And the role of communications in shaping it
The experience someone has of your brand – be they a customer or an employee – is what the culture of your company is all about. The way your company talks and behaves is what sets it apart from other businesses with the same kind of offering. This is something you have to work on from the inside out. It starts with your employees.
Engaged employees are integral to the strength of your brand. If you don’t have happy employees, you’re unlikely to have happy customers because the two typically go hand-in-hand. In fact, research by Gallup has shown that organizations with engaged employees are 21% more profitable and 20% more productive.
If you have happy employees who understand what you’re trying to achieve, know their market, know your product, and believe in the value it can bring to your customers, then they will deliver a great and authentic customer experience.
The COVID crisis had impacted employee morale everywhere, so doubling down on ways to improve trust and motivation is critical. Internal comms play a huge part in that. The goal of an internal comms leader is to help employees experience a sense of belonging to the company. It's about connecting day-to-day activities with the underlying purpose of the business, so people understand how the work they do impacts the success of the company.
Storytelling is key to internal communications – whether you're explaining why an organizational change is happening, shining a light on great customer work, or sharing people stories. The story structure helps employees to connect the dots. We all suffer from information overload so helping employees to navigate everything that's going on and pick out the important stuff – that's where the value of good internal communication lies.
