If companies obsess over anything when designing and developing their internal communication strategies, it’s staff involvement. Many communication managers are clear that internal communication must involve workers and functions from motivation, persuasion and participation.
Effective internal communication helps ensure that all members of the organization work together to achieve a common goal. It develops a cohesive culture and lets employees make better decisions in harmony with the organization’s objectives, which in turn leads to greater efficiency and productivity, and better customer service.
This obsession of companies for internal engagement sometimes leads to the creation of new jobs within companies such as People Engagement and the development of increasingly creative plans.
Beyond the specific objectives that an internal communication campaign can pursue, its success will no doubt depend on the active participation of the target group. These are some examples of a successful internal communication thanks to the involvement obtained by employees:
1. Commitment around a corporate goal
- Company: Multichoice, video and internet service.
- Recognition: CEB Internal Communications Awards 2017.
- Goal: Involve customer service agents in resolving the 99 most frequent problems present in the claims of their customers.
- Description: The company launched a year-long campaign called #NinteyNine. Company management was involved from the outset and they put on a roadshow for call center agents, who visited each region twice to share knowledge and take stock. They posted reminders to keep the attention on the progress of the campaign and even had surprise parties every time employees overcame a challenge. After one year, the 99 most frequent complaints were resolved. In addition, customers doubled, employee turnover was reduced and customer complaints dropped by 37%. As an incentive for employees, limited-edition brand gifts, badges and, of course, peer recognition were delivered.
2. Promoting conciliation to increase motivation
- Company: Monzo, digital bank based solely on cell phones.
- Goal: Keep new and existing employees inspired to build a new banking experience.
- Description: They used their employee engagement survey to ask questions about the environment, work and the wishes of their employees. Since then, Monzo offers free lunches, remote work and free subscriptions to Headspace (digital platform that provides meditation sessions). The company has even separated the roles of managers and leaders, and opened a healthy dialogue on mental health.
3. Taking advantage of the data to generate curiosity and incorporate new tools
- Company: MHS Homes, real estate.
- Goal: Familiarize users with their new intranet platform.
- Description: They used data from their intranet directory to create posters with questions about different individuals on the staff, organizing a contest so that employees could guess who silhouettes were by searching the intranet. Participants also had to complete their own profiles, which increased the number of registrations and the quality of their data. The company thus reached 85% active users on the intranet.
4. Training and communication through the game
- Company: BBVA (Microfinance Foundation)
- Goal: Bringing employees closer to the Foundation’s mission: promote the economic and social development of vulnerable groups who have production activities.
- Recognition: 2019 Observatory of Internal Communication Award
- Description: The Foundation created ‘Heroes’ as an interactive training experience for new incorporations in the Group, but also to reinforce the social purpose of the Foundation, which serves over two million people in five Latin American countries. ‘Heroes‘ is the second project based on a game that launched, after ‘Simón’, an application for improving team management skills.
5. Generating corporate culture at a new office
- Company: Siemens
- Goal: Align over 1000 employees with the strategic vision of Siemens in a new location.
- Recognition: IoIC Award of Excellence 2017
- Description: From an integrating message such as “One Team Hull”, the agency that conceived this campaign managed to offer a set of materials defining the corporate culture, especially at a visual level.
