When discussing the value marketing and communications activities bring businesses, many will point to key benefits such as boosting brand awareness, engaging with customers and driving sales.
These are, of course, all crucial purposes. What is less often talked about, however, is the potential for communications to transform relations between organisations and their own employees. This is where the art of business-to-employee (B2E) communication comes to the fore.
What is business-to-employee communication?
Also commonly referred to as internal communications, B2E comms encompasses how a company communicates with its employees.
It involves distributing key messages to colleagues, including updates on business developments such as new hires and contract wins, social event invitations, development opportunities, feedback surveys, community outreach activities and so on.
A detailed B2E comms strategy will encompass all these messages, as well as who is responsible for creating them and what channels are used to distribute content. A comprehensive approach will entail the use of multiple platforms, including email, phone, virtual, physical conversations, social media and internal newsletters.
How B2E comms can boost your bottom line
While most firms will have some kind of communications strategy in place for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) interactions, the realm of B2E comms is considerably less well-known or delivered.
Often, we see responsibility fall into the hands of HR and marketing teams (or a mixture of both), with no dedicated member of staff taking the reins. This can lead to mixed messaging and opportunities being missed.
However, get your B2E comms right and a wealth of benefits can be realised.
What are the benefits of B2E communications?
Employees like to feel involved. By keeping them up to date, asking for their opinion and proactively responding to their requests, companies can keep their workers engaged and dialled into their place of work. This is especially the case when it comes to enacting change, be it to the office, procedures, working patterns, technology or company culture.
Employees want to be rewarded for their endeavours through perks such as bonuses, awards, flexible working arrangements and extra holiday. While these are all things companies routinely adopt, unless they are communicated properly, employees won’t know or be able to appreciate them.
Likewise, when times are tough, proactive communication is even more important to keep colleagues from feeling that they are being left in the dark. If delivered effectively, B2E comms can have a rousing effect and ensure everyone is pulling in the same direction to overcome challenges, such as those posed by the covid pandemic.
Furthermore, according to our own research, more than one in three employees believe good communication can actively inspire ideas and innovation, with poor communication having a detrimental impact on engagement, loyalty and commitment.
It is also already well-established that happy workers are significantly more productive. Delivering a comprehensive, effective B2E comms strategy can support worker wellbeing and contribute to a buoyant culture that motivates staff and inspires superior output.
Enhance your B2E comms with Magenta
Although the advantages of proper B2E communications strategies are clear, under half of the employees we surveyed would describe their employer as a good communicator, while one in three businesses stated they did not have the in-house support required for their strategy.
Magenta has supported organisations of many shapes and sizes with their B2E comms strategies and delivery for over a decade. During this time, we have helped clients to communicate across a range of important events and topics, including relocations and refurbishment projects that have a direct and sizable impact on their workforces.
We also understand how to communicate in times of crisis, the pandemic period requiring us to provide support on numerous urgent communications between employer and employee.
In today’s commercial sphere, with the battle to attract and retain talent as intense as it has ever been, the ability to communicate effectively with colleagues could be a critical differentiator that stands your business apart.
Would you like to learn more about our approach to business-to-employee communication? Watch our video, check out our case studies, and contact us today.
