“A close-tie between business, performance technology and communication strategies will focus understanding and support for the direction of the organisation.” *
I think it is safe to say that a well-defined business strategy will engage employees and help to align them with the company goals.
HR professionals understand the importance of employee engagement in order to drive business goals forward and as such, employee satisfaction surveys will always include questions on how well the company strategy is communicated internally both by their direct managers and the communications team. Without an experienced communications team to deliver the message effectively, it can be lost and the business is left without a clear direction which can result in a lack of morale.
By engaging early with the various business units & implementing technology driven delivery channels, it has been shown that performance is improved throughout the entire business. Inevitably there are often high levels of change within large corporate businesses & the key to continued employee engagement is to effectively communicate these changes in a timely fashion. This method of communicating will ensure that a level of excitement & motivation is maintained throughout the team. In turn, this will lead to increased staff retention and improvement of the company brand in the marketplace.
Intel Corporation have embraced information technology and use it very effectively and creatively to communicate their strategy internally. For example, they issue a biweekly e-newsletter to all employees that may include an embedded video clip or voice message.
My own personal experience from being an employee of Symantec for 7 years was very similar. The internal communications team always delivered clear & concise messages ahead of any upcoming internal change. In addition, senior leaders delivered company-wide messages via video messages and more recently social media channels. This meant that each & every employee felt informed and included in every major change which definitely keeps people engaged & motivated to perform for the senior leadership team.
In conclusion, clear & constant communication is key, especially in large corporate businesses where the leadership team are often far removed from the teams on the ground. Strong communication teams making use of information technology to deliver the messages, serve to reinforce them even further.
*Abstract taken from Communication Strategies at a Fortune 500 Company : The Impact on Performance by Maria D. Simmons
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