A) Summary of the textbook
For years, managers have focused on “customer care.” More recently, they have begun to dedicate the same kind of attention to their own employees, recognizing that employees have more to do with the success of a business than virtually any other constituency. Internal communications in the twenty-first century is more than the memos, publications, and broadcasts that comprise it; it’s about building a corporate culture and having the potential to drive organizational change.
◇ Internal Communications and the Changing Environment
Today’s employee is a different person in terms of values and needs than his or her counterpart in earlier decades. The increasingly complex and highly competitive nature of today’s business environment puts greater pressure on employees and also calls for a more concerted effort in the area of internal communications. Today’s employees increasingly are demanding participation in the conversations that are driving organizational change. Mangers need to recognize that, if they provide information to employees and also listen to them, those employees will excited about their work, connected to the company’s vision, and able to further the goals of the organization. Strong internal thus continue to play a pivotal role in a company’s employee retention and overall success.
◇ Organizing the Internal Communication Effort
The best way to assess the effectiveness of a company’s internal communication efforts is by determining what employees’ attitudes are about the firm.
1) Goals for effective Internal Communications
Ultimately, effective internal communications should reinforce employees’ beliefs that they are important assets to the firm.
2) Where Should Internal Communications Report?
In the past, internal communications reported to the human resources area, since traditionally this function dealt with all matters related to employees’ welfare; but recent surveys show that over 80 percent of corporations in the United States place the responsibility for internal communications in the corporate communication area.
◇ Implementing an Effective Internal Communication Program
1) Communicate up and down
When high-level managers isolate themselves physically and psychologically from other employees, effective communication cannot happen. Effective internal communication can generate a dialogue throughout the company, fostering a sense of participation that can make even the largest companies feel smaller in the hearts and minds of employees.
The best approach to communicating with employees is through informal discussions between employees and supervisors. Respecting employees as well as listening and interacting with them form the basis for an effective internal communication program.
2) Make Time for Face-to-Face Meetings.
One means of ensuring that employees have access to senior management is to hold regular, in-person meetings with fairly large groups of employees. Most importantly, such meetings should provide employees with an opportunity to ask questions of management in an open forum. Certainly, large-scale events are an effective means to reach out to the greatest number of employees at one time, but managers should not overlook the importance of also meeting with employees in smaller groups.
3) Communicate Online
While meetings are an important way to communicate with employees, the advent of company intranets in the late 1990s provided a new channel through which companies could reach their employees quickly and broadly with important news on events and key management initiatives. Internet technology, while extremely powerful, must be used thoughtfully if it is to enhance communication rather than detract from the impact of management’s messages. A company intranet should be dynamic and engaging, with the home page regularly refreshed, so it becomes an employee’s go-to resource for the latest company information.
4) Create Employee-Oriented Publications
In addition to online communications, another common form of information sharing in many companies is through the print medium. Companies need to realize that their publications are competing with the national and local media for their employees’ attention. Another way to reach employees through company publications is to send the magazines to their homes rather than distributing them at the workplace. Above all, every publication-just as with any other online or print communication- must be honest about anything that might affect employees. The goal is to make employees feel like a part of the team, and on the cutting edge of what is happening within the firm and its industry.
5) Communicate visually
Employees are becoming more visually oriented in their consumption of information, particularly given increased use of company intranets. Most large corporations have elaborate television studios with satellite capabilities staffed by professionals. Such sophisticated systems are the best mechanisms for communicating with employees through visual channels.
Managers should not see expenditures on such communication as frivolous or wasteful but rather as an investment in the firm, a way to make each employee feel more connected, while also “humanizing” senior management. In contrast to the sometimes impersonal nature of e-mail communication, these communications can offer employees a personal touch – literally bringing a company’s leaders and vision to life without the time and expense of traveling.
6) Focus on Internal Branding
The importance of clear, two-way communication about strategy and direction as well as internal branding is also important to building morale and creating a workplace where employees are “engaged” with their jobs. Internal branding is especially critical when an organization is undergoing changes such as a merger or change in leadership. The launch of a new advertising or rebranding campaign is also an appropriate time to think of internal branding. Internal branding campaigns also can be launched when results of internal audits reveal that employees are not connecting with a company’s vision or when morale is low.
7) Consider the Company Grapevine
The company grapevine-an informal communications network-should be considered as much of a communication vehicle as a company’s house organ or employee meetings. Yet many employers downplay the grapevine’s importance. Ultimately, if employees do not receive complete or timely information from their employers, they will have no choice but to rely on one another-as well as external- to fill in the gaps. The stronger the sense of trust, commitment, and engagement between employees and management, therefore, the less often employees will resort to the grapevine as the chief means of expressing their voice and hearing those of fellow employees.
◇ Management’s Role in Internal Communications
CEOs and other senior leaders within organizations are the “culture carriers” and visionaries within a company, and all communications relating to organizational strategy start with them. Physical presence and interaction are an important start. Senior managers, however, also need to work closely with internal communications professionals to ensure their messages are received and, most importantly, understood by all employees. These individuals, after all, have the greatest potential to help relate management’s “vision” to employees’ individual business units, and, importantly, to their day-to-day activities.
B) My viewpoint
With the advent of the Internet and computer information technology, today internal communication means between employees and management in an organization have rapidly developed. Like video conference, it enables the companies to connect each other through the Internet network. However, most importantly, the top managements need to realize that most employees want not to contact with CEOs by cutting-edged information technology but to intimate with them without gaps between employees and management. In fact, most companies have a formal hierarchy to report the top management from low-level employees. Especially, public organizations tend to depend on formal hierarchy.
Reference : http://www.bdc.ca/en/my_project/Projects/articles/hr_internal_communications.htm?cookie%5Ftest=1
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