“Where you are a year from now is a result of the choices you choose to make right now.” -Anonymous
The quote above sits on my desk, right next to my favorite quote from tennis legend Arthur Ashe, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Both of these quotes motivate me to evaluate what’s happening in my field, how I can impact it, and what that impact can make on the future.
Every year we ask internal communications (IC) practitioners to tell us what they’re seeing in the industry, how it’s impacting their work, and what progress has been made in elevating their roles. The Simpplr State of Internal Communications 2022dives into the shifts and trends we’ve seen over the past year and sheds light on the areas that need additional focus.
There are a few topics that stood out to me that I’d like to explore further:
Internal Communicators know what they can and can’t control.
We saw in our data that internal communicators know the significance of what they do. And, that they also know what they can and can’t control. We asked them to describe their IC impact. We saw that in the areas that they could control (voice/tone=empathy/authenticity), they are nailing it. 64% said they were excellent or above average at conveying authenticity. And 54% said they were excellent or above average at communicating with empathy. However, we can see that things start to slip when it comes to timeliness, consumption, and consistency. What’s hopeful about this data is that IC teams know they have the ability to influence emotion. This is an area that we’ve all been working on for years in storytelling and narrative workshops. This proves we’re bringing humanity back to our comms. Now if we can only get leaders to consistently sign up for our campaigns and take action, get alignment across organizations to balance the sending of communication, and find ways to help our employees actually consume the comms through various methods and channels, then we will be cooking with fire.
No charter. No goals. How are you measuring success?
We asked IC leaders to tell us if they had a clearly stated charter and measurable goals. More than two-thirds of all respondents did not believe they had a clearly stated charter and measurable goals. This is incredibly concerning. Developing a charter or mission to use as a north star is critical. It enables your team to get buy-in on the importance of internal comms to stakeholders and provides guidance to return to when making decisions.
The charter of the internal comms team at Simpplr is to ensure that Simpplifiers know Simpplr, Simpplr knows its employees, and that collectively we walk the walk and talk the talk of our overall mission to transform the work experience.
How do we do that? We know that for Simpplifiers to know Simpplr they have to clearly understand what we’re building and why we’re doing it, and how their work at every level impacts our mission. And we set out in every initiative to do that. For Simpplr to know its employees, the IC team must represent the true employee perspective with empathy and conviction. We ask questions and dig for answers. We push for honesty and accuracy and accountability throughout the company. Trust is a currency. We protect it. And to ensure we collectively walk the walk and talk the talk of our overall mission. We work together to make work a better place by helping leaders create a culture of trust, care, and execution excellence. While work keeps getting more complex, we make it simpler.
Using effective technology is a must.
We understand that those who rated their internal communications “poor” or “below average” don’t want to be in that position. It ultimately comes down to the resources and the capacity they have to achieve their goals. We found that two out of three laggers felt that their technology did not adequately meet their needs with intranet topping that dissatisfaction for IC professionals. Investing in the right technology is a must to succeed in IC.
Summarizing the complete State of Internal Communications 2022:
There is so much goodness to be found in our report. And it’s clear from our results that when you have access to the right technology, the right team size, and an involved and supportive leadership, you can deliver a strategic and effective internal comms strategy. Also in our report:
- The state of internal communications today
- Methods and strategies to capture valuable analytics and measurement
- Evolving communication initiatives within organizations
- Executive leadership and their contribution to internal communication
- Technological challenges and the tools that get the buzz
For the full story, get your copy of the Simpplr State of Internal Communications 2022 here.
About Simpplr Research
Simpplr Research was created in 2018 to provide customers and intranet practitioners insights and benchmarks to get the most out of their internal communications programs. With a rigid, analytical approach we hope to use data and insights to guide the corporate intranet industry and Simpplr’s solution strategy. To learn more or to suggest research topics contact us at hello@simpplr.com.
