Debbie West speaks with internal communications leaders, Niamh O’Grady, Keith Berman and Natalie Lambracos about the challenges of managing the flow of information inside organisations. They discuss how to enable effective communication processes while minimising noise and distraction. Debbie asked each panellist about the levels of ‘noise’ in their organisation. Natalie joined Protiviti UK a year and a half ago to establish the organisation’s internal communications function from scratch. This was prompted by feedback from their annual employee engagement survey, which revealed a need for clearer and more direct communication from leadership. When she arrived, Natalie found that without a structured approach in place, a plethora of UK-wide emails were being sent out daily, resulting in what she referred to as “a lot of noise.” To address this communication overload, Natalie conducted an internal communications audit to assess what was working, what wasn’t and to gather input from employees on their preferences. She then positioned herself as the central gatekeeper for communications, ensuring a consistent tone, style, and on-brand messaging across all communications. Implementing a new rule, Natalie limited UK-wide communications to a maximum of one per day to streamline messaging and maintain clarity. As a result, employees now know to consult with Natalie before sending out any communications, either through the dedicated communications mailbox or different leadership team mailboxes. Keith recounted an experience where he had to address a leader’s belief that more communication was always better. This leader managed a large group of employees and was under the impression that increasing communication frequency was the solution. Keith worked with her to help her understand that this approach was contributing to the noise and confusion within the organisation. To illustrate his point, Keith used a metaphorical scenario, describing the communication process as a group of speakers surrounding an employee. Each speaker represented a different department or leader, all sending messages simultaneously, creating a cacophony of noise. Keith emphasised the need for someone to act as a “mixing board operator” to regulate the volume and frequency of messages. He made it clear that overloading employees with too many messages from different sources hindered their ability to focus and comprehend the information. Once the leader grasped this concept and understood that she was just one of many communicators, she became more receptive to the idea of sending out messages more judiciously. Keith found that this metaphor resonated well with other leaders, helping them to have their own “aha” moments and recognise the importance of balanced and strategic communication. Niamh from PageGroup discussed managing noise in communications for their thousand UK employees. Using Microsoft’s Viva Engage, they maintain two main channels: one for business updates and another for recognising achievements, keeping them distinct to avoid confusion. To ensure quality content, only Niamh’s internal comms team has posting rights on the primary channel, limiting posts to once daily based on engagement data. Monthly planning and annual engagement surveys guide their strategy, helping them focus on impactful rather than excessive communication. Debbie then asked the guests whether internal communicators should act as gatekeepers to communications. In response Keith emphasised the need for a centralised approach to avoid communication overload and prevent messages from getting lost in the mix. Keith highlighted the unique position of internal communications professionals, as they have insights across various teams and can coordinate to avoid conflicting messages. However, Keith pointed out challenges when leaders become demanding or try to bypass the internal comms team by setting up shadow communication groups. In such cases, he stressed the crucial role of senior leadership in vocally supporting the centralisation of communication. Keith also raised concerns about the resource constraints faced by internal comms teams, advocating for increased support to better serve internal stakeholders. Keith supported the centralisation of communication resources not just to gatekeep, but to effectively manage the flow of communications and reduce noise. He believed that adding to the communication overload problem makes one part of the problem rather than the solution. Niamh emphasised the importance of gatekeeping in her organisation to manage and direct communications effectively. Niamh highlighted the need for internal comms professionals to be allowed to do their jobs and leverage their expertise without unnecessary interference. Niamh mentioned that sometimes tough conversations were necessary to differentiate between the roles of communication professionals and others who may think they can run comms or marketing without proper expertise. She believed that gatekeeping, while it may have a negative connotation, is essentially about letting communication professionals do the job they are hired to do. Natalie pointed out the need for content planning to prevent conflicting messages and avoid adding to the communication noise within the organisation. At Protiviti, Natalie introduced a new system using an add-on in Microsoft Outlook to manage their UK-wide distribution list more effectively. Working closely with IT, she restricted the list to approved senders, including herself, the leadership team, and some HR members. This system allowed Natalie to review and approve or reject messages sent to the UK-wide list. If a message was rejected, an auto-generated response directed the sender to consult with the communications manager, Natalie, before sending out any communication. This new approach was implemented to maintain better control over the content and quality of communications being distributed within the organisation. Debbie then asked how the guests individualise communication within an organisation. Natalie discussed the approach Protiviti uses to individualise communications, aiming to increase engagement and impact. They send out messages from both the general communications mailbox and specific leadership team mailboxes, aligning the sender with the message content. For instance, leadership messages come from the UK country market leader, HR updates from the director of HR, and D&I updates from a D&I sponsor. She went on to mention receiving positive anecdotal feedback indicating that emails from recognised names are more likely to be opened compared to generic mailbox communications. To reinforce important messages, they also utilise Microsoft Teams, following up on emails with Teams chats to ensure that the information has been read and acknowledged by employees. Niamh outlined PageGroup’s strategy for scaling communications while ensuring individualisation. She said messages are first posted on Viva Engage, then shared with director or manager, who are responsible for ensuring their teams are informed. For sensitive messages, they pre-brief community leaders with specific details and FAQs. PageGroup centralises communications on Viva Engage to ensure consistency across the organisation, finding this approach effective and straightforward. She highlighted the importance of well-briefed managers in driving engagement and behaviour change among the core workforce. Keith drew on the importance of cascading messages through managers to reinforce corporate communications, providing them with extra context to share with their teams. Additionally, Keith highlighted a technological innovation he implemented to increase email open rates. At a previous organisation they integrated their email system with Workday to include recipients’ first names in the email subject lines. This personalisation significantly boosted open rates, indicating that employees were more likely to engage with communications when they felt the message was tailored specifically to them. Debbie then asked the guests how they go about reinforcing messaging without excessive duplication. Keith acknowledged the shift in communication preferences among different generations but highlighted that email remains a primary communication tool for employees. To reach remote workers and cater to various preferences, Keith suggested broadcasting messages across multiple channels, such as digital signage. Additionally, Keith mentioned using reminders effectively to ensure actions are taken by specified deadlines. For example, by incorporating key date sections at the bottom of emails to serve as quick reference points for important deadlines, which can encourage employees to engage more with the email content. Keith also emphasised the need to avoid overloading employees with repeated messages from leaders. Instead of simply re-sending initial emails multiple times. Natalie introduced a “weekly wrap-up” approach to consolidate and share all the content communicated throughout the week. This wrap-up included headlines, teaser text, and hyperlinks back to the original communications, sent every Friday at midday via Teams to the entire business. Natalie also utilised UK-wide and team-specific chats to ensure broader reach of the messages. She highlighted the “What’s happening in the London office this week” section as particularly engaging, providing employees with a quick overview of office activities, meetings, and events. Feedback from employees indicated that they appreciated this consolidated and regular communication method, finding it both engaging and helpful for staying updated on important information. Niamh said after moving to a new London office, her team installed digital signage screens in communal areas like tea and coffee points, as well as kitchen areas. These digital signage screens proved effective in reinforcing messages, with Niamh reporting positive feedback and increased employee engagement. Employees even began requesting to share information on the screens, indicating their popularity and effectiveness as a repetition tool within the organisation. Niamh suggested that the digital signage would likely continue to be their primary method for repetition until they launched something like the weekly wrap approach Natalie described. Debbie’s next question was about distribution methods that the guests have recently used. In response Natalie discussed a recent live-streamed client event launching a partnership with the London School of Economics on multigenerational workforces, which was broadcast to various European locations and received positively by both in-person and virtual attendees. Following the event, her team shared teaser, trailer, and full video content on social media, marking a new distribution method they had experimented with to communicate the event’s outcomes. Keith then shared an experience where a pilot program to text frontline remote employees was met with resistance, leading to its discontinuation. However, he successfully implemented an app with intranet access for push notifications, allowing employees more control over notifications, which proved effective and well-received. Niamh talked about an initiative where the internal communications function collaborated closely with recruitment consultants at PageGroup to create a sales enablement toolkit for a report they produced. This collaboration led to a successful national calling day, resulting in 795 client meetings booked, enhancing the perception of the internal comms team within the business. She also highlighted the discrepancy between the demand for video content and its actual low engagement rate, emphasising the importance of testing new approaches to understand their effectiveness for each organisation. Debbie then asked for the guests’ tips for anyone listening to the episode. Natalie stressed the importance of collaboration between internal and external communications teams to ensure on-brand messaging and alignment with the right audience. Niamh emphasised the importance of demonstrating value early on and encouraged setting up processes and cadences to ensure success rather than merely following existing practices. Keith highlighted the need for early involvement of internal communications in projects and stressed the importance of having a seat at the table to guide key messages and ensure alignment with the support of senior leadership. PRCA members receive 10 CPD points for listening to this podcast if they log it on the CPD programme. View episode
Navigating internal channels for effecti... Unicorn Leaders - Sami Inkinen, CEO and ... Shoptalk - Part 4 Shoptalk - Part 3
Money20/20 Europe 2023 - Part 3 of 3 Money20/20 Europe 2023 - Part 2 of 3 Money20/20 Europe 2023 - Part 1 of 3 FutureBrand Index 2022
Mental Health & Wellbeing in the workpla... Suicide Prevention - How employers can p... Mad World 2021 - Part 2 of 2 Mad World 2021 - Part 1 of 2
