As communicating with employees becomes a critical priority for companies, many are looking for internal communications talent who have an editorial bent.
- Amazon is looking for a leader for its workplace and operations executive communications team
- Law firm Lathan & Watkins is hiring a director of internal communications
- Goldman Sachs is looking for a VP-level role to lead internal communications
- Notion is looking for an executive to lead content and communications for its workforce and employees
- Fintech startup Ripple is looking for an internal communications manager who will “own” the editorial calendar
- Understood is looking for a director of internal communications who will be responsible for creating content for internal channels.
- McCann Worldgroup is looking for a manager who will run newsletters and content across communications teams
Companies increasingly view employees as they do external audiences: As people to be engaged with, courted, and communicated with regularly. As a result, a growing number of organizations are developing editorial content aimed specifically at internal audiences. That means content responsibilities are increasingly becoming part of internal communicators’ job descriptions.
Employer in focus
A major factor is that workplaces have become the new metaphorical town squares – a key place where people congregate. And the rise of employee activism means that people now demand more of companies, expecting them to communicate their stance on major key issues. Enter content.
“One of the big reasons we’re seeing more internal communications and content roles is culture wars,” said Kate Meissner, co-founder at D.C.-based Velocity Partners and a former EVP at Edelman. “People now want their workplaces to be places that institutionalize their values.”
Increasingly, employees want to work in environments where they feel seen and heard, said Meissner. That means that companies must focus on creating content that explicitly and effectively communicates those values. As a result, companies like Amazon now have entire publications devoted to their employees: Keeping them up to date with new products and how company leadership is thinking about major topics and developments.
Post-pandemic work
While many have returned to physical offices after the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid workplaces remain popular. That means that a growing number of organizations have to think about live events like town halls or meetings to communicate with their employees.
Increasingly, more of them are turning to content, delivered asynchronously, to do so. Newsletters, podcasts, and internal publications are becoming more and more popular. That also changes the communications professional’s job: They now need to think more like editors, tasked with developing a strategy to effectively communicate with employees using content.
“I strongly believe it should be called employee communications,” said Becca Chambers, chief communications officer at ControlUp. “Employees are less engaged and they don’t know how to reach them. That means internal communications needs to be about engagement, culture building, employer branding, and crisis and change management as well.”
There are also efficiencies to be found when leadership and employees are aligned on what needs to be done: A study found recently that more than half of workers lose up to two hours a day clarifying details needed to do their job. In that context, successful internal communication can fill in the gaps for employees, saving time.
Employee-as-influencer
A growing number of brands are looking for employees to become, effectively, influencers, who can publicly speak about the company’s products and services. This strategy has been popularized by consumer companies like Peloton, which has encouraged its instructors to become influencers in their own right. The approach is increasingly becoming popular inside B2B brands, too. For example, at the meditation app InsightTimer, CMO Melissa Rosenthal created a program that helps employees become creators. At Robinhood, the company is looking for a manager to lead internal communications specifically to help engage “Hoodies” around the company’s products, business and culture.
For many content marketers, that means developing strategies to encourage employees to become unofficial spokespeople for their companies and equipping them with the talking points and materials needed to convey the necessary expertise. “Employees can be thought of as thought leaders,” said Chambers.