The Challenge:

Employees with the research center weren’t accessing internal communications, especially those not in the office daily. When they do, they often skip over important content.

The Work:

Our task was to conduct a comprehensive internal communications assessment and report our findings and recommendations for improvement.

We employed these research techniques: leadership and communication team member interviews, eight focus groups, an online survey, and a comprehensive channel and content analysis including email, e-newsletters, intranet and Slack.

The assessment was conducted virtually and in-person.

Our key findings included:

  • Employees are interested in the research facility’s activities but elt siloed and confused about what’s “need-to-know” information versus “nice-to-know” content.
  • The high-security and VPN is an obstacle for almost all hybrid and remote workers.
  • While employees regularly check the intranet, other channels lag behind.
  • Manager communications were uneven and needed improvement.

The Recommendations:

Provide more frequent, shorter messages with engaging headlines, clear introductions and calls to action.

Address the VPN difficulties with an app or streamlined security.

Boost the intranet with a friendly writing style and tools to comment and share content.

Provide comms training for managers (and leaders), including workshop and coaching.