Internal comms – coming of age?

BY BEA BUCKLEY

The start of this decade has brought unique challenges to communications teams.

A lot of focus has been placed on internal communications as businesses have pedalled hard to keep colleagues up to date on Covid-19’s changing regulations. Offices have emptied and colleagues have been furloughed, dramatically changing the look and feel of our workplaces.

I have spoken to a range of colleagues from diverse industries, and it’s clear from the feedback they are getting that internal comms has risen to these challenges. IC teams are working in true partnership with CEOs and C-suite Directors, and providing much-needed clarity and vision to employees.

It would be unfair on the internal comms discipline to lay this success at Covid’s door alone, though elements of our ways of working have been accelerated by our ‘new normal’. Internal comms has been broadening, proving its value and boosting its impact for some time. In other words, internal comms has come of age.

HR NO MORE

Catherine Steele, Communications Director at Vodafone, believes all communications disciplines have changed dramatically during her 25-year career.

She remembers sending press releases out by fax, and praises the entire function for becoming more targeted and increasing its scope. Of internal comms, she says: “It used to be a small, narrow function and often part of HR, detached from external comms. Today, it’s about the whole employee experience. It’s arguably the most critical discipline; a company is nothing without its people.”

The principles of internal comms have developed over the years. Richard Walden, Head of Internal Comms at Heathrow, recalls that, 20 years ago, a big focus was on delivering one-way comms in the form of email newsletters, colleague magazines and articles on the company intranet. It’s now more about listening and creating a dialogue, communicating frontline views back to leadership and responding to their feedback. Walden says: “Internal comms is no longer just a post box. It’s much more strategic, and team members are respected for their expertise.”

There is also a great emphasis on authenticity. It’s not enough for purposes and values to be words you see on posters. Leaders need to practice what they preach, and internal comms plays a big part in coaching and influencing them, to enable them to get the best results from their own communications.

Cat Holland is Head of Communications at SES Water, the UK’s smallest water company, with just 350 employees. She believes passionately in the importance of authenticity and says: “It’s not just about delivering communications. It’s about the whole culture of an organisation. If you say you’re serious about wellbeing, you can’t rely on gimmicks like free fruit on a Friday; you’ve got to follow through with the initiatives that will really make the difference.”

The skillsets of IC teams have evolved accordingly. At Heathrow, stakeholder management is of huge importance. A recent restructure of the internal comms team has facilitated a greater focus on analytics, which they are using to proactively plan ahead. The same approach is being reflected on the agency side, too, with strategic heads required to fulfil clients’ needs. Joel O’Connor, Creative Director at AB, recognises that briefs are coming to his team much earlier in the process than they used to. Internal comms teams, and therefore agencies, are consulted right at the start of an issue, and tasked with creating a strategic way forward. O'Connor believes this has pushed the standards of internal comms: “We’re much cleverer these days. Because of information overload we have to be to the point, with everything feeding back to the central strategy, vision and values.”

TIME FOR TECH

Of course, technology has played a large part in the development of internal comms. At Vodafone, Workplace is the go-to channel for their employees. Social media has changed the feel of internal comms, which is now much more chatty and informal, less corporate, and has more user-generated content. These channels provide a great opportunity to generate human interest and get instant feedback, plus they’re a direct link between senior leaders and the frontline. Steele says: “It’s about taking information to where people go, and not forcing them to find you.” After all, who emails their friends these days when platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp are available?

Walden recalls first tentatively testing out the live event function on Microsoft Teams for the monthly Heathrow senior manager call, rather than using an older conference call method. Now it’s the norm, and during the Covid-19 crisis, it’s been used to connect the Heathrow CEO and key business partners, including airlines, on regular video calls.

SES Water have used Covid-19 as an opportunity. In a pre-Covid world, the team ran a Directors’ round table three times a year. In 2020, they’ve all happened via video call with the added benefit that they’ve been able to reach more people — including shift workers who would not be able to attend in person.

Holland has a word of caution for our newfound dependence on tech, though. “Technology shouldn’t take over the basics,” she says. “While we need to support colleagues in using the technology, we need to remember that people can get tech overload. There is a balance to be struck, and some things are still better face-to-face. I can’t easily detect body language over the phone or on a video call, an important indicator of someone’s wellbeing.

“We’ve also made the decision to postpone our awards ceremony. I know some businesses have delivered things like this virtually, but for us we feel it’s the right thing to try and do this event in person.”

IT’S ALL IN THE MIX

Though so many were pushing for more home working before Covid, the consensus seems to be that the novelty has now worn off and hours of video meetings are making the working days exhausting. Annique Simpson, Change Communications Business Partner at social housing business A2Dominion Group, agrees that we need to be mindful about our channel use. “We need to understand how to optimise the use of technology,” she says. “We need to know what the best conditions are for using it, and that will be different for every business. These channels will still be around in years to come, so it’s important we’re able to change things up and keep it fresh, so people don’t get zoomed out.” While some admit they’ve only just scratched the surface of what tech could do for them, it’s agreed that a mixture of face-to-face interaction and technology is needed in future. There is a consensus, too, amongst Executive leaders. Their feedback on their internal comms teams includes words like ‘trusted, critical, highly respected.’ It’s great to see internal comms’ hard work and proactive development of skills getting the recognition it deserves — and bringing real benefit to businesses.