Internal communications: a curated strategy

Well thought through, consistent and factual internal communications is a key aspect of business that is extremely important to get right. When done properly, employees will see improved wellbeing, engagement with work and retention levels. Employees are the most valuable assets your business will have, so looking after them should be a number one priority.

Keeping your employees involved in company communications helps give them a sense of belonging, knowing they are connected and involved with the greater aims of the business. This is especially true for team members who work remotely or are a part of the millennial and Gen Z generation groups who have grown up with readily available gratification through the internet and smart phones, and therefore rely heavily on feedback. Giving these team members the opportunity to be involved with the business’ decision making will aid their motivation and productivity.

Similarly, making internal communications a priority also gives you better control over the company’s messaging and how you come across to your team. Employees are less likely to spread rumours or make assumptions about what is happening behind the scenes if you have regular, consistent messaging. If you only make internal communications a priority during times of crisis, then your teams will assume it is only out of necessity, and not because they are valued.

One important element to any internal employer-employee relationship is benefits. Communicating these regularly will remind employees when and how to take full advantage of them, helping to keep retention levels high.

Here at Portico, our internal communication is extremely important to us. So important, that we made an app purely for that purpose! The Portico Heartbeat app is our unique platform just for Portico team members to communicate with one and other and for the business to send messages to all employees as and when necessary. It was important to us that Heartbeat was kept separate from other work-based applications, and instead it is used for the purpose of employee leisure.

Our feedback so far for Heartbeat has been extremely positive. Since rollout, we have seen 70% of users engaging with the app on a daily basis, with 34% of those users actively interacting with content on the app as well.