Improve Internal Communication and Increase Employee Satisfaction
In the guest article, Nadine Triebel shows you tips and tools on how you can improve your internal communication.
- What is meant by internal communication in the company?
- Why is internal communication important?
- What characterizes a good internal communication?
- What measures contribute to the improvement of internal communication?
- Which tools are suitable for internal communication?
Communication is the be-all and end-all in a relationship. This not only applies in private, but also for companies. In addition to the success of the company itself, employee satisfaction and loyalty also depend on communication between all participants (employees, colleagues and managers). Why this is the case, you will learn in this article.
What is meant by internal communication in the company?
Top-down was yesterday: Internal communication concerns everyone!
At its core, internal communication includes the exchange of communication and information within a company and says goodbye to the original 'top-down communication'. The tools and measures used can have very individual characteristics. For example, in the form...
- of a (Social) Intranet
- email circulars
- employee meetings
- employee newspapers
- from Newsletters
Working world in transformation
Thanks to the digital age, many companies today use the intranet - not only because of a more sustainable aspect, but in order to meet the digital and increased needs in the online area as well - keyword: New Work! The world of work is changing and is no longer explicitly tied to one place. All the more important here is a well-functioning internal communication, with the aim of providing reliable information that everyone can access at the same time.
By now there are a whole series of different Social-Intranet-Tools, which offer this modern form of internal communication in a very different ways. In our article, we also introduce the seven best Intranet software, to you.
Internal communication, for example in the form of an intranet, creates the space to participate, to inform and also to communicate with each other - across all business areas and departments - vertically, diagonally or horizontally.
External communication begins in internal communication
'Intern before Extern!' - This is a premise for many responsible in internal communication. Imagine you find out from the newspaper that jobs will be cut and special payments will be cancelled. The end of the story: employees feel left out, uninformed and possibly even demotivated. Trust is broken. Employees are dissatisfied. Hence it is important to note: Internal communication significantly influences employees and can contribute to their loyalty.
Why is internal communication important?
Exchange of information, optimization of work processes and creation of transparency and closeness: all this contributes to successful internal communication. It paves the way for an open coexistence in a company and enables a better flow of information. Three core points form for us the biggest advantages of internal communication:
- Transparency
- Knowledge transfer
- Dialogue
Building trust
The better informed, the better motivated: Internal communication is the key to successful and transparent cooperation in the company. It forms the basis of a trusting working community. If employees have the opportunity to acquire knowledge about changes, processes and projects themselves, this creates a trust advantage.
Promoting employee motivation
Good internal communication has an influence on employee motivation. On the one hand, it gives them the opportunity to provide themselves with useful information, on the other hand, it offers them the possibility to enter into direct exchange and dialogue. This can be motivating, because this direct involvement strengthens identification with ones own company.
Building employee loyalty
Internal communication is an essential column when it comes to employee loyalty. It defines the principles of cooperation, such as goals and values, informs about topics such as corporate culture, visions and strategy. These are pillars that apply equally to everyone and create a form of shared identity. Tools of internal communication, which build approachability, for example, are videos of executives or employees, who provide insights, deliver updates on processes or share experiences with a project or similar with everyone.
What characterizes a good internal communication?
Be dynamic and strategic at the same time!
Who is actually doing what here? This question should be the first one to ask before it gets serious. A strategy for internal communication should not only define responsibilities and rules, but also cover where and how specific content or topics can be precisely placed. Not every topic that lands in internal communication is also suitable for the wide spectrum of employees.
However, it must also be said: Communication is dynamic. It changes in a short time. Then it also means: Be spontaneous and open for new and different paths outside the known roadmap, create new space and rethink existing communication strategies - but of course not throw them over board immediately. Even a ship needs regular maintenance, individual parts give up and need to be replaced, so that it can continue and successfully take up the journey to its destination.
The following questions should be taken into account when planning internal communication:
- What is the goal of your internal communication?
- What do your target groups look like?
- What resources do you have?
- How can you involve your employees in this topic?
- What added value do they have from it?
- What tools are available to you?
- How do you make internal communication measurable?
A best-practice tip: For each business/ or specialist area, you can build your own pages in the intranet. Encourages selected employees to deal with the intranet, so that they can take over smaller news and adjustments themselves and maintain their areas independently. This way, you give them trust and promote their motivation.
Understand employees as ambassadors
Without colleagues, no stories - to put it succinctly. They are the ones who feed you with internal stories and represent the experts at the base. Therefore, understand them as ambassadors, who are also worth being listened to. Here, the point of employee satisfaction is added - every company wants to reach them, but these should not remain lip service. Internal communication can enable employee satisfaction through participation and dialogue: between employees among themselves and between employees and executives.
Approachable communication
The more personal, the better! We all know it: Anecdotes from people who are close to us remain better in our ears and memory than news that does not represent any reference to us. Approachable communication creates trust and credibility.
This means in practice:
- Spice up news with personal, but authentic stories
- Place graphics, animations or videos
- Use simple language that everyone can understand
- Use as few abbreviations as possible or explain them!
- Name a contact person to whom users can turn with questions
A phenomenon that keeps occurring: Every department thinks everyone else knows exactly what they do. However, this is a fallacy. In your everyday life, you mainly surf around on your own wave, so it must be clear: You have to compose the topics in such a way that they are understandable and tangible for the layperson.
Interactivity
When you scroll through the social media feeds, it's a matter of course: Your participation. Through likes, clicks, shares or through the possibility to leave your opinion in the comments columns, you actively participate, promote dialogue in the best case and contribute. But the next day you are almost rolled over by the flood of information. 'Where do I find what again?' – shoots through your head, after you have completely forgotten what you are looking for. What used to result in a flood of emails can now be broken down by internal communication and designed in a manageable, understandable, but also interactive way.
What measures contribute to the improvement of internal communication?
Now you know what is understood by internal communication, what purpose it serves and what good internal communication looks like. Are you satisfied with your internal communication or do you have the need to want to get even better here?
Then here are eight tips for you with which you can improve your internal communication:
- Set up the intranet as the homepage for everyone (e.g. in cooperation with the IT department)
- Create areas where everyone can get involved (e.g. comment function)
- Use tools that encourage interaction (e.g. surveys, votes)
- Don't build every article the same way (e.g. test the tools that are available!)
- Enable direct communication (e.g. chat function)
- Ensure that users have mobile access (e.g. through an app)
- Use clear language (e.g. avoid technical terms or explain them well)
- Consider and promote diversity (e.g. through barrier-free posts)
Which tools are suitable for internal communication?
Our guest author Nadine Triebel would like to report on two tools that she has used in her professional everyday life and explain the strengths and weaknesses of the two tools for internal communication in more detail.
Haiilo for your internal communication
To follow or not to follow: That is the decisive question here. Because Haiilo is a true 'Social Intranet' - the newsfeed is the center of events, in which the current news from subscribed pages or persons arrive. Personal profiles can be filled with comprehensive information such as birthday, activity, reachability, hobbies, about me etc.. All employees can set posts, but they are only seen if the persons are subscribed by others - similar to a social media newsfeed.
'Communities', called 'Workspaces' until some time ago, provide the ability to secure the project management of a specific group: by providing and swapping documents, excel sheets, graphics or videos. Direct communication is possible through a chat function and the mobile app is easy to handle and well equipped.
Strengths of Haiilo:
- Very personal design of the own profile (fact sheets)
- Communities can be favourited
- Flexible and individual knowledge transfer
- Good and simple provision of information
- Exchange through personal chats and group chats
- Good employee app
- Integration of Microsoft 365 possible
Weaknesses of Haiilo:
- No search function in chat
- Subscribed pages cannot be prioritized in the newsfeed
- Everyone can create communities (difficult control)
- Parallel work on documents is expandable
- Hardly any analysis possibilities
Microsoft SharePoint for internal communication
As the name suggests, Microsoft SharePoint focuses on the best possible, smooth data exchange. Those who already use Microsoft have clear advantages here - because SharePoint is part of the product range. Therefore, the good compatibility with cloud applications like One Drive is obvious. Collaborative tasks can be mastered really well because of this. Not only does this work well, but above all it is simple. Many possibilities, however, also draw disadvantages: SharePoint is very complex with its numerous multifunctional tools.
Strong points of Microsoft SharePoint:
- Very good compatibility with all Microsoft applications (Excel, Word etc.)
- Various layouts and typographies selectable
- Creation of individual newsletters, which can be sent by email
- Comprehensive possibilities of document management
- Extremely individual design of pages possible
Weaknesses of Microsoft SharePoint:
- Complexity of the applications
- Personal communication is disconnected (through Microsoft Yammer or Microsoft Teams)
- Hardly any reliable and exportable analysis possibilities
- Complexity and versatility can lead to problems for users (wild growth)
- High effort necessary to build SharePoint according to your needs
Many providers of Intranet solutions, offer free trial versions, which our guest author Nadine Triebel would like to recommend you to try out and compare with each other. Each company has different starting points, conditions and goals. It should be looked at and decided individually, which tool for improving internal communication fits best with your ideas in the company.
In addition to Haiilo and Microsoft SharePoint, you will find further Social Intranet solutions, on OMR Reviews, with which you can improve your internal communication:
Nadine Triebel arbeitet in der Unternehmenskommunikation bei KONE, einem international führenden Anbieter für Aufzüge, Rolltreppen und Automatiktüren. Neben ihrer beruflichen Tätigkeit schreibt sie gerne Gedichte und tritt bei Poetry Slams zu medienethischen Themen auf. Darüber hinaus engagiert sie sich aktiv gegen Hass im Netz und setzt sich für Vielfalt in der Gesellschaft ein. Ihr nächster Bildungsurlaub widmet sich dem Thema Verschwörungsmythen und ihren Zusammenhang mit Fake News. Fun Fact: Am liebsten schreibt sie Texte, wenn sie 80er Jahre Hits in Dauerschleife hört.
