How to influence organizational culture with Internal Communications

Hester Gras

In a previous blog post, we discussed the fundamentals of Alignment and employee engagement, now it’s time to dive deeper into the topic. This is the second part of our Alignment series on organizational culture and how you can influence it from an Internal Communications perspective.

The power of organizational culture

Organizational culture is a starting point in the process of changing employees’ habits. Organizational culture is the total package of the way we work, think and act. It is the ‘social glue’ within an organization.

Whether your organization’s strategy will become a success is all in the hands of your employees. In the end, they make the difference in customer satisfaction. Once employees are motivated and engaged, they are willing to go that extra mile to exceed customer expectations and invest in the future of the organization.

You can’t define organizational culture in regulations since it’s full of unwritten rules. For example: are there shared values and goals or is your company all about creativity and fun? Once you’re aware of your culture’s characteristics you can apply it in your Internal Communications. To discover these characteristics, you can talk to employees from all segments of your organization.

Knowledge, Inspiration, Ownership. A trinity within organizational culture

Knowledge, inspiration and ownership are the three pillars of organizational culture. Once employees know your organization’s purpose, they are inspired to give the most out of themselves and take ownership of the final result. Having a solid culture pays off.


Knowledge
Knowledge is power, a well-known quote which immediately appeals to the imagination. Employees need information to do their job. Not only practical information but also information about the organization’s strategy and goals. Think again, how do you spread your story? Is there an open and transparent environment? Do you drive the conversation? Do you acknowledge that there are multiple target groups within the organization? All of these factors contribute to your organizational culture.

Inspiration
Employee Engagement is something that comes from internal and external motivation. You can drive engagement by feeding employees with inspiration. For example, by writing and sharing consistent and engaging corporate stories or by organizing inspiring sessions. Show your employees how they can contribute to your organization’s goals and share your successes.

Ownership
To contribute to organizational goals, employees need to have freedom, responsibility and also space to make mistakes. In other words: ownership. Your organization should facilitate ownership without regulations. You can do so by having a proper communication platform, education, stimulating management and steering away from corporate politics.

Creating a clear and engaging corporate story

Telling a consistent and engaging corporate story is important to influence organizational culture, and thereby influence employee behavior. These are 4 tips to keep in mind:
1. Use a clear tone of voice in a language everybody understands. Don’t use jargon or waffling expressions.
2. Be straight forward about the situation and what you expect from your employees.
3. Make sure employees can participate. Drive the conversation, both face to face as well as through communication tools. Create interaction, for example with polls and surveys.
4. Bust out your organization’s values in every message you send. That way, organizational culture will be anchored in the heart and soul of your employees.

In our next post, we will talk about how you can bring these different topics together. Don’t want to miss out on our special series? Please make sure you subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn!

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