1. INSTRUCTIONS - delivering top-down messages
2. INFORMATION - delivering "top-down" messages AND receiving "bottom-up" feedback
The focus is on facts, figures, data and the knowledge held by employees (what's known, what's wanted, what's a problem, etc). It's about matching the needs/concerns of the service with the ability of employees to act and respond in the most effective way to them.
3. INVOLVEMENT - delivering two-way conversations (listenin
g and responding)This is the core communication process that puts people together with people, and people together with information that's important to them. Real conversations (open and honest) are needed to ensure that the information that is acted on will lead to the most effective actions. When real conversations take place in teams (and between teams) the action achieves mutual benefits and better results.
4. IMPROVEMENT - delivering "side-to-side" exchanges inside the organization.
This is often called "continuous improvement" where the objective is to achieve better results - even excellence. It requires the sharing of knowledge and the exchange of best practice across teams, locations, professional disciplines and any other invisible barriers you can think of. This is where communications technology can make a real difference, especially if everyone has the skills needed to use it effectively. Side-to-side communication can create problems if effective top-down and bottom-up communication is in place. If people don't feel informed and involved, why they should care about making improvements or sharing best practices.
5. INNOVATION - delivering side-to-side communication for the customer's benefits.
Innovation is about seeking the new, not the improved, to attract new customers or renewed interest in the service. This requires employees who deliver different parts of the service to the same customer to collaborate, and build on each other's ideas and best practices. This is the challenge of Best Value - innovation inside the organization and partners outside to continuously improve services for a diverse range of customer needs. People cannot create or innovate unless they can communicate sufficiently well to understand other people, find common ground, develop shared visions and move beyond quick fixes.
6. INTEGRATION - linking all the above dimensions of communication.
Recent developments in communications technologies have opened up new opportunities for organizations to manage their internal communications more effectively. New systems are likely to encourage decentralized decision-making through its effect on employee ability to share information more freely. However, not all organizations are likely to embrace electronic-based channels of communications on account of the prohibitive costs involved in acquiring new technologies and providing employee training.
A strong internal communications practice is increasingly viewed as core organizational capability that adds value from both a commercial and employee perspective. The practice may be wide-ranging, from keeping employees informed on a regular basis about business strategies to informing them of recent changes in personnel. The goal is to create understanding of the company’s objectives and values in a way that helps individuals understand their own contribution to achieving the company’s performance targets. Internal communications may thus engender a stronger sense of ownership and commitment to the company’s culture, resulting in improved matching between individual preferences and job requirements.
Yet, as workforces become more mobile and decentralized, effective internal communications becomes increasingly difficult. In the past, voids were either filled with overlaps in functions or through a horizontal company structure with reduced hierarchies. However, with the recent developments in technologies and increased global competition, internal communications strategy has become more complex and requires a systematic approach for obtaining desired results. For instance, although the solution is widely seen in the adoption of new technologies such as electronic mail (e-mail) to improve the efficacy of communication channels, little is known about the nature of the relationship between existing organizational practices and how they influence the outcome of new communications technologies.
There have been the rumblings of a seismic shift in the employee engagement and internal communications arena for several years now. Digital technologies are expanding our opportunities, consumer power and influence grows apace, and traditional organizational structures and hierarchies creak under the strain of 21st century business velocities. The contract among employers, employees, investors, stakeholders and customers is being re-written.
But a lot of it is equally about assessing what interaction is taking place among what stakeholders – internally and externally – and to ensure that those interactions are supported in a way that relentlessly points at the heart and mind of the customer. This must be more than just a campaign about being “customer centric.” It’s got to be more than an initiative to define, articulate and deliver an “employer brand” and an employee experience. These are important parts of the equation, of course.
But if we are truly to thrive and face the challenges of 2007 and beyond, as internal communicators, we need to become part management consultant, part HR professional, part IT consultant, part brand manager, part organizational psychologist, part executive coach, part media relations expert … and part accountant.
We need to get outside our box, without apology, and stick our noses into other peoples’ business. Because everybody in the organization, and many of our stakeholders who aren’t necessarily on our distribution lists, helps us deliver our customer experience and our “brand” — which is, after all, our reputation.
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