Why Internal Comms Is About More Than Sending Emails (and Why It Matters to Your Bottom Line)
Think you do a great job of communicating with your employees? Statistics show that they might beg to differ:
According to Gallup, only 7% of U.S. workers strongly agree that company communication is accurate, timely, and open
In a report from Axios, less than half (46%) of employees say essential communications at their organization are helpful and relevant
When it comes to clear and consistent messaging from employers, employees want more. And yet, many companies' internal communications fall short of those expectations.
Why? In many cases, organizations make the mistake of assuming that effective communication is something that inherently happens as a result of working together. But that’s hardly ever the case.
And even when organizations do dedicate more strategy and intention to internal communications, it’s often not supported with adequate resources. A whopping 86% of organizations wrap internal communications into a broader department, meaning it’s not a core focus on its own.
For companies that want to attract and retain top talent, it’s time to stop thinking about internal communications as nothing more than occasional memos and announcements and see it for what it is: the foundation of your company’s success.
What exactly is internal communications?
Internal communications is the name for all of the processes and tools you use to keep employees informed, engaged, and aligned with your company strategy.
For most people, the term inspires visions of company announcements, an intranet, or other forms of written communication. Those have their place in an internal communications strategy, but the concept of internal communications applies to anything and everything you use to share information with your employees. This includes other efforts like:
Training sessions, meetings, and presentations
Employee recognition initiatives and celebrations
Employee surveys and results
Performance evaluations and feedback
Even your company culture itself is a form of internal communications. While many aspects of your culture are often unspoken or less tangible, your overall work environment informs employees about the values, beliefs, and norms of your organization. Your culture is a consistent and ever-present way of communicating your company’s expectations and values.
Why is an internal communication strategy important?
The major benefit of solid internal communications is fairly straightforward: it gets (and keeps) everybody on the same page. But here’s a closer look at why effective internal communication matters.
1. It increases alignment and understanding
Successful organizations need alignment. To reach goals, employees need to know what they’re working toward and feel invested in the process of getting there.
But a company’s overarching strategy isn’t quite as obvious as executives like to think. In fact, even top-level leaders lack the necessary knowledge about where the company is headed. In one study, one-third of leaders responsible for implementing the company’s strategy couldn’t list even one strategic priority.
That means employees are too often left in the dark. While 66% of leaders think they’re aligned with their employees, only 44% of workers agree—proving that companies have some work to do to get employees up to speed and ensure they’re bought into the vision and mission.
That’s where internal communications come into play. An effective communications strategy brings employees beyond the narrow lens of their day-to-day work so they can keep tabs on what the organization as a whole is focused on and how they can contribute along the way.
2. It improves employee engagement
Imagine that you’re given a hammer and told to help build something. But here’s the catch: you don’t know what the final result is supposed to look like, what it will be used for, or why it matters.
How motivated are you to start pounding some nails? Not very, right? The same is true for your employees. When they lack visibility into your company’s priorities, strategy, updates, or other big-picture elements, it’s challenging for them to feel committed or enthusiastic—and their engagement and output quickly wane.
That’s another area where effective internal communication is so helpful. According to the Harvard Business Review, employees who get enough information to do their job well are 2.8 times more likely to be engaged.
3. It unites remote, in-person, and hybrid workers
Internal communication is always a challenge, especially on larger teams. But the switch to remote or hybrid work arrangements has added fuel to that fire. One recent study concluded that a full-time remote workforce has a harder time acquiring and sharing new information.
On distributed teams, people feel more siloed and isolated, with only 28% of remote workers saying they feel connected to their company’s mission and purpose.
With a solid internal communications strategy tailored to your company’s work arrangement, you can keep all of your workers connected and in the loop—regardless of where they’re working from.
But what about the bottom line?
All of the above benefits are compelling. But if you (or your organization) need more evidence that internal communication is worth the investment, here’s perhaps the most convincing point: a solid internal communications strategy boosts your bottom line.
Ineffective communication costs U.S. businesses an estimated $2 trillion each year. When you focus on clear and consistent communication with employees, your organization can:
Maximize your leadership: Leaders spend anywhere from three to 10 hours each week preparing essential communications for employees. An internal communications strategy can standardize these processes and lighten the load on your managers, giving them more time to focus on other aspects of their positions.
Reduce costly turnover: When employees leave, it’s expensive. Estimates state it can cost one-and-a-half to two times the employee’s salary to replace them. Fortunately, according to one study, companies that communicate effectively are at least 50% more likely to report turnover levels below the industry average.
Improve engagement and output: Solid communication equips employees with the information, visibility, resources, and support they need to do their jobs well. Increases in employee productivity and engagement typically translate to increases in output. Businesses with engaged workers report 23% higher profits than those with workers who aren’t engaged.
And that doesn’t even touch on the financial gains realized from the other impacts of effective internal communication, like smoother collaboration and greater trust in leadership.
Put simply, while improving your internal communications requires some time and money, you’ll quickly see the return on your investment—not just in overall morale and motivation, but on your balance sheet too.
It’s not enough to communicate—you need to do it well
For too long, internal communication has been an afterthought for businesses. Or, even worse, companies have shifted all of the responsibility to employees. It’s up to them to figure out where and how to find the information they need to do their jobs well.
But today, companies that continue to devalue internal communications and assume that a sporadic announcement or a dusty intranet is enough to get the job done are bound to struggle with low engagement, reduced productivity, and high employee turnover—all of which will negatively impact the organization’s bottom line.
It’s time to give your internal communications the emphasis and energy it deserves. In doing so, you’ll transform more than your approach to communication—you’ll transform your entire culture.
Ready to get started? Schedule a chat with Ready Cultures.
