How effective employee communications bring people together

26 September 2024 / Neil Pendrey

As more businesses adopt a hybrid working model where employees split their time between at home and in the office, there’s increased pressure on HR teams to keep people engaged and connected to each other. When people aren’t always in the same place, collaboration naturally requires a more structured approach – and effective internal comms are key to fostering a sense of unity, increasing both productivity and employee happiness.

In this post, find out:

• Why the undeniable benefits of hybrid working are here to stay
• How remote and hybrid working affect collaboration
• Five ways to drive collaboration and engagement using internal comms
• How a collaborative culture creates a happier workplace

The rise of hybrid working
According to the BBC, 56% of professionals surveyed in London say they wouldn’t accept a job that doesn’t offer hybrid working. It’s easy to see why.

Hybrid working doesn’t just eliminate an unnecessary commute; it actively improves the lifestyle and wellbeing of your employees. IWG’s Hybrid & Healthy study revealed that hybrid workers exercise 90 minutes more each week than they did when they were in the office and almost half say they have less work-related stress (47%).

Hybrid working has benefits for businesses, too. A 2024 study from Stanford reported a 33% drop in resignation rates alongside no meaningful impact on productivity. However, while individual metrics like productivity and retention are positive, there’s no denying that hybrid working dramatically reduces the opportunities people have to collaborate and come together as a team.

This is a challenge that only intensifies when you’re dealing with a large team that’s rarely able to be in the same place at the same time, even with mandated ‘in office’ days.

The real impact of hybrid working on collaboration
Collaboration is at the heart of what makes a successful team. A culture of collaboration is both good for business and good for individual wellbeing. That’s why over 80% of leaders say engaging employees and ‘creating alignment’ are priorities for the next twelve months (Workshop Internal Communications Trends Report 2024).

It would be natural to assume that hybrid working makes collaboration more difficult, but we’ve not seen this first-hand. In fact, many of the tools people use to collaborate remotely – from Slack to Teams and Zoom – are tools people were already using in the office. Large, global teams in particular know that digital collaboration tools are ways to increase employee togetherness, not reduce it.

Equally, hybrid working does impact an important aspect of collaboration that, until now, many of us have taken for granted: communication. When everyone works in the same physical location, communication is a constant. Your organisational culture, values, priorities and goals are visible, not just in your big team meeting but in the little interactions people have every single day.

With hybrid and remote work, those interactions rarely happen by accident. Instead, a more structured and controlled approach becomes essential. This is why internal comms has become a more urgent priority for every business: a targeted way to get people engaged and, crucially, get them to engage with each other more often.

Five ways to drive collaboration and engagement using internal comms
Without a regular flow of in-person communication, every organisation needs new ways to encourage collaboration, communicate culture, and keep people engaged. Historically, internal comms have played a supporting role, strengthening and reinforcing the ideas and values that are mainly communicated face-to-face. Now, they need to do more of the heavy lifting.

To get you started, here are five proven ways to strengthen your collaborative culture using internal comms.

#1 Listen to your teams
As with all internal comms, start by listening to and encouraging feedback from your employees. Developing a solid roadmap for your internals comms means understanding what people need to collaborate effectively and where engagement may be lacking. Useful tools could include regular employee wellbeing surveys and newsletters that proactively invite feedback.

#2 Communicate your expectations
While hybrid and remote workers have access to a wealth of digital tools for collaboration, it’s not always easy to know how to use them effectively. One of the most powerful ways to encourage more widespread use is simply communicating how often you expect people to come together and which tools are appropriate for different tasks. Potential assets could be a series of ‘how to’ guides for best practice on your collaboration tools, or simple tips included in your regular comms including employee newsletters.

#3 Solidify your culture and values
When you need to articulate and communicate your culture and values without in-person interaction, it’s common to realise that you don’t have a well-defined narrative to work from. Developing a storytelling piece around what you do, why you do it, and the shared ideals that unite your people is a vital task before you can focus on telling that consistent story across all your communications.

#4 Recognise differences
As you strive to bring people together, it’s easy to overlook unique perspectives and ways of working. But building a connected culture is only possible when you recognise both the things your employees share and the things that make them individual. As you plan your internal comms, take some time to segment your employees in the same way you might segment your customers. This will underpin a more nuanced approach to comms that feel more individualised and appeal to every learning style, preference and priority.

#5 Use internal comms for positive reinforcement
Across employee engagement and collaboration, what you’re really looking for is a set of behaviours – from regular check-ins with colleagues to openly sharing feedback, perspectives and concerns. With this in mind, internal comms are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate those employees who embody the behaviours you’re looking for and encourage their peers to follow suit. Wherever possible, be specific: go beyond recognising and rewarding individuals to communicate precisely what they did and, crucially, why it mattered.

Creating a positive, happy environment through collaboration
Collaboration is key to getting the most out of your teams – but a collaborative culture also has a positive impact on satisfaction, happiness and wellbeing. As we recognise the International Week of Happiness at Work, the social dimension of workplace collaboration has an important role to play.

The majority of happy employees get routine opportunities to collaborate, both in the office and at home. At Visual Assets, we’re always looking for new ways to bring the team together and collaborate in different ways. From day-to-day creative brainstorming to fun away days, we firmly believe in the power of collaboration – and the significance of internal comms to deliver these shared experiences and personal connections, even in large, global businesses.