the environment

Whether it’s reading the room and understanding that a positive celebratory communication might not land in the wake of recent bad news, or simply getting the timing right, you act as a custodian to the employee audience, protecting them from comms overload, poorly timed or poorly positioned communications. Speak up if you feel you’re being forced into something that won’t land or face the damage it has on the reputation of internal communications.

Your partner for effective internal communications

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