In a world where attention is the new gold - a scarce commodity to be fought over and won - it’s not enough to recycle traditional thinking and practices and simply put them into flashy new packages.
Instead, it's time for bold ideas.
Employee Attention Isn’t Simply A “Nice-To-Have.”
It isn’t simply something to measure and brag about (as some execs have been known to do about their “employee engagement” scores.”)
It’s something that needs to be earned, and it’s something that needs to be aligned and mobilized.
I’ve written a lot of words on these subjects over the years. With maximum respect for your attention, let me boil the most important ideas down - with links to my content that explore each in further depth.
Five "Bold" Ideas:
1. Focus On Business Impact Rather Than "Employee Engagement"
“The challenges of the post-pandemic world require more specific and strategic thinking than just a focus on a single number and catchall that somehow aggregates morale, commitment level, and focus into some almighty “magic number.” The value internal communication can bring to companies can become unleashed when communication leaders are free to focus on, and measure, what actually matters to their own businesses.” - Read More
2. Treat Internal Communication As A Strategic Necessity Rather Than As Some Kind Of Investment.
“Given the urgent organizational, financial, environmental and geopolitical realities in the world at the moment, there is now a clear strategic case to make for ensuring organizations have sufficient professionalism and infrastructure to support their internal cohesion and aligned performance.” - Read More.
3. Use Internal Comms To Spark Personal Connections As Well As Spread Content
“The key distinction of superconnection is that it builds on the willingness of individuals to identify and make potentially beneficial introductions between others who would not normally connect in the course of their normal routine. By using their knowledge and relationships to make introductions, superconnectors can alter the course and performance of their companies.” - Read More.
4. Treat M&A As A Communication Challenge As Well As A Financial Opportunity
“While the organization is thinking ambitiously and strategically, in the background the discussion is actually about ‘What’s going to happen to my job after this?’. The challenge there is being able to enroll employees in that more ambitious vision, into the logic of the transaction, and into the integration of the two different companies as being the best answer for the most employees.” - Read More
5. Recognize That We Don't Just Edit Copy - We Edit The Organization
The very acts of developing and publishing organizational stories produces four key benefits above and beyond what is produced by people reading and acting on the stories. These benefits involve Formalizing, Exposing, Elucidating and Defining, which conveniently arrive at the acronym of FEED. - Read More
Organizations - and their internal communication pros - have a massive opportunity to shift towards activities that make a difference right now.
Reducing noise, treating employees as capable adults with distinct motivations, providing communication platforms people will want to use, and recognizing that the way people actually communicate is different from the way org charts tell us how they should; these are not crazy ideas.
But they’re not what everyone is doing now, which makes them bold ideas.
“Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”
- Goethe.
What’s Next:
