Navigating the world of internal corporate communication

The statistics are quite telling. According to the survey The State of Business Communication 2023, roughly 70% of business leaders are confident that strong internal corporate communication practices were instrumental in boosting their team’s productivity.

An earlier study conducted in 2021 by McKinsey & Company shared similar insights, citing that employees who felt they were involved in communication in the workplace were five times more productive than those who felt sidelined. Conversely, the absence of solid communication in the workplace can lead to disaster.

Join us as we dive deeper into the world of internal corporate communication, its importance, as well as strategies and best practices you can adopt to nail internal corporate communication.

What is internal corporate communication?

Internal corporate communication is the process through which information is distributed, physically and digitally, via both one-way and two-way channels, among employees in a company. The goal of effective corporate communication is to inform, influence, and engage employees on a diverse range of organizational, strategic, and industry-related topics, so they can act as a collective and perform their jobs optimally. Good corporate communication promotes company culture and employee engagement.

Why is internal communication important for your business

Internal corporate communication plays a pivotal role in the success of your company.

Here’s why:

• • Internal corporate communication reduces resistance to change

Implementing an internal corporate communication campaign is key to the success of any change management initiative implemented within a company. When changes are not communicated well within a company, it is more likely that employees will become resistant to embracing that change than the opposite. Not only can this slow down the implementation of change, but it can also hurt employee happiness.

• • Internal corporate communication increases employee engagement

Solid communication practices also help foster greater employee engagement. When you communicate well with employees, they are more likely to feel valued since it shows that you took the necessary steps to make sure they are aware of things happening in the company.

• • Internal corporate communication fosters inter-departmental alignment

Internal corporate communication campaigns also help to forge strong relationships between departments that typically work in silos. This is especially true when it comes to communication campaigns that serve to align departments on a company’s goals or initiatives. The better the internal corporate communication campaign, the easier it is for departments to all be aligned on initiatives within a company and sync on activities that contribute to the success of a common goal.

Types of internal corporate communication

There are seven main types of internal corporate communication. They are as follows:

• • Leadership communication

Leadership communication, also known as top-down communication, refers to the dissemination of information from leadership to line staff. This type of communication is employed when leaders at a company wish to inform their employees of company-level information. This includes company goals, plans, and strategies, among others.

• • Bottom-up communication

Bottom-up communication, more commonly referred to as two-way conversation, describes the flow of information between employees and leaders and vice-versa. In such cases, staff is encouraged to share information with the leadership team through channels such as feedback surveys, ideation/brainstorming sessions, polls, and more.

• • Peer-to-peer communication

Peer-to-peer communication is the process through which staff members communicate with each other. In doing so, it encompasses all initiatives that allow employees to connect and develop better and healthier working relationships.

• • Face-to-face communication

Face-to-face communication or personal communication is when two or more people can see each other during a conversation. Participants can observe body language and expression. Face-to-face can be both in-person and virtual and is ideal for problem-solving and more meaningful conversations.

• • Change communication

Change communication is any type of communication campaign done to brief one or more employees on any change in the company.

• • Crisis communication

Crisis communication refers to any campaign carried out to inform, mitigate, or manage corporate crises.

• • Culture communication

Culture communication is all about how the company’s culture, norms, and values are transmitted to employees and the public at large.

Strategies for effective internal corporate communication

Here is a 5-step plan to develop an effective internal corporate communication strategy:

Set goals and targets

Define what you want to achieve with your communications on a yearly, half-yearly, and/or quarterly basis. Set measurable targets accordingly, along with a timeline to achieve them.

Analyze your existing communication strategy (audit)

Run an audit to assess how your current communication strategy is performing. Take stock of your channels, your tech stack, the type of messages, the execution, and the reception by your employees. Analyze data (views, time watched, engagement, …) and run surveys to evaluate the extent to which your current communication strategies are hitting their objectives and take note of faulty channels, obsolete tech, and other inefficiencies.

Update your strategies

Put your audit results alongside your new goals and create a roadmap of improvements and changes to get you there

Set up an approval committee

Have your new internal corporate communication roadmap reviewed by an approval committee of key stakeholders in your company who can act as a sounding board to either bounce ideas off of or provide any feedback needed to help you refine your campaign before its release.

Measure impact and optimize

Once your internal corporate communication campaign has been released, use the success indicators you identified previously to measure how well your campaign performs. Iterate based on the results and data you obtain to refine the campaign throughout its lifecycle. Take note of any important lessons you learned during the process and use them to make sure that your next campaign is even more successful.

Technology and internal corporate communication

Today, technology plays an integral role in guaranteeing the success of internal corporate communication activities. This is best evidenced in the use of video as a format to improve the impact of communication within a company and to enable remote and hybrid workspaces.

Let’s explore a few common use cases where video helps to foster better internal corporate communication:

• Connect with employees: With hybrid and remote work becoming a standard in the workplace, videoconferencing has emerged as a common practice among employees in corporate entities. Videoconferencing bolsters collaborative efforts among teams, boosts productivity, and sharpens employee engagement.

• Carry out town hall meetings: Town hall meetings help build company culture and a deeper sense of community, and bring teams together. In town hall meetings, video serves as a useful tool to connect employees who are unable to attend in person, either because of remote work or geographical restrictions. That way, the entire company can be aligned on company goals, results, and next steps expected from each team.

• Employee onboarding: Using videos to prepare onboarding and training material is a cost-effective way to prepare your employees for success. You can create training material related to an employee’s core responsibilities on the job, as well as material that brings employees up to speed on company-related things such as safety regulations, work processes, and more.

Kaltura corporate communication solutions

With video being such an integral part of the performance of internal corporate communication initiatives, you must leverage the right video tools that lead you to success.

Fortunately, Kaltura can help you with that.

As a long-time cloud provider of comprehensive video solutions, Kaltura’s suite of video tools helps corporate entities deliver optimized and successful internal communication campaigns.

Kaltura Town Halls deliver all the solutions you need for your all-hands meetings, quarterly departmental meetings, and other webcast communications. From seamless end-to-end live streaming to automatic recording and repurposing, fun engagement features, and real-time performance analytics, Kaltura makes sure you have everything you need to make communicating with your team as easy as it should be.

Internal corporate communication: Key takeaways

In today’s world, corporate entities must ensure that they communicate efficiently and effectively with their workforce.

Kaltura’s suite of video-powered solutions equips you with the tools and resources you need to take your corporate communication efforts to the next level.

Request a demo from us today to learn more about how you can start implementing these solutions in your internal corporate communication strategy today.