Partner Article

4 Facts about corporate communications

Corporate communications are particularly important in challenging economic conditions when employees are anxious to learn about the rationale behind important management decisions that affect them directly.

The integration of new channels such as digital notice boards to disseminate real-time data across offices not only makes your internal comms team more productive but also gives your staff the information they need, when they need it. According to a Ricoh study published in November 2012, 82% of the interviewed employees in Europe state that outdated work practices are holding them back and prevents them from being as effective and efficient as they could be.

Studies from recent years suggest the following:

1) Email overload and email interruptions confound effective work practices every day with email costing companies around £5,000 to £10,000 per employee per year according to a 2011 research reported by the International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management. The survey of company emails shows that 13% of received emails were irrelevant or untargeted and a mere 41% of received emails were for information purposes[1].

Yet, employees need to be informed about company news that matter to them and they should be the first notified. But how do you achieve this in a non- intrusive manner? Digital notice boards can deliver information relevant to each department and lets your staff digest this at their own pace, without interrupting them in their work.

2) Strategic communications help a business achieve its goals. ’‘Effective communication from senior management directly connects employees to the purpose of the organization’’ shows Wattson Wyatt’s 2008/2009 WorkUSA Survey Report[1].

Staff at all levels needs to be informed about the strategic direction of the company and the tactics they need to employ so that strategy is fulfilled. Ensuring that this information reaches them and does so without inconsistencies is of major importance.

3) Targeted communications have a stronger impact. Different departments are interested in different information or in different aspects of the same issue. Your Sales team might want to know about sales targets while your Financial Department about revenues, figures and meetings relevant to them. By using digital signage systems (interconnected digital notice boards) your organisation can share the right information with the right department, at the right time and update it throughout the day.

4) There are costs associated with communicating but the costs associated with not communicating are much higher. “Today, whatever you say inside of a company will end up on a blog, So you have a choice as a company - you can either be proactive and take the offensive and say, ’Here’s what’s going on,’ or you can let someone else write the story for you.” says Rusty Rueff, a former HR executive at PepsiCo.

Take control of your news and don’t let third parties tell your story, at least not to your employees. Presenting the situation from your perspective in an honest and open manner will have a positive effect on your staff’s attitudes and behaviour and will enhance your company’s credibility.

See the technology in action. Learn how train operating company, Merseyrail is using digital signage to relay internal communications and real- time data (KPI’s, train time efficiency national ratings etc.) across its offices.

About Dynamax

We offer companies the tools to deliver the right information to the right audience, at the right time via digital information displays installed in their locations. Please visit our website to learn more www.digitalsignage.net.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Howard Smith .