3 reasons your organization’s internal communication operation is more important than your sales and business development operation

Communications, News, Strategy

Last week, a good friend and fellow business owner and I were catching up over coffee.

We talk regularly and as usual, we started to compare notes about the state of our businesses and what we believe is working for us right now.

He’s in financial services and is an expert at what he does. He’s the type who leans into his sales and quotes that scene, all the time.

“Always be closing. A.B.C.! Always be closing!”

And I get it. For him, managing leads and closing deals is the main priority.

Without regular attention to business development, sales and clients, I wouldn’t be running a company, but would be an overqualified hobbyist instead!

But our conversation made me think about a different set of “A.B.C’s.”

As in, “Always Be Communicating.”

Especially now, as the nature of how and where we work is changing.

Right now, businesses, large and small, must re-examine how they are communicating to their customers of course, but also to their employees.

People are leaving their jobs in droves and research is demonstrating that talented people crave more from their employers, and beyond just extra pay.

Not slogans or buzz words either.

But rather, thoughtfully considered words and actions that are communicated to make your teams feel a part of something bigger and purpose driven.

It’s an approach that starts from the inside out.

And we’re here to make the case that right now, Internal Communications is more worthy of your energy than your sales and business development operation, to drive loyalty, from your employees.

In this month’s edition of Bounce Ahead, we share a few reasons why your organization should take a closer look at how it communicates internally.

With love,

Ada
Bounce Marketing & Consulting

p.s. Please share this with anyone you think will enjoy it. Thank you!

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Something to Consider

Reason #1: The Great Resignation Is Real and It’s Happening In recent research from McKinsey & Company, 40% of employees indicated they were at least “somewhat likely” to leave their current job in the next three to six months. Satisfied workers may be tempted to leave as their job opportunities expand. But more than a third of workers who recently quit didn’t have another job lined up. Why are employees leaving at this rate? That depends on who you ask. Employers perceive the top 3 reasons driving the exodus to be:

salary/compensation
work-life balance
health reasons

But ask employees, and the top 3 reasons for leaving their jobs are related to:

not feeling valued by their company
not feeling valued by their managers
not feeling a sense of belonging at work

Over the years, we’ve worked with or observed businesses who treat internal communications as an afterthought or a ‘nice to have.’ But this function is too important to be treated that way.

+ Read More (1 minute)

We recommend that you act now to develop a comprehensive communication plan to help you focus on the job satisfaction from your people.

Pro Tip: Before you hit ‘send’ to an all-staff message, make sure that your message has a real purpose and is written simply. Also, consider how often you send out messages to all staff. Send too much and you run the risk of being ignored. Send too little and you might cause confusion. Both are not good!

Reason #2: Employees Want an Experience, Not Just Engagement Companies often talk about employee engagement as a component of job satisfaction. But it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Connect engagement with authenticity, belonging, purpose, and optimism to find what workers are truly looking for: an employee experience. BetterUp, a mobile based, leadership development firm conducted its own research and developed an Employee Experience Index or what they call an EX Index which offers fascinating insights to reveal just how much employees are willing to invest to feel more connected to their work and employers. For example, their research shows 9 out of 10 workers are willing to sacrifice 23 percent of future earnings —an average of $21,000 a year—for work that is always meaningful.

Pro Tip: Create a messaging schedule. Planning out a schedule of messages in advance not only saves time, but also gives you the space to think, plan and consider how your internal messaging aligns with your organization’s strategic business priorities, employee needs and initiatives.

Reason #3 Putting Process Over Results Every company wants to attract and retain great, talented people. But attracting the right talent requires an investment in your employee onboarding. It’s surprising how many organizations overlook this area too. According to TechJury, a great onboarding experience ensures 69% of employees stick with a company for three years but a negative onboarding experience doubles the chances of an employee to seek another opportunity.

Pro Tip: Document your onboarding process. From the offer call and follow up email, all the way through to the first 90 days. Can you anticipate the questions you’re likely to get from this new employee? Are you ready with a thoughtful response, to effectively address their concerns? Developing a system to document, review and revise your ongoing and recurring onboarding processes is a business approach that you don’t hear enough about!

So what are the good habits companies should focus on? Strong culture; clear mission and values; employee experience, and satisfaction—all of which stem from (you guessed it!) a robust internal communications operation. Of course, there’s more than one way to drive effective internal communications. At Bounce, we can work with you to understand your company’s specific needs and customize your employee experience to help you increase employee retention and reduce employee turnover. Remember, you can’t close a deal, without the A.B.C.’s! Always be Communicating.

Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan

It’s ok if you weren’t considering the true value of your company’s internal communications. We get it. You have a lot to manage and plan for. After reading this edition of Bounce Ahead, do you think you need one now? Let’s find out. Book a complimentary 30-minute consultation with us. Contact us to take advantage of our no cost consultation to help you determine where you are now in your internal comms efforts.

Bounce at Work

Internal communications, when done right, is a critical ingredient to a company’s success.

Why?

There are a lot of reasons.

One reason is that expressing a company’s mission, values and beliefs is unique to each company. And in some cases, proprietary.

While we can’t share our internal communication work samples, we can share a few comments we’ve received about our work from our valued clients and partners.

(Thank you for the support, btw. It’s a privilege to work with you!)

“As a leader, it is very hard for me to be this open with my team. I feel I can speak with you with full transparency and you get where I’m coming from.
“I leave meetings with Bounce feeling energized and ready to take on the hard stuff.”
“You guys understand my work because you’ve done it too. When we talk, I can get right into it. You ask the right questions and always know what I’m looking for.”

We’re happy to feature our guy, @Tony Evans and his latest creative work, The Spectrums.

A few weeks back, Tony submitted, The Spectrums for consideration into the 2022 Embracing Our Differences international art exhibit celebrating diversity.

Not only is Tony a great work partner and a super creative talent, but he is also pretty darn eloquent. He loves art and tells us that, “Art has an uncanny ability to transport people to alternate perspectives, and through this project I hope we all can embrace the opportunity to learn, grow and evolve.”

Well said, Tony and congratulations on your latest submission too!

Want to see more from AC Evans Art? Check out his IG @acevansart

Things worth sharing

In his great piece from Forbes, Rick Murray argues that, “ …communications should acknowledge (with optimism and solid plans for going forward) challenges head-on. They should also explain not just the “what” but also the “why” of resulting changes and new programs and offerings.” Do you agree? (we do!)
Darian Mavandad from communication software provider, IC Thrive, writes that, “…employers are scrambling to keep their workforces happy, however, investing in free lunches, better coffee, and more company events may be missing the underlying reason (for the Great Resignation) entirely. Read this great piece for additional perspective on the value of a comprehensive internal comms strategy.
“Everything that happens in the workplace is reflective of the mental well-being of every member of an organization,” writes Sydnie Kerr from Backstitch. Check out her article to learn more about total rewards statements and why they matter to your employees.
This month’s edition of Bounce Ahead wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t include the latest edition of “It’s in Queens,” the Queens Economic Development Corporation’s weekly roundup of all the great arts, foodie and cultural events happening all over our hometown of Queens, NY. Check it out.

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