“Nobody tells me anything!”
Can Internal Communications Help Build Morale and Unify Our Messages?
Facilitator: Amy Conrad Warner, Vice Chancellor of External Relations, IUPUI
I.
Introduction of the speaker and overview of internal communications and the value that it
can play in improving employee moral.
II.
Participants in the room described their communication function within the university and
how they obtain their information about key initiatives of the university.
a. Participants were largely from the IUPUI and Bloomington campus with 4
representatives from the regional campuses.
b. Communication responsibilities included faculty communications, student
recruitment, department website content management, website design,
newsletter authors, designers, and general communicators.
c. News and information about the university reach this key audience through email, meetings with supervisors, social networking, print publications and listservs. In addition, information is provided through informal networks.
d. Key communication challenges include – collecting information from internal
sources within the university with inconsistent results, uncertainty about how
policy and changes effect a business unit within the university, lack of
orientation to the university business processes, incomplete inventory of
university resources to effectively communicate with various audiences,
duplication of effort, difficulty finding the source of key information.
e. Information flowing from top down does not always provide adequate feedback
loops from employees to administrators. The lack of information or incomplete
information on the status of the institution or policy changes can lead to
misinformation and confusion. When the information channels are not clear and
fluid, faculty and staff become disengaged. This results in drops in morale or
feeling that they have no control of the operation of the institution.
III.
Industry practices were shared with the participants highlighting how internal
communication channels are organized and release information. Examples include
Anthem/Wellpoint and Delta Faucet. Some additional examples were highlighted from Eli
Lilly Company.
a. Tools used in corporate communications
i. Intranet for employee information, news, benefits, training, and talking
points.
ii. Employee e-mail blasts and newsletters are often broken down by key
audience segment within the organization – managers, front line
employees, finance, government relations, etc.
iii. Announcements by videocast, face to face meetings, teleconference
monthly, quarterly or as needed from the division head and the CEO
conveying critical policy decisions, financials and new product
information.
b. Organizational structure
i. The corporate communications division is either tied to the external
marketing division or to the human resource division. Key messages are
nearly always developed by the marketing/communications division.
Distribution and message management is often the responsibility of
human resources.
ii. Large national enterprises have nearly 30-50 people working on internal
communications to various audiences. The communicators are most
often managed through a single division – marketing/communications
or human resources.
iii. Fast-breaking news about the industry, competitors, new products and
services, acquisitions and mergers are announced by the CEO
enterprisewide in most cases.
IV.
Indiana University opportunities recommended by the participants include:
a. Define a strategy to convey unified messages, policy updates, new products and
services to the entire university employee base.
b. Consider Indiana University communicators as a specific audience segment.
Develop tactics and strategies to inform them of news, information and new
products and services to redistribute to their audiences.
c. Expand the concept of the digital asset management system to include talking
points, program summaries and other marketing materials for communicators
to utilize.
d. Develop and maintain a resource list of communicators, communication tools,
production timelines and deadlines, and tips on how internal communicators
can access each other’s resources and communication channels.
e. Develop and deliver training and orientation to university communicators
keeping them informed of resources, policies and best practices. Develop
specific training for new employees to the university or to those in a new
position in communications.
V.
Closing comments
The general impression is that individuals have a relatively good handle on key initiatives
on their campus or within their school or department. However, they spend a
considerable amount of time seeking institutional data on programs or fact checking
leaving them under prepared to communicate the features and benefits of programs and
distinctions enterprisewide.
With a rich technical communications infrastructure and literally thousands of
communicators throughout the university, Indiana University would benefit from
reinforcing key messages quickly throughout the entire enterprise. An internal
communications strategy to reach communicators, as well as the general employee
audience, can multiply the university story and reduce mixed messages about the
institution.