When you think about brands that you know and love, the brands that stick in your mind, chances are that you have this connection to them because they are brands that resonate with you. You not only like the product or service that they’re offering but you also relate to their values, ethos, and approach. You connect with them on a human level. You trust them.
And as well as being so important for brands looking to build their reputation, being and sounding human is also overwhelmingly important for organisations that want to connect and engage more effectively with their people through their communications.
I frequently work with clients who realise that their communications need to feel less corporate. They need to be more friendly and approachable; they need to feel more authentic to who they are as a business, and they need to connect better with people on a human level.
So how do you apply this to your internal communications?
Show up and show you care
It’s easy when you’ve got a busy schedule and a constant stream of back-to-back meetings to get caught up in the day-to-day.
As a manager or business leader, you have the best intentions to carve out some time to talk to your teams, answer their questions and update them on what’s going on, but somehow the days turn into weeks and before you know it, you’ve stopped having that regular dialogue with your people and it feels like there is a disconnect.
And even if your marketing and communications team are sending out regular internal emails, delivering great content via your digital channels, or producing a regular monthly newsletter, if people aren’t hearing from their manager and business leaders, they are likely to feel much less of a connection to your organisation and what you are trying to achieve.
Carving out time for regular in-person and virtual events such as townhalls is so important. These should include plenty of opportunities for open and honest two-way dialogue so people have a voice and can share their opinions, and leaders can demonstrate they are listening and responding. That they care about their people.
In addition to townhalls, there are multiple ways to create a more authentic connection between leaders and employees:
Try hosting virtual Q&As or roundtables on topics that are important to your people. Ask your teams to choose the topics and then create a panel of internal experts to explore the themes identified. These can be hosted live on internal digital channels or during an online meeting
Bolt on mini social occasions to your regular townhalls. These don’t need to be big events, more a chance for a cuppa and a chat
If you’ve got multiple offices, how can you encourage cross-collaboration? Can you have office drop-in days where people get to spend time with different teams to explore what they do and get to know each other on a more personal level
Think about how best to brief people on your business strategy. Can you bring people all together at an internal conference or event? Can you involve them in developing the content for the event so they feel part of the process? Can you find interactive and engaging ways to involve them in the event itself?
Talk about things that matter
Once you have created the opportunities for building stronger connections that feel more authentic, make sure you make the most of these opportunities.
Don’t spend ages taking teams through the latest numbers and projections if they’re worried about the new hybrid working policy you have just implemented or the restructuring of their team. Make sure you understand what is front of mind for your people and address this, wherever you can, head-on, and as openly and transparently as possible.
That’s not of course to say that your meetings shouldn’t include the big picture overview, but make sure that it feels tangible to your people, they are clear on their role in any project or initiative, and don’t brush tricky issues under a carpet.
More actions less words
Authenticity is about more than words on a page. It’s more than showing up and giving an inspiring speech. To engage people in your organisation, and to build trust and connection on a human level, it’s vital that organisations deliver on their promises: to do the things you’ve said you’ll do and not ignore the hard stuff.
An article in People Management provides a great example of this. It looks at the correlation between employee engagement and wellbeing and the number of companies avoiding issues that are “too difficult” to manage around mental health. It explores the importance of going beyond just simply having an EDI policy, and taking tangible actions that truly bring to life an organisation’s commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Tackling challenging topics or issues isn’t always easy but if you want to humanise your organisation, you need to address the things that really matter to your people.
Be consistent
Consistency is crucial for businesses looking to move away from sounding and appearing corporate. Make sure that in both your written and verbal communications you have a consistent tone of voice that is authentic to your business, reflects your brand values and resonates with your people.
Review your content across your channels to check that your tone of voice is the right one. Create a brand manual so your teams know what the organisation’s tone of voice is and how to use it, and keep checking in to ensure your communications haven’t gone back to their old corporate ways.
As well as being consistent in your communication style, you also need to consistently engage with your teams in the ways we explored earlier. Create a calendar of team events, townhalls, Q&As, and briefings that are fixed in people’s diaries and attach timescales to the actions and activities you’ve promised to deliver on.
Remember, being human isn’t about getting everything right. Sometimes things don’t go to plan but if you have a consistent, authentic, and human approach to your communications, it will be much easier to address issues and challenges that arise and gain the support of your people to help you fix them.
Need help connecting with your people on a human level? A new tone of voice that is authentic to you? Or communications training for your senior teams? Get in touch – I’d love to help 😊