Improve Internal Communications to Inspire Action and Trust

The path to improve internal communications and team connections used to be so simple: brighter flyers, bigger signs, clearer subject lines for company emails and a few happy hours.

Today? Not so much. HR teams can’t count on the old strategies to reach employees — they can’t even count on there being a physical workplace everyone is internal to. And yet the need to connect with employees is greater than ever.

Limeade research shows that when employees feel as though information flows freely throughout their organization, they are 3x more likely to feel included at, connected to and valued by their organization. The research also shows that when employees feel they have received adequate information they are nearly 3x less likely to feel burned out and nearly twice as likely to feel engaged in their work.

A strong platform for HR and program communications is an important step to creating the communication and connection your company needs for employee well-being and retention.

Effective and compelling workplace communication is table stakes

Employees are facing demands on their time from every direction, with pings from workplace apps competing with endless emails and texts from family members, not to mention the siren song of social media and its endless scroll. HR leads are stuck competing in this crowded attention economy.

When your employee’s experience will be judged against the biggest social media brands in the world, there’s no standing out. Instead, your goal should be to blend in. By offering an interface that’s as attractive and easy-to-use as the apps they’re already checking, you have the opportunity to deliver important information in a familiar format.

No one needs another task tacked on to their workdays. For employee well-being to truly feel integral to the company culture, it has to be communicated in a compelling, snackable way. Improved communication in the workplace gives employees the same feeling as a social media break. That’s why Limeade engages employees with a social media-style feed across all of our solutions: Well-Being, Engagement and Inclusion.

Giving employees an interactive resource is the way to improve communication in an organization without it feeling like a top-down mandate. For the employees who need them, emails and flyers and postcards are still available (and easy to create). But for the employees who want to feel truly connected, rather than talked at, the social-style “My Updates” feed in Limeade solutions invites them into the conversation. Tax and consulting firm Ryan LLC increased monthly active usage nearly 2x after launching Limeade communications and social capabilities.

The best internal communication tools create connections

The only way to improve internal communications is to give employees a voice in them. By creating a two-way conversation, Limeade is able to turn workplace communication into an activity people engage in rather than another bit of information they have to commit to memory.

Adding actions to employee communications — even something as simple as liking, commenting or adding it to your calendar — makes them sticky. Because the message has invited them to participate, they’re more likely to remember it.

The participation Limeade can create is also a source of data. When you’re looking for strategies to improve communication in the workplace, you can start with the messages and media that worked best for employees in the past. An intranet or an email will tell you if someone clicked an item (and a flyer won’t even tell you that). Limeade, however, will let you see who actually engaged with a piece of news or an ask from management, so you can multiply your efforts that are already working.

Stronger employee connections build community and strengthen culture

With employees building connections, the opportunity opens for deeper community building. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) can get the extra infrastructure they need to really flourish. Limeade includes communication templates and an interactive selector to encourage employees to join ERGs, while the channels, social interaction and chat take ERGs from a regular meeting to an ongoing conversation. For new members and the rest of the organization, easy ERG resource centers house information, past sessions and tools.

Just like employees can act as champions for interest groups, champions can act as advocates for HR programs. To spread the word about useful features, Limeade enables you to fully support champion networks capable of creating excitement and awareness. Limeade has communication templates to announce and hold successful champion meetings, and a simple recruitment tool to continuously expand your network. The Limeade champion toolkit equips everyone with customizable templates to promote your program resources and a new feature to encourage interaction, allowing people to meet, chat with and become champions.

A good internal communications strategy drives benefits well beyond awareness

The basic purpose of internal communication is to get messages out to your team. The benefits of internal communication, however, go far beyond knowing when the new spam filter launches or when the next all-company meeting is. Consistent, two-way communication creates a sense of connection and community that holds people accountable. Seeing others prioritize well-being helps them to do the same. It also helps the bottom line: Workplaces with high employee engagement are 22% more profitable than those with low engagement, according to a Gallup study.

A two-way communication platform gives employees a way to speak, and to see that management is listening. According to the same Gallup survey, employees who feel ignored by their bosses are 15 times more likely to be actively disengaged. When employees feel isolated and ignored, their health suffers. Half of burned-out employees report trouble sleeping at night and 38% report increased alcohol and substance consumption, exacerbating medical conditions and weakening their immune systems.

Improve internal communications, and maybe everything else

Not all companies with great internal communications have a healthy, engaged and productive workforce. But without an internal communications strategy that informs and includes employees, a company can’t influence any of those outcomes.

Limeade gives companies an internal communication channel that looks and feels like the apps employees are already using — one that engages them in a two-way experience, where their participation is encouraged and recognized. The benefits go far beyond an informed workforce and into a company where well-being and engagement are baked into the workday.

Learn more about how Limeade Well-Being is a refreshing way to infuse well-being into work or get in touch with us today.