media update’s Nakedi Phala takes you through three points that can help you improve your internal PR strategy with your employees or your team. 

For a successful internal PR strategy, you will need to formulate an internal communications plan that best suits your employees and the business as a whole.

As a PR professional or company owner, it shouldn’t be difficult to expand your PR scope, as the foundation has been developed — you know who’s who and the purpose of every department within your business. 

Use the opportunities available to you. For example, if there’s a publishing department within your company, liaise with the team and encourage them to share your company’s goals every once in a while with their audience. It’s a win-win! The publishers have content to share and the company gains publicity. 

Here are three techniques you can apply to your internal PR strategy to improve your communications among your team or employees:

1. Involve internal staff in PR content

No matter how big or small a company is, there is always a great opportunity for PR. For instance, if you are working on a campaign with a tight budget, you can work with individuals that are already employed at the company as opposed to hiring someone famous who will potentially knock your costs above budget. 

At times, as a PR practitioner, you will attend events or conferences that you don’t have much knowledge of; but other staff in your company might.  

For example, if you are invited to a gadget event, usually attended by tech-savvy, jargon-using individuals, and you know that isn’t you, why not invite someone from your company’s IT department? 

In other instances, it would be a good idea to ask for insight from staff, as it will make them feel that their efforts are worthwhile — and that makes a positive impact to the company’s profile. 

Encouraging employees to contribute to the company's reputation can lead to: 
  • Better engagement across departments
  • Enthusiasm from employees about tasks out their scope of daily work
  • Opened possibilities of finding someone who could contribute to PR on a permanent basis
Employees feel more appreciated and involved in the company's activities

2. Update your social media policies

In many instances, company social media policies are all about dos and don’ts, but, how can PR help? Employee engagement on social media has become a major focus in today’s workforce, as companies are starting to see that happy consumers are the result of engaged employees. 

The first task is to encourage everyone in your business or team to use social media platforms. Although you can’t control the content that your employees share on their personal social media platforms, you can request that employees engage or mention the company’s name and culture in good faith, keeping professionalism and values in mind. 

Here are some points to include in your list of requests: 
  • Ask employees to link to your social media accounts in their profile bio
  • Encourage employees to post on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter from work
  • Educate employees who don’t know how to link to your business accountKindly request employees to repost from your business account
  • Encouraging your employees to be brand ambassadors is another way to give your business the opportunity to boost its visibility and increase engagement on your social media accounts.     

3. Two-way communication

As a PR manager, you can encourage the human resources department to create a two-way communication policy that allows feedback and builds a relationship with open interaction between the employer and employee. 

In cases where communication takes a linear path, employees are just informed (told what to do and what not to do) without any insight or internal feedback, which suppresses the employees’ willingness to communicate.  

Here are a few benefits of a two-way communication model: 
  • This model makes the business owner or HR appear more approachable 
  • It eliminates vagueness about company policies
  • It allows employees to provide feedback, which can be used to make corrections within the business
  • It improves the employer-employee relationship
Two-Way communication creates better relations in the company — projects run smoothly and tasks are completed as per request from superiors or co-workers. In essence, a two-way communication approach is useful for the wellbeing of employees and gives a positive look from those who are outside the business. 

Internal PR is a necessity for those who want to ease tensions where HR policies are unsuccessful. What other ways do you know of that can help improve workplace relations? Let us know in the comments section below 

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Now that you have learned some skills to apply in your next internal communications strategy, check out these Four reasons why PR is vital for your brand.
*Image courtesy of Vecteezy