Podcasts are for more than building your brand with customers and other external stakeholders. Human Resource and Communications professionals are now battling “Zoom fatigue” with a new way of improving employee engagement rates.
Listening From The Inside: How to Effectively Communicate to Employees Through Podcasting
As podcasting has moved from the realms of news, comedy, gaming, and sports to the corporate world, management is now paying a lot more attention to the impact of branded podcasts on brand uplift and customer growth. But what about podcasting’s potential to get employees more informed, more committed, and just plain fired up within the four walls of their own company?
Podcasts for Internal Communications: Boosting employment engagement rates
Employee engagement rate is the level of enthusiasm and commitment a worker feels toward their job. Yet the media with which companies engage their employees has proven to be woefully inadequate – with most communication vehicles limping to the finish line with engagement rates of less than 20%. In contrast, internal communications podcasts have the potential to boost these rates up to 60%. Couple this with another interesting fact: According to internal communication leader Poppulo’s Employee Communications Report, 69% of managers state that they are not comfortable communicating with their employees; so it’s not likely that many of these managers will be jazzed about increasing their face-to-face time with employees any time soon.
And “Zoom fatigue” is now officially a thing; there are only so many screen-based sessions an employee can take before they grab their iPhone and Beats earbuds and go for a walk. Do you want your employees listening to Joe Rogan or spending time engaged with your company in a compelling new way?
So how can podcasts boost the effectiveness of internal communications?
Increase employee awareness of HR-led career development approaches
Netflix has created a podcast for internal communications called “We are Netflix”, which features their employees talking about work and life at the company. Here’s an Episode called “Career Growth and Development”. The leaders in their Human Resources department discuss Netflix’s approach and employee storytelling and examples to make the content relevant and engaging to employees.
Build culture/community
Many companies employ internal podcasts to support and reinforce their culture and values. One such podcast that does this is Tell Me Why, created by American Airlines as a vehicle for communicating about key decisions made by senior management, but also to promote diversity and other key values associated with their culture. In one episode, the Chief Communications Officer talks to one of the company’s operations executives about his personal story as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. Click here to listen to Hispanic Heritage Month and 25 Years of the Latin Diversity Network.
Creatively illustrate ideas and concepts in depth
Many companies struggle to describe ideas and concepts to employees that can’t be effectively conveyed via traditional text-based media and other “short burst” communication vehicles. To keep their employees up to speed on technologies within their industry, steel manufacturer Tata Steel’s UK communications team is producing a podcast series called SteelCast, which covers topics ranging from manufacturing processes to decarbonization using stories and examples told by podcast guests with extensive industry experts. Because the listener is engaged and focused for 25 to 35 minutes on average, this company can effectively convey these topics to leaders and workers across the country.
How to start a podcast for internal communications
To start a podcast focused on employees, one of the first things to do is to figure out your communication and human resource objectives. ModPod provides podcast strategy and concept development services through our Get Clear podcast services offering, and we are always proactively looking for ways to extend the use of podcasting beyond its traditional role as an external brand builder. Based on your objectives, there are many podcast topics that employees and human resource managers will value. Podcasting can be used for:
- Skills training
- DEI/Employee sensitivity
- Employee onboarding
- Departmental interviews
- All hands meetings
- C-suite communication
We’d love to start the conversation with you about your podcast aspirations. We welcome you to visit our website at www.gomodpod.com or reach out to us via our Contact form or at info@gomodpod.com.
