Your employees are your most valuable audience. How can you motivate them to advocate and influence on behalf of your company?

1. ANNA BAXTER KIRK
SENIOR STRATEGIST AND PLANNER
BADER RUTTER
How to make
internal communications
work for your team
PHOTO BY COLLIN DOW

2. 2
We get it. Advocating for change is hard.
Especially when that change requires additional time and budget — and even more
so when it’s opportunity cost that is the driving force. As a marketer, you bring
your organization’s brand to life every day, and you’ve seen the research and case
studies that show the power of internal communications. Now it’s time to bring
your company’s leadership along. A quarterback can’t win alone, and you’ll need
the support of your full team to up your game. That’s why we’ve put together this
playbook with the whys and hows of co-created internal communications.

3. FIRST QUARTER
THE PLAYING FIELD
PHOTO BY LARRY DARLING

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The most dangerous phrase
in the English language is:
We’ve always done it this way.
REAR ADMIRAL
GRACE HOPPER

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It’s possible that we’ll look back at this
year and next as those that separated
the visionary companies ...
ICONS BY FREEPIK

6. 6
... from those that couldn’t
change fast enough to survive.

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vs.
Your company’s approach to internal communications
might be an indicator of which group it joins.

8. 8
Today, your company is likely in a position once again
to invest, hire, re-envision its future and change.

9. 9
Will you approach change the same way
as yesterday’s team — with a top-down
approach to define culture and push out
communications?
THE QUESTION IS

10. 10
Or will you recognize the shift in
expectations and the opportunity
to strengthen your organization by
meeting them? ?

11. GAME PLAN
11
Define your brand, articulate your business
objectives and spell out your mission, vision and
values. Find your personality and your voice.
Then pinpoint the actions that prove alignment.

12. PHOTO BY COD NEWSROOM
SECOND QUARTER
PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS

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This sea change has as much to do with the
way people communicate today
as it does with those
who are part of the conversation.

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Following the financial crisis,
is more important than ever before.
transparency

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&
aren’t just appreciated.
They’re expected.
openness honesty

16. GAME PLAN
16
Plot your communications needs, draft your core
team and define your communications objectives
with the brand, corporate mission, vision and
values in mind.

17. 17
People want to work for a company that
cares and is open. A primary reason for
this shift is the makeup of the workforce.
m
m
b
m
m
b

18. 18
Millennials have become firmly entrenched
as strong voices in every organization.
m m m m

19. 19
This generation’s experiences have shaped
a new worldview, and transparent sharing
is the norm.
m m m m

20. 20
They expect this practice to extend into
the workplace and they’ll have a voice
in the dialogue.
m m m m

21. 21
But, while millennials are one catalyst for change
within organizations, other factors are at play, too.
m m m m b b

22. 22
Baby boomers remain one-third of the workforce
today, but the threat of retirement means a loss
of knowledge and value for companies.
b b

23. GAME PLAN
23
Define and prioritize your audiences.
Articulate the desired change for each.
Then listen to your audience and use those
insights to shape strategies and tactics.

24. 24
More and more, corporations face heightened
expectations from stakeholders. Corporate reputation
today is defined more easily by those who fall
outside of traditional stakeholder groups.

25. 25
So, a new approach to internal communications
gives you the potential to harness the power of
many to adapt and shape a strong future.
m m b m m b

26. 26
The resulting approach is more collaborative,
less hierarchical, more about open dialogue and
less about top-down, formalized messaging.
m m b m m b

27. PHOTO BY GERRY DINCHER
THIRD QUARTER
HALFTIME
ADJUSTMENTS

28. 28
Co-created content is the idea
in developing and sharing content
that a larger group plays a role

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It speaks to a shift culturally as well as in
communications execution.

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Inclusion is at its heart rather than
a traditional hierarchical handoff.
vs.

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And your leadership’s actions to define how your
organization communicates become the actions,
in part, that define your culture.

32. GAME PLAN
32
Ensure your leaders understand the personal
effort it takes for them to support a successful
program. Reserve their time accordingly. Identify
additional resources needed throughout your
organization and communicate expectations.

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This change may seem daunting.

34. 34
It requires you to cede control, to some extent.

35. 35
Frankly, in today’s communication ecosystem,
you don’t control the message.

36. 36
With so many communications channels,
the open conversation is already happening.

37. 37
But, as a result of those channels,
there is an opportunity to listen more.

38. 38
(And as a result, become more in touch
with the dialogue that’s occurring.)

39. 39
There’s also an opportunity to funnel the
conversation through newly established channels
for effective communication.

40. GAME PLAN
40
Develop tactics that feel more human and revel
in the fact that you’ve created a strong strategy,
which reduces your risk of wasting resources on
a failing program and increases your chances of
really connecting with employees.

41. FOURTH QUARTER
TRUST YOUR TEAM
PHOTO BY EAGLE102.NET

42. 42
Internal communications are more
important today than before.

43. 43
Done right, it provides an opportunity to involve your
employees and empower them, which contributes to
believability, trust and loyalty.

44. 44
Given these changes, the rigor often saved for external
communications is now required to create and fuel a
culture that can keep a multigenerational workforce
engaged and productive.

45. 45
Ready to get started?
Here is your checklist for internal
communications planning.
read now

46. RYANN GREVE
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER
RGREVE@BADER-RUTTER.COM
262-938-5466
BADER-RUTTER.COM
Tell us how we can help transform
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