+

Corporate COMM 101Your resource for Internal CommunicationBy Hiba Beydoun

+ Prepared by

Hiba BeydounCommunications Consultant

I am passionate about communications, and I created this resource to help leaders and non-communication personnel understand what corporate and internal communication entails.

What I am offering here are some insights that will help you identify if you have a good corporate and internal communication strategy in place, or even if you need to build one.

Visit my LinkedIn Profilehttps://www.linkedin.com/profile/public-profile-settings?trk=prof-edit-edit-public_profile

+All roads lead to greater efficiency

Strategy

Auditing and Evaluation

Vision and Values

Corporate Culture

Internal Brand

Change Management

Training and Development

Employee Engagement

+Strategy

Communications Strategy & Plan - bringing together all the research, activities, objectives, risk assessments, etc, to develop the Strategy & Plan. A master document that sets out the overall direction.

Audience & Stakeholder Matrix – mapping of internal stakeholders/audiences relating to a specific change program or initiative; a critical part of the communication planning process

Speak up – a master messaging system; designed to crystallize key messages and inform and guide discussions about a particular program or initiative

Channel Framework – an overview of your core communication channels (either existing or proposed); designed to show the purpose, audience, content and style

Corporate Culture - Developing a corporate culture that for your organization thought an internal communication strategy

“The only inimitable source of sustainable competitive advantage a firm can have is its culture.”

Is your communications team acting as a strategist or merely a dispatcher?

+Internal Brand

Believe in branding from the inside out. Help your employees understand and reflect the essence of your brand in everything they do and say.

Many companies spend a lot of money and resources on Marketing to their customers and very little on marketing to their internal customers (employees).

Your internal customers are your ambassadors, if they believe in you, the benefits are countless.

+Vision and Values

If you are a multination organizations you probably have inherited your vision and values from the corporate office – (wherever that may be) but how deeply do your employees believe in the vision and values, how are they relating to it on a personal and professional level. How localized are you?

If you are a local organization, how well do you believe your employees are relating to your vision and values, how are you communicating it formally and informally. How inspired are they by it?

If you are a start-up, you have the opportunity to start from scratch without any baggage, so develop a vision and outline values that you and your employees will BELIEVE in.

+Change Management

Change can be good, it can also be bad, time consuming and frightening. When change is not communicated it would most likely create doubt and uncertainty amongst employees and productivity level will suffer.

Whatever the change is within the organization; a big merger, acquisition, management change, structural change, or downsizing, good or bad, you need a communication plan to help make this transition structured. A plan that helps the organization embrace the new change or accept bad change. Empowerment is key.

+Employee Engagement

Are your employees engaged With your vision and values? With your CEO and leadership team? With their line-managers? With each other?

An engaged employee translates to a productive one

There are many programs that will get employees engaged depending on the size of your organization and your objectives.

+Corporate Culture

What culture is your organization adapting? Fragmented, communal, networked or mercenary?

Is your organization’s culture aligned with corporate vision and values?

Do you have subcultures that work with or against your mission?

Is your leadership style compatible with the organization’s culture?

Do you know how to build and sustain a corporate culture?

+Training and Development

Knowledge is key and it all starts with the organizations HEAD, but it is essential that employees at all levels are exposed to communications soft skills.

There are special communication and engagement trainings that enhance skills and knowledge for: Head - C-level executives and leadership team Body - Line managers and supervisors Legs – front line employees

+Auditing and Evaluation

Have you ever done a communications audit? It is key to understanding the current communication situation and offer data-based solutions and recommendations

What it should involve:

1. Identify the context

2. Map communications activities

3. Conduct interviews with key stakeholders

4. Gathering data from employee focus groups and employee satisfaction surveys as well as any available artefacts

5. Use audit results to identify major issues, prioritize and create frameworks to resolve.

+

For more informationbeydoun.hiba@gmail.com