Success in this world depends on organisations built around motivated and informed people who are heading in a common direction. The role of internal communications has never been so important.

Employees at every level need to be empowered by a clear vision, the reassurance of strong leadership and coherence in the corporate strategy. They need to understand their role in the business and how they can best participate in its success. And that word ‘participation’ has taken on new meaning. Internal communication is increasingly a two-way affair. There is now a cultural expectation of a conversation with managers and colleagues to collaborate in achieving success.

Really great communications have this concept at their heart, empowering employees to participate in how particular objectives are met. The communications channels open to the internal communicator have grown considerably with the ‘mainstreaming’ of digital and social media. This diversity presents a great opportunity to flex messages and styles depending on the type and level of employee. It also presents a challenge: increasingly we see that if companies don’t engage on important issues then employees will take matters into their own hands.

The power of well executed internal communication is immense. Campaigns can inspire, empower, reassure and even challenge. And it is that coming together of great thinking and great execution that really brings results.