10 Internal Communications Challenges and How to Solve Them: Part 1

The most prevalent internal communications challenges in organizations, from small startups to global enterprises, are so widespread that handling them can start to feel like a routine. Forgetting that internal communications challenges can significantly influence your employees’ productivity and your organization’s success can be easy. However, with the right tools, addressing the most common challenges can be easy, too. An employee communications platform may be the solution to your challenges.

Let us look at five common internal communication challenges and learn how you can overcome them with an employee communications platform:

• Email Fatigue
• Lack of Communication
• Reaching Frontline Employees
• Reaching a Dispersed Workforce
• Generating Intranet Traffic

1. Email Fatigue

Most organizations still use email as one of their most important methods of communication. However, according to a Superhuman survey, 38 percent of office workers said they would consider leaving their job because of ’email fatigue’ and overflowing inboxes. If you want to keep your workforce happy and retain your employees, it is important to cut down on general mass emails to all in your organization.

It is more efficient to use other communication channels, designed to bring relevant information to your workforce fast, seamlessly, and without extra effort for your employees. Deploying various communications channels such as digital signage, a corporate screensaver, and an employee app provides your staff a choice to consume information from their preferred channel. It will bring valuable information to your employees while you avoid sending mass emails – which will keep your workforce informed and engaged

2. Lack of Communication

Too many emails, messages, and information are not desirable; neither is too little communication. Employees can get seriously dissatisfied with their jobs if their organization does not provide enough information. Changes that are not communicated to employees, managers who do not communicate with their teams, information silos between teams and departments or updates on new guidelines or products: these are all moments that should be covered with internal communication to the right employees.

A direct line to every employee in your organization can fill this communication gap. An employee communications platform can form this direct line. It provides your employees with relevant, accurate, and real-time information. It enables employees to choose their preferred communication channel: TV, PC, or mobile device. Social features like a comment section in a mobile app can be a place where your staff can ask questions, talk about problems, or interact with one another. The right channels will keep your workforce connected, informed, and in the know, wherever they are.

3. Reaching Frontline Employees

Frontline employees are critical to customer satisfaction and success. They are your storytellers, your brand ambassadors, and your opportunity for influencing customers. That is why engaging and empowering your frontline workers is crucial – and a challenge if you have no way to reach them easily and constantly with the information and communication they need, which many organizations do not. Your frontline employees are a hard-to-reach audience, that is even harder to engage and include. An employee communications platform with multiple communications channels can offer help, as some of our customers quickly discovered in their search for a method to reach their frontline.

“Netpresenter is an essential communication tool for Sky Lakes.”

John Gaede, Director of Information Services at our customer Sky Lakes Medical Center, views Netpresenter as ‘an essential communication tool’ for reaching their frontline employees: “Netpresenter has become a key tool in our communication pathway. We have multiple communication methods, and not every person in the hospital is available to receive every form of media. For example, our clinical staff does not always have access to overhead announcements or email – but they all use PCs. Netpresenter is our primary channel of communication for these clinicians. Whenever we use Netpresenter, we inform them with messaging that they need in real-time. For those reasons, we view Netpresenter as an essential communication tool for Sky Lakes. It is not the only communication path we have, but it certainly is unique in what it does for us.’

4. Reaching a Dispersed Workforce

Your organization may now be a mix of employees working from home, working remotely, working in factory halls or on shop floors, working at your customer’s sites, or even working from another country. Reaching this geographically dispersed workforce can be quite the puzzle. It is a hard puzzle to solve without multiple communication channels: your information and your communication channels should be tailored and targeted for your various audience groups. This way, you keep your information relevant and the employee experience seamless and effortless.

An omnichannel employee communications platform such as Netpresenter can help you truly reach your complete workforce, wherever they are. Your corporate app reaches your employees on the go; the corporate screensaver informs the part of your workforce that sits behind their desks (whether at the office or remote); digital signage screens in public areas such as a factory hall or lunchroom will reach your collar workers. You can create and send messages from one content management system to any connected device in the world. A lack of relevance can be solved by targeting your content with our targeting feature. Netpresenter allows you to create multiple categories, which we call sites or channels. With multiple channels connected to specific devices, you target content to specific locations, departments, or teams to make sure your content is always relevant to every employee.

“Our intranet has never been more popular”

5. Generating Intranet Traffic

Your intranet can form a reliable flow of relevant information and news for your employees. It helps employees stay in the know and connects across departments and silos. However, the intranet can only do this for your organization if employees know what you publish and where to find specific information. Many of our customers came across our platform in their search for a method to increase intranet traffic. They found a solution in our SharePoint Integration. It made our customer Rotterdam World Gateway‘s intranet ‘more popular than ever,’ according to Niels Dekker, Public Affairs & Communication Manager at RWG.

Niels explains: ‘We have put up large screens in both our office buildings and our container terminal. Netpresenter automatically displays a condensed version of our intranet on these screens. We also use the screensaver to display intranet news items on their computers automatically. Employees can simply click on the item, and it will redirect them to the full news item on the intranet. Our intranet’s popularity and traffic have increased considerably; intranet messages are truly read more.’

Do any of these challenges sound familiar? And do you want to start solving them today? Schedule a free demo or get in touch with our consultants; they are more than happy to review your situation and help you start solving your biggest communications challenges immediately!