There are two common mistakes that organizations make when attempting to gain employee alignment. First, they announce an initiative with a lot of fanfare, brining everybody together for a meeting, with a speech from the CEO and a video designed to motivate the troops. And after that… nothing. It is as if this single effort is enough to get the whole organization on the bus. The internal budget is blown on the one event, with no consideration for the need of frequency. Second, the choice of media used to get across the message is based on what is easiest to deliver, not what is most effectively received.
The big single event is usually well received. People have become aware of a new initiative. They know it is important enough for the time and expense involved in an “all hands on deck” meeting. Perhaps the event was effective enough for people to understand why the initiative is important and to understand “what’s in it for me.” But learning requires reinforcement. Without follow-up communications, four things happen:
- Those who did not attend the event have no knowledge of the initiative.
- Those who attended and were persuaded in the moment see their enthusiasm recede.
- Those who attended and were not won over have no reason to reconsider.
- The organization awaits the next initiative, which also lacks persistence and is not adopted.
Internal communications need a media plan, a way of providing cadence to a message. The frequency over time, with varying content along a common theme gives employees a chance to remember an initiative, have enough emotional and rational reasons to buy in and realize that the organization is sticking with its initiative.
Once, a junior-level manager in a client company shared his frustration because a colleague would not respond to his emails. When asked where the colleague’s office was located, he pointed to a cube twenty feet away. It had not occurred to the manager to pay his colleague a visit. This anecdote points out that we commonly use a single media, and we choose it because it is easy for us. But how about what’s easiest for the recipient? Internal media plans should use a variety of “media,” from events to email to newsletters to YouTube to voicemail to internal social media. Some employees will respond to the immediacy of a voice mail message. Others might want to reflect on an article in the organization’s glossy internal magazine delivered to their home. We will guide you through the development of a plan that delivers effective reach of your message to your diverse employee base.