This blog post has been created by our co-founder, Michael Christian.
We frequently hear about marketing gurus, brilliant reporters and amazing copywriters in the media, but we rarely hear about the roles and achievements of internal communicators and intranet managers.
What’s the reason for this? Is it because internal communicators sit behind the ‘curtain’ of their organisation?
We inevitably pay more attention to the things that are projected to the outside world such as customer engagement activities and lead generation campaigns, rather than internal communications efforts. But yet we also know that if we focus on increasing employee engagement we can positively affect our organisation’s outside activities.
People who think that the work of internal communicators is less important than that of the PR or marketing team, are failing to see the real value and benefits this work brings.
There’s a famous quote that tells us real beauty is how you feel on the inside, which I think stands true to the world of internal communications.
Here are 5 reasons why I think internal communicators are amazing:
1. Brilliant Journalists
Creating news articles that stand out is not an easy job. Office politics and culture may also get in the way of producing interesting news-worthy stories.
To become a good journalist you must enjoy writing, be observant and know the right questions to ask.
Great internal comms people are brilliant journalists.
2. Great Storytellers
Internal Communicators are great storytellers; through their magic they can transform everyday company news into compelling stories worth reading.
It is not about winning the deal that matters; it is about telling the story of the hard-working team behind it. Sharing how employees tackled the impossible is what inspires the rest of us. Even better, sharing achievements with the rest of the company is a real motivational boost.
3. Real Designers
We love good design when it comes to everyday objects. Design is not just about making things beautiful, design is about making it all work together. Choosing the right photo to enhance a story is common sense but can also be incredibly difficult.
Good design is about how it works, not just about how it looks.
So internal communicators are the real designers. They are great at understanding their users’ needs… which leads to my next reason.
4. Behaviour Experts
Every day we are bombarded with a magnitude of information from multiple sources. Updates from social media, the morning paper we read during the daily commute, company notice boards and the intranet – great internal communicators have a deep understand of all these methods.
They learn from users’ behaviour, craft their information accordingly and select the right method to share their messages.
5.Change Drivers
This is probably the most important reason why internal communicators are amazing. In order to survive, organisations must adapt to change. The ability to adapt means that there’s a need to drive change. Change comes from within and this is why internal communicators are the back-bone of their organisations.
That’s it, 5 reasons why I think internal communicators are just amazing.
Please spread the word!
