Research: the push for internal communications to drive the employee experience

Communicating with employees has never been more important. Regardless of the message you’re trying to convey, being able to clearly and concisely deliver it in a way that consistently relates to the values and purpose of the business is some challenge.

In the past, internal communications have sometimes been viewed as a back office function. But no more. The latest research suggests that increasingly senior leaders are recognising the value of communicating with staff to reinforce company values and drive the employee experience. All of which can be linked to higher productivity and lower staff turnover.

The current state of internal communications

Gallagher’s State of the Sector 2020 report provides a global look at the internal communication landscape. It finds that the proportion of people who strongly agree that internal communicators are seen as trusted advisors has increased year-on-year, while two thirds of respondents believe internal communication is seen as a key driver of the employee experience, and a similar proportion (72%) say the function plays a critical role in capturing and amplifying employee voice.

Globally, however, there are differences in the priorities of different regions. In the UK, 88% of respondents said they have a strong focus on driving the people agenda and improving the employee experience. In North America and continental Europe this was less of a priority, with just 71% and 52% of respondents respectively noting the people agenda as a strong focus.

Looking ahead, the top three priorities for internal communicators in 2020 were: communicating strategy, values and purpose; communicating a change or transformation programme; developing/refreshing an internal communication strategy.

Communicating about employee benefits

Employee engagement with benefits was a key theme to come out of this year’s UK Benefits and Trends Survey from Aon. Unsurprisingly, 99% of firms acknowledge the importance of increasing employee understanding and engagement with their benefits and health and wellbeing offerings. However, despite this recognition, more than half of firms do not have an engagement strategy in place.

The findings were not all negative though. For those who are committing budget to the engagement and communication of their benefits the amount being set aside has increased, with those investing more than £5K rising by nearly a quarter, from 30% in 2019 to 38% this year. The results imply that those companies who have an engagement strategy in place are aligning more budget to support a greater buzz around benefits and improved education with their communication approach.

Although strides are being taken to improve communications with employees, Aon’s research concludes that employers need to take greater risks to improve the communications employees are receiving and thus increase engagement. It finds: “It seems there is a clear appetite for learning more on what could be done and exploring innovative communication ideas, but there is still a resistance to implementing something different, targeted and engaging.”

What employees want

The number one trend identified by LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends 2020 report was the rise of employee experience as a key way of retaining staff. It found that more companies were looking at everything they do through the lens of employee experience. The four main reasons for doing this were: increase employee retention (77%); increase employee productivity (71%); meet expectations of millennials and Gen Z (40%); and to attract more candidates (29%).

A crucial part of developing a positive employee experience relates to communication. LinkedIn’s paper outlines five tips, of which two related to communication. The first is to listen and act continuously on employees’ expectations, the second is to be transparent and open with staff to build trust and a two-way dialogue.

The importance of internal communications has never really been in question. However, the breadth of their value has perhaps been underestimated, especially by senior leaders. As this research shows though, times are changing as more organisations recognise how vital they can be in influencing all aspects of the employee experience.

The author is Dawn Lewis, content editor at REBA.