Brittany Barhite

When internal comms teams borrow from marketing's playbook, they build trust, engagement and connection within the workplace. I’ve always said internal communications needs to think more like marketing. Marketers have been mastering engagement for decades by creating emotional connections, building loyalty and inspiring action. Internal communications has the same goals, but still leans on long emails and one-way updates. It’s time to change that.

Deskless workers make up 80% of the global workforce, yet most internal communications still fail to reach them where they are. For years, I’ve said that internal communications needs to think more like marketing. Marketers know how to reach people where they are—through mobile apps, push notifications and personalized content. Yet when it comes to employee communications, we’re still years behind. Consider this: when you walk past a store, you can get an instant notification with a coupon.

A panel of EX experts were stumped by a simple question: “How do you align EX initiatives to your company's business objectives?” Don't let yourself be stumped. A recent post on FlexOS shared a sobering moment: a panel of Employee Experience (EX) experts were stumped by a simple but critical question: “How do you align specific EX initiatives or target employee behaviors to the business objectives of your companies?” If you’re leading EX efforts, this question shouldn’t catch you off guard.