Internal communications

Now that the clocks have gone back, it’s around this time that we see a lot of organisations looking ahead to the new year. And while every organisation has its own unique internal workforce and external industry challenges, we’ve identified the five internal communications themes that we think most (if not all) communicators will be looking to address in 2023.

1. Hybrid working

Hybrid working guidance is something that most of our clients are talking to us about. It’s brought up in discussions about events, strategy, campaigns, and culture. It’s no exaggeration to say that we put hybrid working as the key challenge facing internal communications professionals right now… or should that be opportunity?

2. Hard-to-reach employees

We’re all distracted, and it’s a well-established idea that marketers must work hard for every second of attention they get from us as potential customers. As many of us are bringing our work-selves to where traditionally we would be more comfortable as our consumer-selves (the home), what is distracting us is different to what we’d experience in the office. As a result, we need to fight for colleague attention in different ways too.

3. Strategy and culture

Like any other business operation, a good internal communications strategy produces tangible outputs to agreed budgets and should therefore stand up to as much scrutiny and rigour as things like production data or marketing ROI. In other words, demonstrating its business value through planning, control, continuous improvement and robust performance.

This way, by giving internal communications the attention it deserves, you’ll ensure the unique qualities of the discipline come into their own.

4. Channels and technology

What’s new in digital technology? It’s a difficult question to answer because it depends on what angle you’re coming from: strategic, technical, economical or purely electrical. It may not be what people want to hear – but our response is always around understanding where they are going as a business, what the pain points are for their colleagues and what technology they already use.

However, we asked ourselves: ‘Is there a universal playbook for digital internal communications, that can apply to most (if not all) organisations, regardless of their overall strategic goals, appetites and budgets?’.

5. ESG engagement

Colleagues have often been at the heart of CSR strategies and action. These are often referenced as important elements of company culture, encouraging positive engagement, creating a sense of purpose, and enhancing retention.

What an effective ESG approach does is add substance – it provides evidence and proof that you deliver, which makes up a vital part of your CSR and ESG communications approach.