Internal comms: Supercharge your strategy with the power of creativity

But what does the rest of your organisation think about when you say “internal comms”? If the answer is something along the lines of newsletters, HR meetings and branded letterheads, then, oh boy, it’s definitely time to switch things up.

There are many reasons why your internal communications may be a little underwhelming. Perhaps you don’t have the tools or the time to create engaging and emotive messages. Or maybe your internal design and HR resource is sparse or, worse still, non-existent. It could even be that your employees are just too busy to engage. 

Whatever the reason, it’s a problem that we care about. In fact, we care deeply about the employee experience and helping our clients to achieve an exceptional employer brand that current and potential employees can engage with. Silverback® believes in a world full of organisations where people can be their best selves, forge a career of greatness and align their personal values with those of their employer. Is that too much to ask? With 84% of employees ready to leave their current roles for companies that have invested in their reputation, we’re going to put our stake in the ground and bellow “the time for change is now”.

This blog is the first in a series in which we’ll be sharing our view on why a robust and well-defined creative comms and culture strategy should be front of mind for every HR and people team. Now, a spoiler alert: The big fix-all solution is that you’re going to need a strategic creative partner like us. Silverback® can help you to deliver empathetic, impactful and performance-driven creative that can turn your employer brand from good to great. Excited? You should be! 

You’re in the thick of it

You don’t need us to tell you’re too busy. When you’re overworked or under-resourced it can be difficult to find the time to step outside of your role and take an objective view of your comms and messaging. When was the last time you thought about how your service advisors speak to customers on the phone? Or how your brand associates reply to comments on social media?

There’s no clear ownership

We often see teams sharing (and shirking, tut tut) responsibilities or having such granular responsibility that the ownership of overall people and comms strategy is left by the wayside. The bad news is that an ineffective internal comms strategy can half the returns that you’re delivering to stakeholders. The good news? You have the power to turn that number around.

Your employees are busy

Your teams are distributed, their inboxes are fit to burst, and the work never stops. It’s no wonder that HR messaging and employee comms aren’t getting through. In this situation it’s not about shouting louder, but instead, a good time to rethink your approach.

Your people team lacks identity

It might surprise you to learn that internal teams can have their own identity, and when it comes to people and HR, this is fundamentally important for engagement. We’re talking about things like brand, tone of voice and even company values. This is an area as broad as your imagination, from fun internal initiatives to the nice-to-haves like simply acknowledging an employee’s work anniversary.

When it comes to improving your internal reputation, we believe in a ‘back to basics’ approach. What story are you trying to tell? What is your purpose? Who are you talking to? Here are five starters for defining your internal brand and creating engaging content that you (and your employees) can be proud of.

It all starts with discovery

We find that there is no better way to re-engage and refocus a team than a discovery workshop. Here, we can uncover your goals as an organisational unit, understand the landscape and makeup of your wider organisation, and also look at broader trends and effective approaches around employer branding and internal comms. And before you roll your eyes and say, “Not another workshop…”, ours promise to be fun, engaging and, most of all, effective.

Define your VMVs

What the acronym is a VMV!? That’s “vision, mission and values”. We firmly believe that these are the foundation of a strong company culture. Understanding who you are, what you believe in and where you want to go will really help you form a stronger identity – internally and externally. And the stats speak for themselves; According to a recent study by Jobvite, 86% of employees seeking a new role said that culture is “very important” when choosing a place to work.

Choose your channels

Still limping along with that frustrating and outdated company intranet? Are your email engagement rates too embarrassing to even put on the monthly dashboard? It might be time to rethink your comms channels and discover better ways to reach your employees, whether that’s through emotive campaigns, community platforms (such as MangoApps or Staffbase) or innovative use of external channels such as social media.

Build a brand around you

Internal branding is an effective way to vastly improve engagement throughout an organisation. We’re not talking about letterheads or branded pens. Think bigger. Think campaign-level branding with a design system that lets you apply your internal brand to your newly formed multi-channel approach. With this in place, you’ll find it much easier to apply to brand to the culture essentials, from external recruitment efforts to employee onboarding.

Design for your audience

Watercooler chat has moved on from TV shows to clever ads, smart tech and virtual experiences. So it’s important that your messaging speaks in a similar language. Employees need a little more to turn their heads. Motion design, video production and creative copywriting are just some of the tricks in the Silverback® box that have enabled people and comms teams to cut through the noise and significantly increase engagement and reputation.

Organisational disengagement is costing the UK up to £70 billion per year in lost productivity. Businesses can no longer afford to lose money and staff due to lacklustre company culture and an underwhelming employer brand, particularly in today’s competitive employment landscape. In short: Employees will leave and the bosses won’t be happy.

So, it’s time to make HR fun again. Who’s with us? Let’s build a long-term internal communications strategy that looks and sounds great and makes your employees feel great. Before you become a statistic. (A recent study from Deloitte shows that 87% of business leaders believe that having a well-defined culture model in place is the key to their companies’ success.)

If your business needs a culture kickstart, it might be time to reach out to a creative agency that puts strategic love and care into employer brand and communications. That’s a polite way of saying, “We actually give a sh*t!” We form creative partnerships with businesses of all shapes and sizes to create compelling campaigns that improve productivity through powerful, intelligent design. And best of all, we’re in it for the long haul – we’ll move and shake as your business scales and grows.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your people culture or underwhelmed by your employer brand, then you may have just found your answer in Silverback®, your Creative Partner. Let’s blow the doors off.