Common Myths & Mis-conceptions about Internal Communications

I decided to write this article to address some of the mis-conceptions I have observed with regard to a widespread reluctance to adopt and recognize internal communications (IC) as a unique practise area that requires dedicated resourcing of and training of employees who have the relevant skill, competence, experience and expertise to function well in the role.

First of all, I realize that there is not a lot of understanding about the value and role of internal communications beyond providing a platform for management to address (talk down to) employees. I also recognize that some management teams are not aware that internal communication has become as advanced as external communication in terms of its level of practise which has grown exponentially in response to modern challenges of information and communication risk management, stakeholder communication and engagement.

Think about it.

You would not hire an inexperienced person to manage your corporate media relations, marketing or brand communications, why then would we think that employees with little or no competence in corporate communications can manage internal communications in a complex organization effectively?

By complex, I mean a business, organization or institution that is composed of several companies, hundreds of employees, hierachical (multi-layered) leadership and organizational structure etc.

Perhaps the way to go about this is to debunk the following myths:

1. Internal Communications and Employee Relations are the same thing. This is not true. While there is some connection, employee relations is about managing contractual relationships, while Internal communications is more about understanding perspectives, seeking to communicate and engage with an underlying purpose that is not neccessarily contractual i.e. focuses on winning hearts and minds. It is about listening and responding, receiving feedback i.e. understanding what makes employees tick, with the underlying objective of connecting with them and speaking in the language that they understand. The end goal is to enable them to achieve desired results or align around a shared vision
2. Internal Communications involves employees so should sit within HR. Again, this is another common mis-conception. First of all, internal communications involves employees as well as others who walk within the fore-walls of the facilities eg. contract and contractor staff. Secondly, the fact that it involves communications as a science and an art, means it is functionally resident within the purview of Corporate Communications.

The only condition under which I would support HR or any other function handling Internal Communications for a complex organization, would be if the individuals involved have undertaken core communications training and have demonstrated sufficient aptitude, capacity and interest in seeking to learn and understand how to develop and deploy a comprehensive communications framework for the benefit of the business.

3. Anybody can do Internal Communications

This is also a very common myth that enables decisions for internal communications to sit in functions where they do not belong. I would argue that not everyone can do internal communications. To effectively practise 21st century internal communications within a corporate organization or institution you must be:

• A good writer, editor and understand how to use content and messaging for influencing and advocacy.
• digital platform-savvy and understand how to identify, innovatively market, position and deploy them for the benefit of the organization.
• prolific in the art of storytelling i.e. understand how to time, sequence and structure a narrative and develop key messages to drive the agenda of the business, help leadership to set the tone for performance, delivery and innovation.
• able to develop and deploy a targeted and integrated internal communications strategy and plan and measure its impact in business-relevant terms.

A list of competencies required to do internal communications are therefore as follows:

1. creative writing, message development and editorial skills
2. communications strategy and planning skills
3. communications project management
4. internal communications toolkit development
5. internal communications platform guidance and community management
6. internal communications risk management, policy development, process management and implementation delivery (i.e. framework development and implementation)

**If you are managing internal communications for a major brand or organization and have no idea what any of the above is and have never developed or seen one before, then that proves my point .

4. Internal Communications is not a specialist function

This is definitely not true and most multinational organizations and institutions know this. In fact, internal communication is so specialist that even within the PR and Communications field, it is difficult to find practitioners who are able to do both internal and external communications very well. Most would focus on one or the other because it takes time, knowledge, experience and expertise to practise either effectively. The skills required for both are similar in some ways but very different in others.

5. Internal Communications is not a business-critical activity.

There is also a wide-spread perception that Internal Communications is not business critical but is something we do just to make staff happy but it does not really impact on the bottomline. I disagree. First of all, anything that makes staff find positive and constructive expression in the workplace, is not a bad thing because it gives you insights about the level of motivation, emerging concerns and potential issues. I would imagine that any leader would rather have sentiments bubbled up to the surface transparently than live in a bubble or echo chamber thinking all is well, meanwhile, trouble lies at the door.

But even beyond the value of IC from an insights and listening perspective, when implemented correctly, IC can unlock value within the organization and transform an unproductive workforce into a high-performing organization within one or two calendar years depending on the nature of the issues at stake and the level of intervention deployed.

Employee communications is directly connected to employee engagement and organizational effectiveness. No successful change initiative achieves its targets without having a targeted and strategic internal communications plan woven around the delivery of all its moving parts.

6. Internal Communications does not deliver value to the business

When implemented correctly, IC delives measurable value to the business. At SA&A , we run a course on strategic communications and one of the modules is on internal communications. in the updated version of the module (which we will launch with the 2nd cohort on February 29, 2024) , we will spend some time talking about the technical structure of a global best practise IC framework for a business, organization or institution.

Everything depends on how you work the IC framework, how you define what success means, and how you apply it to the strategy and plan you develop, ensuring that it includes a comprehensive stakeholder mapping and messaging strategy that is tailored to the needs, interests and required actions from the former. Determining what success looks like from the onset, makes it easy to asssess the success of the IC strategy. And success cannot be tick-the-box items like e.g. held a townhall.

Success should be based on SMART targets e.g. compliance, change in behaviour, change in performance, productivity etc. The work that is put in upfront in researching and determing your baseline would determine your ability to measure and quantify impact after implementation (for more details and hands-on training, please sign up for our course here ).

7. It is impossible to measure the value of internal communication.

This mis-conception is closely linked to the one before. The starting point to this is to define what the desired outcomes are from the onset in business-critical terms. Defining that baseline will set you up for success, not only in terms of delivery but also with regard to measurement.

8. You do not need to have a be-spoke structure for Internal Communications.

This is probably the greatest myth of all. Internal Communications must be tailored to the needs, culture and DNA of the organization that it supports. This also means it does not work well when retrofitted to an existing structure that is not designed to support its goals or objectives eg. an HR organization. It also means that plug and play options do not work. This also does not mean that IC must always use high tech solutions. It just means that whatever is being proposed in terms of structure, process, technology or operating framework must be fit-for-purpose, relevant and workable for the use of the people and the business that it seeks to support.

An effective IC framework i.e. structure, policies and processes should be able to do the following:

• Enable the organization to communicate effectively with?all employees and internal stakeholders, as required and necessary to deliver on business tasks and achieve performance targets
• Enable and enhance leadership communication and engagement with measurable results in terms of productivity, safety, compliance and delivery
• Manage disclosure, brand and reputation risk (zero information leaks into media or social media)
• Support leadership transition and organizational change initiatives with measurable results?
• Stimulate employee engagement and voluntary brand ambassadorship with measurable results

Summary & Conclusion:

The advent of the digital age and the?democratization of information has led to the emergence of communications as a unique practice area. This is due largely to the need to ensure that management teams are able to keep employees focused on what is most important and eliminate misinformation or unhelpful narratives and sentiments from developing unhealthy presence within their organization.

Effective internal communications is closely linked with organizational effectiveness and productivity. To function and excel in this role, practitioners need to develop skills around strategic communications planning, business knowledge, internal stakeholder management, leadership communications and emotional intelligence. A core skill in this areas is also the ability to write difficult messages to employees with positive results, and knowing how, why and when to tone down language and tweak the content and nuance of messaging in order to manage risk and get the desired outcomes from key internal stakeholders.

The final and most important reason why internal communications should be handled by people with core communications training, skills and competencies is that the role requires a paradigm shift of treating and regarding employees as stakeholders and not just as people that work for you.

?Enrollment is currently ongoing?for the 2nd cohort of the CPDSO-Accredited Strategic Communications Course scheduled to hold on February 29, 2024.

One of the six modules that I will facilitate will be focused on managing internal communications. In that module, we will focus on helping participants understand how to build an effective and fit-for-purpose structure and process for employee communication that is business-relevant and unlocks value for the business or entity with measurable results

Special offer promotion of a 15% discount is ongoing until February 23, 2024.

Sign Up here https://bit.ly/SAA2024CourseSignUp :?