Impulse policy - communication engaged in business

Modern communication departments increasingly face the issue of assessing the impact of their actions – how to define it, how to measure it, and how quickly to address it? What used to concern mainly advertising and PR specialists, is now becoming a concern for internal communication professionals too. Is my work more than being the boss’s mouthpiece or a project aimed at winning an industry award? Are my actions important to people in the company, do they understand their significance, do they see any benefit for themselves, or will I find the chalk-written joke “stupid coworker” on the door tomorrow?

The 21st century presents numerous challenges for communication experts. One of them is designing actions that translate most tangibly into corporate budgets and employee satisfaction. In other words, communication should move away from producing projects like “art for art’s sake” (such as the departmental competition for the most beautiful Christmas bauble) and instead, it should align with the needs of the people working in a given company, dedicating their time, ambition, and trust that the company also cares about their well-being. It should therefore gather and process information necessary for building relationships. Partnership (also in the dimension of employer-employee) is a bond of trust. Properly built, it brings satisfaction to both the company and its employees, as it fosters a good work atmosphere and increases healthy engagement.

The key is the approach

The communication strategy, which I tentatively call “policy of impulses,” can be one of many responses to the new needs of internal communication. Impulse policy is not just the technical steady flow of information through more or less advanced tubes, but above all, an approach.

An impulse can inspire and encourage engagement. If it does so, everyone wins. Both those who have taken action and those who have set the matter in motion.

In principle, a positive impulse policy boils down to stimulating three issues:

• • conscious engagement,
  • conscious development,
  • conscious shaping of one’s career path.

The keyword that always comes up here is “conscious.” This happens because an impulse should initiate a conscious change or reinforce existing employee engagement.

Clear rules

Awakening employees’ or business partners’ self-awareness, showing them the benefits of jointly striving for goals and sharing success has a profound meaning. If such action is not based on mere propaganda but on well-thought-out programs, the classical win-win is just a matter of time.

Conscious engagement, conscious development, and conscious shaping of one’s career path are guidelines for modern internal company communication. Of course, building such strategies requires close cooperation with Management, HR, PR, legal department, training, but it is not a novelty. It has been happening for years and in almost every company, but not every company has a well-thought-out and clearly defined internal communication policy. Fresh research shows this.

In early 2018, Forbes cited WorkService data indicating that over 3 million Poles want to change jobs this year. And it’s not just about money. 38% of people pointed to the lack of an adequate training system (lack of development), 35% “complained” about glass ceilings, and 32% noted the lack of clear rules regarding promotions. Adding nearly 30% who believe that companies do not assign them tasks that would allow for personal development, we can see that people – although they would like to consciously build their career and have a real impact on it – encounter monotony, unclear work organization rules, a lack of hope for change, and a “glass ceiling.”

Similar studies conducted three years earlier (in 2015) highlighted the problem even more strongly. Almost 70% of employees in Poland felt unappreciated, and 60% admitted that their professional goals did not align with what their employer expected from them.

In essence, these are very sad statistics. A third of the average Pole’s life spent at work turns out to be either uninspiring factory work or simply does not meet our life expectations and ambitions. Personally, I do not believe that the majority of respondents are unable to openly communicate their needs to their superiors. I do believe – and I have many examples from professional practice – that Polish managers simply ignore someone’s needs. Many of them instrumentally treat their valuable people (valuable because they are educated, experienced, proactive, and eager to act) – ‘you do not discuss what is better. I know what is best.’ They do not develop themselves and shy away from those who would like to engage in the ‘seventh gear’ in their company. It is no wonder, then, that the 2015 studies also showed that 40% of employees do not perceive their superior as an authority.

Who can inspire?

Only a company aware of its role can lead a policy of positive impulses. A company that is open to a modern way of thinking about opportunities, market chances, threats posed by such changes. A company that tracks and responds to technological changes, demographic changes, cultural and ideological transformations. Its opposites – organizations ossified through and through by feudal treatment of employees are not ready for change. Moreover, they are simply unaware of how far they diverge from contemporary needs. Often, they cannot shape fair, clear, and predictable paths of employee development. In such companies, much depends on ‘favoritism’, acts of grace or disfavor from bosses, rather than on agreements, rules, codes, or clear regulations. Therefore, the only impulse they use is a stinging one – ‘if you think differently than me, you are against me, I will swallow you up and spit you out.’

It is quite a challenge for internal communication to build a policy of positive impulses. It must inspire. It must also be based on programs aimed at building and maintaining the right atmosphere for work.

1. Purely informational programs (clear rules of employment, development, and promotions within the organization, official vertical communication).
2. Programs supporting talent management and opportunities for career change within the same company.
3. Programs supporting the development of creative competencies (according to the World Economic Forum and EY, creative competencies will be the most sought after in organizations in the next several decades).
4. Programs that build and maintain employee engagement (combined with extensive training programs).
5. Analysis of feedback information that reaches communication from various departments.

The company’s communicator of the near future is a living person, creatively processing data and friendly with the needs of employees. Communication has access to a lot of information, so it can analyze it and indicate appropriate solutions to individual unit heads. Starting from the analysis of information flow to consultations regarding the development of talented employees. Someone will say that this is a topic for HR. And I will say that internal communication – if it is to meet the challenges of the 21st century – becomes an interdisciplinary entity, an effective link between many fields of knowledge.

Large companies often allow their employees to engage in ‘internal transfers.’ It is enough, for example, that an employee from the controlling department is a talented programmer, and they can count on a change of desk or department. This type of ‘transfer’ is beneficial for both the company and the employee. It is also one of many examples of utilizing a good impulse. An impulse that can inspire others and build a friendly work and development environment.

Profit

I remember a few years ago when people would sarcastically talk about emerging (but still globally operating) positions such as ‘happiness manager,’ ‘engagement specialist,’ and almost no one had heard of employer branding. Today, few people mock this. More and more managers realize that among employees there is a growing awareness of changes taking place in corporate organizational cultures, awareness of new needs, desire for development, improving their qualifications, and influence on shaping the place where they devote their energy and time. Since I spend 30% of my life at work, I should be able to influence its nature and the benefits I derive from it. The topic of ‘workplace dignity culture’ is also more boldly and more often discussed in the media, with seminars organized on the subject (recently also in Warsaw). Therefore, many managers want to build the right atmosphere of cooperation at their place before it is mandated from the bottom up – through high employee turnover and negative feedback about the company.

Impulse policy is also an impulse for the corporate budget. You can gain from change, and everyone who has successfully shed weight or replaced a bad habit once knows this. By changing the approach to communication and applying inspiring strategies, you can also gain.

Above all, it is a gain from employer branding (externally and internally). An employer’s brand, its PR, is all the better the more positively the employees speak about it. It is a matter of course. We also gain from better utilization of resources and creating new solutions for business (using greater employee engagement and creativity, internal transfers, etc.). We will also benefit from savings. Especially those made on past actions in the style of the 90s (motivational 2.0 – the stick and the carrot, as well as the company binge ‘with history’).

Another thing is the gain from sharing. Companies that, by improving their market success, enhance employment conditions, appreciate the contribution of their employees, can count on their greater loyalty, which is important in the era of the so-called ‘candidate market’.

Giving people an impetus for self-development, for self-improvement, is currently one of the noblest practices that communication can afford. Also, and perhaps primarily, the one that is directed internally in every organization. However, this requires the appropriate quality that the company represent