Since most people have started working from home, it is an important time to assess whether your internal communication initiatives are working to create a cohesive team culture even though team members are not seeing each other as regularly.
“Now is not the time to neglect internal communication, don’t assume that your employees are ‘fine’, and target all your attention and communication efforts on external communication initiatives,” says Bischoff. “Do a quick exercise; ask your colleagues how they would describe the team’s culture in three separate words. See whether these words differ or if they are consistent. If the words are vastly different, it will be an indication that everything is not quite as aligned as you may have thought it was. It may now be the perfect time to revaluate how to tackle your internal communication, so that you can end the year off with a brand new and improved communication strategy for 2021.”
To start, Reputation Matters recommends these three simple yet effective ways that you can encourage a healthy and productive organisational climate:
Remember your average workforce could consist of four generations, Generation Z (18 to 24 years), millennials (25 to 39 years), Gen X (40 to 54 years) and baby boomers (55+ years); all of which have their own preferred ways of communicating.
“Our research has highlighted some interesting communication preferences among the different generations,” says Bischoff. “Give a baby boomer a choice between a Skype or face-to-face meeting, they will most likely opt for face-to-face. While some employees may like a quick WhatsApp message, others may feel like it is too personal. It is important to understand these differences to keep your employees engaged to make sure that you are using the best possible channel of communication to get your internal messages across. Instead of assuming what your employees’ communication preferences are, consider running a short poll to find out what their preferences are."
“At Reputation Matters, we have developed an organisational climate survey (OCS) to help companies understand how their employees experience their working environment. Our OCS research model is a lot more than just an internal communication or ‘just another’ employee engagement survey; it looks at all the internal elements that contribute to a team’s success, motivation and productivity. It includes your company’s culture, engagement as well as helping you to identify your reputation that gets built from the inside.
“Understanding your internal climate by doing research can provide you with a strategy to build an internal ‘family’ culture that your team enjoys being a part of,” says Bischoff. “An internal ‘family’-like culture is the type of environment that will lead your employees to be the proud ambassadors of your company’s reputation.”
