New media technologies can offer a more effective way to communicate with employees, customers and investors says Robert Miller
Any business worth its salt recognises that the starting point for good communications is internally with the staff. After all, if they do not feel motivated there is little hope that others will, whether they are investors or customers.
However, whereas in the past such communication may have been by letter, pamphlet or, more recently, email, nowadays you can add other online initiatives that include blogs, podcasts and video or videocasts.
This week's Social Media Forum for Internal Communicators being held in London is an indication of how the "new age" communication tools are gaining recognition. The forum is being billed as "engaging employees through new technology".
The host of the conference, Robin Crumby, managing director of Melcrum, a publisher and training group, says new research by his company shows that nearly three-quarters of the 2,100 firms who took part in the survey regard "improving employee engagement" as the key challenge.
Of course, many staff take a jaundiced view of attempts by bosses and senior managers to send them faux-matey or chatty communications in whatever form. But, as Crumby points out, some of the socalled new social media communication tools, such as blogs, podcasts and videos, are catching on not least because staff can filter what they receive through a Really Simple Syndication feed (see box below).
More than 60pc of those quizzed in Melcrum's poll said they watched online company videos because they felt they were most relevant to their own particular role. These clips can cover anything from a company meeting to the chief executive speaking at the annual meeting or some other forum.
There is one catch, though. While Melcrum's respondents were happy to watch the videos less than half (42pc) said they wanted to use it personally as a communications tool.
On the other hand, podcasts, which are audio files on the internet, are already popular says Crumby and are likely to become more so over the next two to three years.
"Podcasts are effective," he adds. "They are a bit like a weekly feed akin to a radio show but I get the feeling that companies are still experimenting where they fit in the corporate communications world."
One company that has already found a niche for its podcasts is the global computer giant IBM. Philippe Borremans, IBM new media lead for Europe, and the first speaker at Melcrum's conference, argues that podcasting has made a huge difference to internal communications within a company that employs around 340,000 people worldwide.
"Podcasting is global and accessible to all staff," he explains. "They can use the audio files for anything. We've got one guy, for instance, who makes his own music and posts it on the intranet. In business terms we have managers who might have 400 people on their team on all continents. A conference call is obviously out of the question and getting them altogether in one place is a logistical nightmare."
The joy of a podcast in such cases, says Borremans, is that staff can listen at their desks or download it to their iPods or MP3 players to consider it at a more leisurely pace "such as when they are stuck in a traffic jam. They can then add their own thoughts via a blog which again is accessible to everyone on the IBM intranet.
"Rather than have that fatal question at the end of a conference call or meeting when someone asks: 'Are there any questions?' and no one responds, staff can give you feedback having had time to consider the podcast and what their response is."
Nor are podcasts just an internal communications tool – or social media networking as it's been dubbed. The IBM investor relations team has launched a series on its website to communicate directly with shareholders about emerging or future trends in technology and business. Called ‘IBM and the Future of...' they cover topics such as driving, the home, banking, shopping and healthcare.
These too have proved popular, says Borremans, as they allow investors to hear the results of research the company has conducted into these areas, including the proposed pay-as-you-drive system, as well as helping people to make more informed investment decisions "We are amazed at the response the series has had. We're in the top 50 of the iTunes list."
Cadbury Schweppes is another company that has recently embraced the podcast as a means of communicating with shareholders and analysts. Charles King, the group's investor relations manager, explains: "The first one was at our seminar last October and it was well subscribed. The advantage is that investors and analysts can download them without buffering and, given the ubiquity of iPods, take them away and listen when they want to."
For the present, at least Cadbury Schweppes has no plans to extend the "social media" communications into videocasting "because we're not entirely convinced about its merits."
King also points out that, in his experience, many chief executives "tend to be shy when it comes to being filmed. That inhibition does not arise when it's a podcast.
"For private investors in particular it gives a sense of the event as well as providing the information they want."
The importance of podcasts as a medium for companies to communicate with staff and shareholders will grow says King. On the investor relations circuit he has picked up talk of some companies using the audio or "virtual" route of communications to replace one of the twice-yearly financial presentations.
Shareholders, staff and analysts at groups such as Cadbury Schweppes can already access results transcripts and audio files of the company directors, as well as receiving a hard copy of the annual report if they want. With the help of the RSS feed, podcasting is a means of communicating with staff and investors who have actually said they want to know more – that has to be a step forward for everyone concerned.
What is RSS?
Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is the tool that ensures you get what you want and not what your employer or indeed anyone else feels that they can push at you – most likely through the email system.
Ashley Harrison, a director of the RSS specialist company Mediafed, explains: "This is an opt-in service and a viable alternative to email. You choose what you want filtered and delivered through to your desktop whether it's sport, news, hobbies or internal communications from your employer."
Harrison points out that the growth potential for the RSS feeds, which Microsoft has incorporated into its new software, is enormous as just 6.6pc UK web users subscribe at present.
