Organizations and business leaders struggle to identify new ways of growing the business. Whether its innovating a new product, improving customer satisfaction scores, scaling production or enhancing brand visibility — it all starts with where the problem started – unmotivated employees.
Especially in a tight labor market, attracting, engaging and retaining talent is a top priority. On the flip side, pay is no longer the only incentive that employees find attractive. Employees today look for jobs that fit their lifestyle, offer growth opportunities, bestow a sense of ownership and even possibly some connection to a meaningful purpose.
To top it off, employees document and share workplace experiences on social media; another reason why many employers and business leaders are focusing on the all-important EX, i.e., the employee experience.
Employee experience starts with looking at your employees on the same level as your customers. It also means marketing to your employees in the same way as you would market to your customers.
Internal marketing or internal communications, although too often overlooked, plays a critical role in building employee experience.
Trust and buy-in
We often read about CEOs working hard to win buy-in from their boards or group of investors. Similarly, management teams strive to ensure that staff effectively buy in to what the company wants to achieve. At different levels in the organization, absence of an internal marketing plan could lead to a lack of buy-in or low engagement. Internal marketing can help educate employees about your company goals and also motivate them to achieve those goals.
Building enthusiasm
Many individuals and roles are siloed in large organizations. It’s difficult to connect to the larger goal and feel enthusiastic about one’s contribution to that goal. Simply informing employees of company initiatives, policy changes and product releases is no longer enough. To build enthusiasm, engagement or encouragement, organizations must promote ideas actively, repeatedly, and enthusiastically as part of a strategic marketing communications plan. And like any marketing plan, metrics like employee advocacy, turnover, response rate, and feedback should be attached to measure buy-in or enthusiasm.
Awareness and alignment
When employees are not at the forefront of company news, they will often feel unacknowledged and inevitably, disengaged. To sell your vision, products or services, and to effectively address customer inquiries, employees need to know about your company initiatives or issues first-hand. Communicating and marketing to employees internally can help organizations keep employees engaged and aligned with your corporate values and purpose.
The good news is that there is little to no budget required to market to your internal audience and if you are a PoliteMail user, you probably have all the core measurement tools you need at your disposal. From email to intranet pages to social media channels and video, like any good marketing plan, marketers must monitor metrics like reach, frequency, attention and engagement, and strive to report measurable results.
