What do you do if your corporate communications strategy is failing to engage employees?

Los colaboradores son nuestro principal público objetivo, por lo tanto debemos conocerlos muy bien para crear nuestra estrategia de comunicación. Debemos ir más allá de conocer la edad, género, cargo...Debemos conocer qué les inquieta, qué les gusta hacer, cuál es su nivel educativo, cómo les gusta comunicarse, qué herramientas de comunicación usan más; de acuerdo a su lugar de trabajo, qué herramienta se les facilita para recibir la información y poder dar retroalimentación. Si nuestro público interno no está respondiendo a nuestra estrategia, el análisis primario es revisar si tuvimos realmente en cuenta estas características, además de realizar entrevistas o encuestas para reunir información concluyente.

Reevaluate your internal communications channel. The most important plan of action is talk to your employees and find out what they know and want to know so you can change direction. This way you can plan another strategy and be successful. Create relevant and relatable corporate communications. This will keep employees engaged. Trust employees and respect their time. Everything does not warrant a meeting or a zoom. Share what is most important. Lastly, keep an eye on data.

If your company communications are falling flat with employees, it's time to revamp your strategy. Start by actively listening to them. Conduct surveys to understand their preferred communication channels and the information they crave. Ditch the dry, internal jargon and infuse your messages with variety. Consider using engaging formats like videos, social media posts, or even an internal newsletter. Finally, remember communication is a two-way street. Encourage employee feedback and participation. Host town halls or create suggestion boxes to foster a sense of open dialogue and keep employees feeling valued. Keep your employees happy and they will take care of your business!

If your corporate communications strategy isn't engaging employees, first seek direct feedback to identify disconnects. Explore diversified channels like interactive sessions, video updates, or internal social networks for richer two-way communication. Personalize messages by featuring internal success stories, making content more relatable. Continuously measure engagement levels and adapt your strategy based on employee feedback. A flexible, feedback-oriented approach ensures your communications resonate better, boosting employee engagement and participation.

To identify why your communications strategy is not as engaging as expected, the first action step is to have one-one feedback sessions with employees to assess the disconnect, thereafter, circulate an action plan to correct the course of action which employees should be in agreement with.

It's important to avoid confirmation bias and assumptions when identifying root causes of communication issues. An objective approach, open to all evidence, ensures that the analysis does not merely reinforce pre-existing beliefs but accurately identifies areas for improvement. This objectivity is vital for devising strategies that genuinely address the underlying issues.

Eliciting candid feedback from as many channels as possible is absolutely crucial. Both multiple choice, open ended and ideally anonymous feedback on what’s working, what’s not, why, whether it’s the format of the communications, cadence, tone, content specifics, issues covered, the whole thing. These surveys should be done as often as possible. Once the org has a good idea of what needs to be done, it’s time to start implementing the feedback.

Après avoir analysé les données, je cherche à identifier les causes profondes de nos problèmes de communication. Il se peut que notre stratégie échoue à engager les employés en raison de divers facteurs : elle peut être trop descendante, unidirectionnelle, pas adaptée à notre public, pas alignée sur notre stratégie globale, ou manquer d'authenticité et de transparence. Ce manque de dialogue, de rétroaction et de collaboration peut également contribuer au problème.

Muchas veces no requiere hacer un nuevo plan, simplemente requiere hacer ajustes al mensaje, a la imagen gráfica si es el caso, a los tiempos o quizás la herramienta usada para comunicar no era la indicada. Una vez se hacen esos ajustes, seguramente la estrategia empezará a dar resultados.

Create individual communication plans, meetings, and get-togethers between different team leaders. Integrate feedback from employees in the event of a crisis so that their suggestions are taken into account in the new format. Develop a clear visual change using infographics and visualizations to better understand and absorb information. Strengthen internal branding, build a strong corporate culture through common communication standards and values. Plan and implement team building activities that promote human spirit and team understanding.

Dans notre quête pour améliorer l'engagement des employés via la communication interne, nous devons élaborer un plan réfléchi qui s'attaque aux problèmes sous-jacents. En adoptant une approche SMART, nous pouvons fixer des objectifs spécifiques, mesurables, atteignables, pertinents et limités dans le temps pour notre communication. En parallèle, en utilisant le modèle RACE, nous pouvons planifier, exécuter et évaluer nos activités de communication de manière systématique. Cette démarche nous permettra d'adapter nos messages, canaux et stratégies pour mieux répondre aux besoins de notre organisation et de nos employés, renfor?ant ainsi leur implication et notre efficacité globale.

if your communications strategies are failing to engage your employees then something needs to change! A trick we've found that works quite well is fostering a culture of transparency and authenticity. When there's open communication between both parties, we can tailor our communication strategies to fit their ideas and experiences. When they feel that their thoughts are actually heard and being taken into account, they are more likely to be active members of your team.

Start listening to your employees and they will start listening to you. Make the communications process a two-way street. Act on ideas from employees and, if they can't be acted upon, get back to them on why not.

If your employees do not understand their contribution to the company your internal communications will fail. No matter the role, employees need to feel valued. By working with communicative leadership you provide for a platform of employee dialogue and feedback opportunities. In most companies a persons closest manager is the most valued source of information. The second one is your colleagues. In that context, intranets, community and collaboration tools, newsletters and other channels take a back seat. They are not unimportant, they are still a part of the communication mix. The visibility of management in the organisation is also key.

Understand the why. Bring together a trusted group of emerging leaders for an honest and transparent dialogue to hear what the obstacles are. Survey the entire employee base on both their perceptions, needs and aspirations for your company's employee engagement. Engagement needs to be organic, so invite some employees to vet your plans and your communications before rolling out any new initiative.

Look for influencers within the organisation. You may be surprised with who the influencers are. They're not always the Exec or leadership teams. We've seen in multiple times where someone quite unexpected like a cleaner/janitor has the ear of many and is quick to influence peoples view points. Get these influencers onside as ambassadors and you'll have a very powerful, unconventional comms channel on your side.

Being adaptable and willing to acknowledge when something isn't working is key to growth and improvement. Being able to track metrics to understand open rates, number and type of engagements helps you understand how people are or aren't engaging. This rich insight shows you where you can improve and what works for your colleague base. Being able to assess data, act on it and try something new not only shows colleagues that you're paying attention without constantly sending them surverys but it guves you an opportunity tol learn, be creative and try new things. Not everything you try will work but removing your ego, by acting on the data builds credibility, trust and a more sustainable communication model

Internal comms, employee comms, engagement etc - it's a never ending always evolving environment. Don't get bamboozled by it, it's most important to do something than do nothing. So, as my previous post, start somewhere and start to measure some tangible results. When you can prove you're moving the dial in a positive direction you'll see more buy-in from people leaders and budgets unlocked.

Develop identification and analytics to improve the initial effectiveness of the new communications strategy. Organize regular reviews and audits to evaluate progress and make necessary adjustments to the plan. Collect feedback after each important communication event to gauge its impact and the opinions of your colleagues. Be prepared to make quick changes if data shows that strategy parameters are not performing as expected. Introduce a culture of continuous improvement, encourage your team and employees to constantly look for a way to change internal communications.

In any organisation, there's always a blend of old, new and alumni. The need to keep accessing and evaluating the plans is an absolute necessity today. Many employers today want to hear from their employees on what they want and understand their journeys with their teams and org. Plans need to evolve and incorporate the findings. Having checkpoints to evaluate the plan is essential to take intermediary actions and take control of outcomes.

En observant de près les données et les informations de communication, nous pouvons identifier ce qui fonctionne et ce qui ne fonctionne pas, et ainsi adapter notre approche en conséquence. Il est également crucial de revoir régulièrement nos objectifs et nos messages clés pour les aligner sur nos besoins et nos priorités évolutifs. Tester différentes méthodes de communication nous permet d'apprendre de nos erreurs et de nos réussites, tandis que les retours d'expérience des employés, des pairs et des experts enrichissent notre démarche et nous aident à perfectionner nos compétences en communication.

One of the practices that I have used before in collaboration with all the HR team is to exploit all the communication channels possible to let our people feel the vibes of the engagement culture. Using email communication alone will never suffice, that's why social media, face to face meetings with executive team (Dardasha meetings), field visits and even phone calls can play critical role in these regards. A communication strategy is a strategic initiative that needs leadership support, budget, true belief and consistency. Business with average results and great communication mostly will be a better workplace for employees than a great- results company and average communication.

Develop interactive games and participate in stimulating initiatives such as corporate competitions or interactive projects. Use the reputations of successful employees for inspiration by regularly posting them on company channels. Implement training and development programs, provide courses and training to employees, and promote their professional growth. Organize company events and meetings so employees can get to know each other better in an informal setting. Create open channels for communication with management, where every employee can express their ideas and suggestions.

Strategies that aren't working usually are tailor made for generic purposes. Such strategies lack research and communication with employees with honest and open feedback. Fostering relationships between leadership and employees with genuine interactions, relevant rewards, and communication systems with authentic feedback will gain real results. Realistic goals and expectations are created from good communications. A caring team leadership and ethical practices go a long way in creating a positive work culture.

Encourage employee-generated content: Provide opportunities for employees to create and share content, such as blog posts, testimonials, or videos, that highlight their achievements and perspectives. This can foster a sense of ownership and increase engagement. Recognise and appreciate employees who actively engage and contribute. Highlight their contributions, share success stories, and publicly acknowledge their efforts. Consider implementing a recognition program or rewards system to incentivise and motivate employees to participate.

There can be two sides to creating strong engagement. We need to create the conditions or experiences for people to have in order for them to 'live' the message we're trying to get across. The second part is then marketing that people experience, maybe via written content on your intranet or video testimonials. Creating the conditions, and then marketing the outcome internally helps to boost engagement - especially when employees can see colleagues actually experiencing it.

An honest evaluation of the connection between your strategy/strategies and your actions (tactics) is important. Setting a strategy but not being true to it with actions and decisions is sure-fire recipe for failure. Either the strategy is not authentic and it needs to change or the strategy is good and it is not being properly resourced with the right combination of time, talent and treasure. Without a genuine alignment of those things even a brilliant strategy will not be fully realized.

- do something completely different - try a few pilots rather anything big bang - convene a test group of employees to involve them in ideas, develop prototypes, get feedback, and create champions

If your corporate communications strategy isn't engaging employees, gather feedback, evaluate channels, ensure content relevance, foster two-way communication, involve leadership, provide training, maintain consistency, and continuously measure and adjust the strategy based on results and feedback.

One thing I’ve found that actually helps is “humanising” our content offering. As communicators, we need to stop looking at employees as numbers/stats. They are real people -fathers and mothers, husbands and wives sisters and brothers etc. Employees are the most important assets of an organisation and when we begin to understand that and start reflecting it in the organisation’s campaigns/messaging, only then we will be able to move towards crafting campaigns that are impactful and allow staff members to derive value and inspiration from. Believe me, employees are able to tell when an organisation is just embarking on tick box exercises and the lack of engagement serves as proof.

In my 10 years of internal comms, I found the following to be helpful: i. Collaboration needs to be three ways, CEO, HR and Comms this will help you focus on key objectives and messages. This must be a strategic initiative. ii. Make informed decisions from staff surveys and conduct focus groups with staff representatives. This helps you to better understand people with different appetite for this news. iii. Be impartial on what should be featured, it should meet your objectives. iv. Enjoy the process, internal comms helps you to tune into empathetic mode, if you will allow it to.