In this blog, Tara Williams, HR Director at Whiteoaks, considers:
- Where internal comms goes wrong
- The consequences for engagement and motivation
- Why this is the best time of year to put it right with expert help
Sharp, up-to-date and eye-catching internal communications are vital to motivate your employees, align them with your business aims and nurture the right culture that aids growth.
But are you sure your social media content, welcome packs, newsletters, training videos or handbooks are up to the job? Many communications teams keep putting off the task of updating their employee-focused content and the result is the HR equivalent of stale turkey sandwiches after Christmas.
Out-of-date, tired and repetitive – it may have been snapped up eagerly once but now gives everyone the impression the business is low on energy or lacks strong direction. Employees lose focus and trust drains away.
For many businesses (certainly not for all) the run-up to Christmas can be a period of lower intensity when there is time for HR or comms teams to take a fresh look at the content on all their internal channels.
Research shows internal comms need attention
Why? Well, the Institute of Internal Communication’s 2025 Index, surveyed almost 5,000 UK employees and found only 13% were prepared to award their organisation ten-out-of-ten for the way it communicates with them.
About a quarter (26%) of employees gave responses indicating they were “deeply disconnected” from the organisation and its leadership and 13% “wanted more”, some of them feeling their organisation’s leaders were unspontaneous and always scripted in their communications. The report emphasises the effectiveness of communications when employees feel they are genuinely from the CEO or departmental heads – especially when it comes to explaining strategy.
There is clearly work to be done on workforce engagement. This year’s Gallup State of the Global Workplace report found that only 10% of UK employees regard themselves as “engaged”. Of course, it is easy to find people willing to be negative, but these figures are too low for comfort and lead to poor retention. Three-in-ten UK employees told Gallup they were watching for or actively seeking a new job.
The after-effects of stale internal comms
The fact is – many internal comms materials are under-performing.
Badly-crafted internal coms make it more likely employees will rely on the internal rumour mill and their colleagues for up-to-date information. But there is a more deep-seated problem with loss of trust in everything from the HR department to the leadership. Employees may feel their leaders are ducking the real issues, such as AI and how it will affect their work.
On a purely practical level, out-of-date internal comms also increase business risk when employees are left in the dark about important changes to working practices, regulation or new initiatives.
Why now is the right time to collaborate on new content
The run-up to the festive season is a good time to overhaul internal comms if there is a slight drop-off in intensity, making it easier for comms professionals and HR to get senior leadership attention.
Working with people who are experts in content and know how to join all the dots together right across every channel, teams can start creating training videos that are more relevant. They can use senior executive input to sharpen up internal messaging on strategy. The aim is to craft content that is pin-sharp, up-to-date, captivating and motivating.
Perhaps the entire employee value proposition is overdue a serious refresh. Whatever it is, your internal comms will benefit from external, objective expertise in messaging and design.
Get everyone focused on the right things
With new ideas, the whole organisation will feel fully connected, with everyone working to the same goals and more aware of how they achieve them. If you work in HR, you won’t be scratching your head about why so many employees never seem on-message.
If November and December are quieter times in your business, now is the time to do it. Don’t be left with internal comms materials that are the equivalent of stale turkey sandwiches.
To find out more about how Whiteoaks can help transform your internal communications across social media, video, onboarding packages, HR policy audits, handbooks and the refreshing of your employee value proposition, book a meeting with me or with our creative director Mark Wilson.
