This article pokes you in the eye about internal communications – it’s absolutely vital in todays high pace business environment. For a Franchised network, dispersed over a vast geographical area, it’s even more crucial. Compliance to the System, the Brand and the Concept is governed by effective internal information sharing.
Did you know that internal communication is reported as a key success factor for nearly 79% of organisations?
In other words, if you aren’t communicating well with your employees, chances are you’re missing an important strategic component in your business’s growth. And yet so many companies fall into this trap – even those who realise how important internal communication is.
For many, a company’s communication falls into the fuzzy realms of marketing, advertising or PR, which are generally addressed to an external audience.
Over the last ten years or so however, it has become commonly accepted that internal communication is as important as external communication. After all, if your own employees don’t believe what is written or said about your organisation, why should your customers?
FEIEA’s (the Federation of Business Communicator Associations in Europe) recently announced headline results of its latest survey among nearly 5 000 practicing workplace communicators highlights the above findings of internal communications being a key success factor for 79% of organisations.
When Deloitte and Touche Human Capital conducted a survey among American CEOs who were asked which HR issues are very important to the success of the organisation, 95% of them said “effective internal communication.” Simultaneously, only 22% agreed that they thought it was being delivered effectively.
The lifeblood of your business
Internal communication isn’t just a warm and fuzzy optional nicety. It’s the lifeblood of any organisation. Think of it like this: If blood of the right quality doesn’t circulate at just the right pressure and speed to all parts of the human body, those parts slow down and could stop working altogether. The body could then become sick and die.
An organisation where communication doesn’t flow freely is no different. Internal communication isn’t limited to vision and mission statements from the top; it’s not just news releases publishing financial results or new product announcements; it’s not just internal or client newsletters, annual reports or video streamed messages to the troops.
These are all important, but they form just a fraction of the communication and miscommunication that takes place every day in the workplace. Internal communication is written, spoken and non-verbal interaction among people in the organisation that get things done, for instance;
- It takes co-operation to create a product or a new service
- It takes collaboration to open up a new market
- It takes teamwork to implement a strategy
Effective internal communication helps the organisation to meet its objectives. It is the vital link that encourages everyone to deliver on their responsibilities. Communication is not just the language; it involves trust, relationships, control and delegation.
It can be used to create transparency within the organisation and through this help in raising the morale and motivation of employees which tends to increase productivity. Internal communication also helps stimulate much-needed feedback from employees to top management. Some benefits could be listed as;
- It provides information and encourages sharing by driving and supporting the organisation’s short-term and long-term goals and objectives.
- It ensures that these initiatives are implemented and followed at a local level.
- It ensures that knowledge sharing and communication processes are part of the daily workflow across all functions of the business.
- It helps drive ownership and shared engagement.
You probably know where you are in your organization when it comes to internal communications – would you say that your organization’s internal communications are effective?
Article written by Kevin Bassett, EntrepreurMag – published here