INTERNAL COMMUNICATION TRENDS 2021
In the last decade, not to mention in the last year of 2020, the way people work and communicate within the organization has changed dramatically. Adapting to those changes and to the evolution of the organization and the people constructing it is as important as adapting to the market and consumer evolution.
Today we are focusing on the most recent trends in internal communications, and how you can easily and quickly adapt to them, optimizing essential elements as company culture, values, employees’ connection to the company and their engagement in its activities.
Remote work
One of the trends that were dramatically accelerated in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic and is still as evident in 2021 is remote work. Many organizations switched to a full-on remote work model, while others took on a mixed office/remote work model, and predictions suggest remote work will stick long after the market returns to “normal”. Working remotely has many benefits. At the same time, it also requires a shift in internal communications to keep employees focused, productive, up to date, and feeling connected.
Ever-changing world
We live in an ever-changing era thanks to its dynamic technological nature. Innovation, change, and rapid shifts are the constant in our lives today, work environment being no different. This dynamic nature is manifested in the experience of employers, employees, and candidates, forcing organizations to continuously monitor, adapt, and correspond with the never-ending stream of data and forces of change.
Transparency and clarity
Employees today want and ask for transparency, reliability, and clarity in their workplace. They want the ease and sense of security that comes from receiving data and info that is clear and reliable, allowing them to direct their attention and skills to their future. Employees today do not settle for a false sense of confidence that all will be ok. They wish to be part of an organization that tackles issues with accountability.
Update > Engage > motivate
A motivated employee today is an employee that is up to date with the organization’s doing, that feels connected to its values and significant to achieving its objectives.
Employees touchpoints
Well-being is an integral part of employees’ needs, and organizations’ need to deliver. Well-being is manifested in various ways, including the culture and after hours events and activities usually managed by the HR department; mental health and well-being support in personal and global times of difficulty as we could very well see during the Covid pandemic of 2020, and more.
How to optimize internal communications?
To deliver all we have mentioned above and more of the current trends and needs of employees these days, you need to assist in a system able to meet these aspects of internal communications, delivering as many of the following as possible:
- Easy and friendly to use
- Accessible across the board from the most to the least tech-savvy employee
- Available
- Allowing direct messaging communicating
- Avoiding the need to wait for IT, designers, and more
- Multi-channeled: Email, SMS, WhatsApp, chat, video.
Each organization and enterprise has their own language, voice, and colors. Understanding these elements is based on understanding the organizational culture, company values, human mix, and more. To deliver a good internal communication meeting current work trends, there is need to assist in the right system / tools for conveying the right messages in the right manner, time, and format. We hope that after reading this article you have a better sense of how to do that.
