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The new role of internal communication in the 21st Century Workplace
Most attempts to transform organisations in this increasingly global world fail
to meet their original aims. Yet organisations which can adapt quickly and
effectively are the most successful. What is so thorny difficult about change
and business strategy that only 10% strategic initiatives produces real tangible
results? Among the most common denominators of companies in crisis is break of
communication! The communication in business is said to be vital but often is
poorly understood and executed. The strategic mission of internal communication
is not simplest dissemination of information anymore nor separate events or
actions but it is all about converting ideas, data and information into
knowledge and shared understanding! If communication is not strategic it seems
random and chaotic. Strategic role of communication brings focus and
understanding resulting in the change essential to todays focus of engaging
workforce in the 21st Century Workplace!
Only strategic communication produces results as it is not just process
oriented: it is one of the critical means to achieve business objective! However
effective communication takes consistent effort over long period of time. There
are some false starts and stops... But is it enough to adress new challenges with
yet another evolutionary step in internal or employee communication or is a time
for major shift in communication paradigm since organizations are undergoing
extremelly radical and revolutionary change? The change that turned their
relationship with their employees upside down!
With the onset of widespread downsizing, corporate reorganizations, all kind of
transformations, even quest for transforming existing short term shareholder
capitalism into something more meaningful and longterm, employees are
increasingly more skeptical, even cynical, dissengaged and demanding: what is
going to happen to ME? Is there a new role for communication profession? How
leading Slovenian companies are adressing these new circumstances? Do they
assure open flow of ideas and information, encourage understanding and trust or
internal communications are still about ?cheerleading and sugarcoating?? Are
communication professional part of business strategy or salesman of it? How to
dismantle ever increasing disengagement issues through translating information
into understanding meaning and context? How to walk the talk, move from saying
to meaning and living the new communication strategy?
Walk the Talk
We should design a communications strategy that fits in with business plan. By
deciding how we want to be perceived and building all our methods of
communication around this focus, we will send clear and meaningful signals to
employees and other relevant stakeholders.
Our communications strategy hence should include key processes to ensure its
continued success. These will include designing an infrastructure that supports
the changes, matching media most effectively to each situation, teaching skills,
such as facilitation and relationship building, and monitoring.
Alongside this we should use specific issues, such as changes in HRM policies
and processes to communicate in a way which is fresh, different and symbolises a
new way of interacting. This will also enable us to affect what people
understand, feel and do as a result of these specific initiatives.
The employees should be taught the necessary skills and values to "walk the
talk" when interacting with each other and the outside world. We need to define
which behaviours are most wanted to reflect company in the future. Once the
articulation process has happened, leading to shared agreement on what
constitutes "good" behaviour, we can introduce the results of those codified
behaviours into the organisation. This will enable us to determine what
behaviour is required of them to live the company's principles.
What we say, how we say it, how, or indeed, whether we listen and what we put in
place to ease the flow of information; all these things play a vital role in
aligning our corporate experience to global challenges. But, as we all know,
just saying it isn't enough. The walk is every bit as critical as the talk and,
like a three-legged race, we need to walk together!
The final result, employee engagement (and passion for their company) makes a
huge difference to Your business! While one cannot ignore functional or rational
elements to fully engage workforce, it is the emotional drivers of the heart
that matters the most and are going to make the biggest difference of all.
Brane Gruban, ABC
Practitioner panel slides  - 6,2 MB
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