Managing internal reputation

"We often refuse to accept an idea merely because the tone of voice in which it has been expressed is unsympathetic to us,” said Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philologist, philosopher, poet and composer.

This statement holds absolute relevance for employees of any organization irrespective of its scale. It is no secret that a work force, which believes in the organizations’ vision is capable of achieving any milestone while an uninspired group, will only look at their work as routine. Number of employees may be 100 or 100,000, but the perception of this internal audience is vital for any company’s external reputation.

Usually, one would expect that anything to do with employee communications is the responsibility of human resources. That notion does not hold good anymore.

Setting the ‘tone’ of a dialogue is at the core of any communications outreach program and hence in house PR teams are increasingly being entrusted with the responsibility to actively communicate with the all-important internal audience.

This is a challenging task for two reasons. First, the focus is not on increasing brand loyalty for let’s say helping drive sales. The objective is to instead engage with the team to help them keep motivated and aligned with the company’s vision.

The second challenge is the seemingly limited number of tactics that can be deployed for communicating internally. Here are a few tips to make internal communications more about mutual engagement rather than just a one-way process.

The larger meaning of what we do: Start by identifying and communicating the larger goal that your colleagues are working towards. For example in an energy company your peers are actually providing the community with sustainable energy solutions. Work that has a larger positive impact is itself a great motivation for any employee.

The social network: Social for internal audience? Why not? Replace the memo with a 250-300 words blog; newsletter with a 2-3 minute video; notice board with the company Facebook page. Smartphone adoption rates are at an all time high and this is how all or most of your employees already communicate with their family and friends. Why not keep the conversation going even on the move?

Let everyone contribute: Internal communications can be engaging only when everyone is allowed to contribute. The social platforms can help you do that. Once created, the onus to contribute content should not be only on a select group of people. Allow everyone to post their success stories, share ideas or even post their travel experiences.

The great bit about these best practices is that success of these efforts can easily be measured. An increased dialogue and continuous contribution across all levels will be a clear indicator of enhanced engagement.