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Why Effective Internal Communication is Critical to an Organization's Well-Being No company can succeed if its various departments don't work in tandem with uniform objectives and vision.

By Rajeev Bhardwaj

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You might have the most progressive and sagacious vision for the growth and development of your organization, but unless it is effectively communicated to the last one of your employees, the chances of it being put to life are meek. Improper and ineffective internal communication is the cause behind several unrealized objectives of organizations.

Unfortunately, today while organizations pay lavish often unbridled attention to the needs of external communication, including marketing and public relations, many fail to give due attention to internal communication.

A tool to align different departments

Internal communication within a corporate organization is important for its cohesive functioning and ensuring transparency across multiple departments. Lack of coordination and internal information deficit can be a major source of internal friction and embarrassment for an organization.

No company can succeed if its various departments don't work in tandem with uniform objectives and vision. Imagine an organization's marketing and manufacturing departments chasing different objectives due to lack of effective information flow!

How will the marketing team ever pitch products or services it does not know inside out? Having effective internal communication processes and channels in place is the only way to ensure seamless functioning of different departments towards common shared goals.

A tool to improve HR practices

Internal communication doesn't just serve to bring different departments in unison, it also works to bind employees to their organization. Consciously and purposefully designed communication is the bedrock of every good human resource management practice.

Even the most employee-friendly policies may fail to have a desirable impact unless all employees are educated about them and their benefits. Unless you communicate effectively to your employees that you care for their well-being, and are equally open to receiving their feedback, your human resource management is incomplete. A two-way flow of communication is absolutely crucial to ensure employee well-being.

Let's take a small but relevant example of the need for a two-way information flow in an organization.

If you start a special late night cab service for women employees with the intention of providing them safe transport, you need to consult the employees before setting up the service. No point is setting cabs for departure at 9.30 PM when the work stretches up to 10 PM!

A tool to celebrate and motivate employees

In a large, multi-location organization how do employees get to know about individual and team achievements in different pockets? This is another area where internal communication comes into play. Internal communication channels should be leveraged to appreciate and recognize achievers.

This creates a culture of appreciation and celebration within the organization. Important organizational milestones and leadership messaging should also be driven through such channels.

A tool to invite ideas and problem-solve

With technology improving communication radically, it is today possible to engage a large number of employees in solving issues and generating ideas that can help an organization thrive. Establishing an internal communication platform such as the intranet can be a great way to encourage employees to collaborate for idea generation and problem solving.

Internal communication plays a vital role in helping employees understand the values and priorities of the organization. It equips them with the knowledge they need to do their jobs and stay connected within the organization.

Rajeev Bhardwaj

VP-Human Resource, Sun Life Financial Asia Service Centre, India

Rajeev Bhardwaj, who heads the Human Resource function at Sun Life Asia Service Centre, is a veteran in the field who has spent 25 years contributing to the HR policies of diverse organizations across sectors.

Over the years, Rajeev has been associated with a slew of global organizations such as ABB, Coca Cola, and Intel Technology, among others.

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