Strategic Alignment of Internal Communications with the Business!

It is a no brainer that Internal Communications and Employee Engagement strategy should serve the business objective and vision. Afterall, any business is a team sport. More the team is in sync, better the chances of putting in the best show. However, in subjective matters like this, there is always a gap between the idea and its practice. So, how much and to what extent, can Internal Communications make a difference??

The conviction that Internal Communications and Employee Engagement can make a difference, comes from a very basic insight, which is, “Any activity between any two people can only be performed with the support of some basic act of communication, that is speaking, writing or visual communication.” If this is true for two people, then wouldn't it be true for many people? ? ?

And if we top it up with the complications brought in by individual biases, tendencies, fears, insecurities, misconceptions, likes and dislikes, variable expertise, limited outlooks, social media tools, channels, attractive advertisements, spams, etc... the simple process of communication can become more challenging. ? ?

In this world, where too much communication is taking place, is your organization's message on growth losing out to chocolate or food advertisements or to Bumble notifications? ? ?

A 2022 study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found that chronic information overload, particularly from social media, can lead to attention fatigue and difficulties in sustained attention.?        

So, if you are still reading this, we would assume that you agree that Internal Communications is required to facilitate and strengthen the communication process to ensure that organisation delivers on its promises. And since it has the potential to impact all the people in the organisation, it becomes the duty of the IC team and leadership team to find ways to make it engaging and use it to strengthen its strategic applications. ? ?

A 2021 study by Hay Group found that leaders who use storytelling are 22.5 times more likely to be seen as effective by their employees. This suggests that storytelling can improve leadership effectiveness, which can translate to better decision-making and execution, ultimately impacting brand perception.?        

How can we do it??

To know how we can impact a structure, we should know what makes the structure work and function.?

How does work happen in the corporate world?? ?

Let's understand a simple hierarchy of how work happens in the corporate world. There is top management or top leadership that usually understands the direction of the business and its continuity, the vision, the purpose, the future, and what it needs to create a future. And then there is the whole company in which it has multiple people that get together in promoting, and achieving the goals set in the direction.?

From thoughts and ideas, converting the vision into action, the organisation relies on different people sitting in different locations with different capabilities, having different views and part visibility of the overall business.?

A majority of these people may not have the understanding of the bigger picture or may not understand that vision but have the responsibility to implement it. This is a huge gap!?

Another aspect that impacts the delivery and work culture is the individual world view.??

An individual’s world consists of a ‘world within’, and externally of a family, a team, a society, a consumer....so many roles he or she plays. And each of these roles call for his or her attention with loads of communication. And sorry to say but, generally, ‘personal’ trumps ‘work’ in terms of mental priority for anyone.?

So how do we ensure that the person knows what he or she is supposed to know about the organisation??

Here lies the application of Internal Communications in terms of strategic alignment with the business which reduces the understanding gap between different levels of the organisation, irrespective of who they are, what they do, and where they are.???

Enabling Strategic Alignment ?

There are multiple pillars that enable this strategic alignment.??

1. Clarity in identity and what does the organisation stand for????
2. Line managers’ clarity on the big picture and how does it translate into their reality???
3. Communication skills, and engagement quotient of the line managers - Do they feel communication is important???
4. Grooming of leaders, across the hierarchy, on the subtle nuances of vision, communication, values, and culture.???
5. Storytelling that establishes that connection between vision and action.??
6. Communications strategy - variety of stories / examples, frequency of such storytelling, and channels used while doing the story telling.?

Conscious Storytelling??

The narration about a company is being shaped all the time within the organisation, some in great ways, some in not-so-great ways. An Indian axiom sums it well - Jitne Moonh, Utni Baatien (loosely translates in English as - narrations as many as the mouths)

Companies cannot and should not authorise what people / employees should talk about, but they can surely create stories that are worth sharing and discussing. This has its own advantages. Companies have tools that they can use to create visibility about such stories at so many points. ? ?

We can equip all our people with right information about the company, so that conversation between them happens in an informed manner. Additionally, we can create platforms that tell our stories. Also, we invest our time and effort in grooming leaders and individuals to convey that everybody is responsible to take the company forward and this only works to the best of an individual's capability and actively shapes many compelling narratives. ? ?

Ownership and Proactiveness from Internal Communications Team??

Ultimately all will boil down to one question, how much does the Internal Communications and Employee Engagement team proactively gets involved in impacting all the above factors??

Internal Communication has traditionally been associated with newsletters, engagement events, mailers, etc. So don’t expect automatic invitation when it comes to shaping the strategy.??

If we Internal Communication Professionals want to be involved in the strategic discourse of the company, we need to make people believe and show that our involvement brings value to the overall business growth.??

If you have the Will to build an IC & EE function that helps in shaping the journey, then Thoughtcom has the insights and capabilities to help you make that impact.??

#InternalCommunications #EmployeeEngagement #StrategicInternalCommunications #InternalCommunicationFramework??