Why is Internal Communication essential for HR?

It is clear that the world has changed the way we communicate. Organizations, companies, people: they are all changing. And, it is becoming more difficult to determine what people should be doing, what the mobile new world is gonna bring. The digital world is changing communication, and companies need to do something about it. The boundaries are blurring within companies, and every day is bringing new challenges. The “people department”, HR, and Internal Communications, are facing a time of changes, and need to structure their responsibilities in order to engage, motivate, inform, and involve employees in the best way ever.

 

Hr and Communications in a digital world

The role of HR communication is focused on understanding what a business needs to achieve, and how can people be motivated in order to achieve it. It’s up to the HR department to bring in-line the company’s vision and culture. How should that be done? They need help from the internal communications.

Internal communications is critical to a company’s success, and align the company’s employees behind its vision is definitely the path to follow. But how? Engaging employees through internal communication is about informing, educating and inspiring them. The 75% of employees only use the company intranet to check their payroll information, or how many days did they accumulate for holidays. But such a restricted use is a missed opportunity, and HR should collaborate to use intranets and emails to share the company’s values, mission, and remind people how essential they are for the company, and how much every person is critical for the company success.
Effective communication happens when a clear message is delivered through the right channels and tailored to the audience.  In a company, this should result in employees knowing how their own work contributes to the company goals, which keep up motivation and inspiration.

Some case studies

When we say Ferrero, we say Nutella. We cannot avoid the connection. But this incredible company does not just produce chocolate, praline, and candies, but also quality content for their internal platform. In order to create engagement and increase the flow of information, Ferrero created a Corporate TV. The agency that created it, in collaboration with the HR and Internal Communication, took care of the concept, the platform, and the entire content.
The idea of creating Ferrero Corporate TV arose from the idea of spreading the culture, the strategies, the successes, the results, and the ideas: the goal was to update, inform, and, mostly, inspire all the employees in the Ferrero world.
What can you watch on it? Ansa news, meteo, internal business news, internal initiatives, pages like Ferrero Care, Ferrero InForma. It is a direct channel that connects company and employees in a very efficient way.

Also Fastweb restyled  “Fast for me”, the web platform that gathers all in one place the services and conventions that the employees can benefit from. The platform was aimed at involving the employees, creating an improved engagement vibe, and strengthening the feeling of belonging. The language on the platform is direct, simple, fast, immediate and consistent with the company culture.

There’s no doubt that internal communication is itself going through a period of massive change. Thanks to a coherent and logical communication, HR and Internal Communications can obtain that level of empowerment and belonging that a company needs to build its culture.
The best way to spread a message that people will actually read is to consider who your customer is – so, the employees. Company strategies and goals should be explained so that people can align their individual objectives accordingly to it. The power of communication lies in being able to keep your audience engaged, because it is their engagement and participation that will make the difference between a communication that goes nowhere , and communication that can motivate an entire workforce.
Internal Communications, working side by side with corporate leadership and the HR world, are the glue to all these aspects, and the compass that help employees finding their path, values, and mission.