Internal Communications Article Series, Part 2 of 2
What does it mean to create a truly employee-centric culture?
It’s more than offering flexible hours or celebrating birthdays. At its core, an employee-centric culture is one where people feel informed, supported, and connected to the organization’s mission—not just in theory but in practice. One of the most powerful tools to bring that culture to life is internal communication.
When communication is consistent, clear, and people-first, it does more than keep teams in the loop. It fosters trust, reinforces a shared purpose, and enhances retention. Research backs this, with some studies suggesting that when employees are more engaged and connected, it can improve their productivity by more than 20 percent. (Imagine how a 20+ percent productivity hike could impact deliverables, culture, and the bottom line!)
The good news is that every message and touchpoint presents an opportunity to positively impact your team members’ experience, shaping how people feel about their work, their team, and your organization as a whole. In Part 1 of our series, we laid out a framework for developing a robust internal communications strategy to help capitalize on those opportunities. In this follow-up article, we’re focusing on the day-to-day: how to bring that strategy to life through tools, tone, and tactics that truly support your people.
Communication Best Practices for a People-First Workplace
Turning an internal communication plan into employee-centered practices requires intention, consistency, and the right tools. Below are four key focus areas, built on experience and internal communication best practices, to guide your everyday efforts.
Focus Area #1: Consider Reach and Relevance to Meet Employees Where They Are
For internal communications to be effective, the messaging must reach the right people and resonate. That means being strategic about both how and when you deliver internal messages. This involves three crucial considerations.
- Use multiple tools to reach every member of the internal audience, including employees, leadership, volunteers, and board members. Everyone receives information differently, so lean into a variety of internal communication tools like mobile apps, email newsletters, in-person meetings, project management platforms, and even printed pieces to make sure your message gets where it needs to go.
- Tailor messages to the right audience. Not every announcement needs to go to the entire organization. Targeting the right group with the right internal messaging reduces noise and increases clarity.
- Be thoughtful about timing. Send messages when staff are most likely to read them. You may need to do a little surveying or research here to determine the best times to reach different groups. For example, early mornings might be most appropriate for field teams, while midday might make sense for office teams. Aligning delivery to daily rhythms within your organization shows respect for team members’ time and increases engagement.
Focus Area #2: Prioritize Clarity and Accessibility to Make Engagement Easy
Once your message reaches the right people at the right time, the next challenge is making sure they actually absorb it—and know what to do with the information.
- Keep it brief and clear. Distill your message to its core components, and use formatting like bullet points, bolding, and headlines to guide the reader’s eye.
- Write for how people actually read. Draw on copywriting best practices to enhance readability. For example, use simple text and clean formatting to help readers quickly skim and understand the content. Aim for a middle-school reading level and break up dense paragraphs with subheads and white space.
- Remember that visuals can do the heavy lifting. Images, infographics, and videos can often communicate more effectively and stay longer in the mind than straight text, especially for visual learners or employees with limited time to read.
- Don’t forget the power of story. People remember stories almost twice as well as they do informational text. Embedding updates within employee spotlights, behind-the-scenes looks, or customer success narratives makes your internal messaging more meaningful and memorable.
Focus Area #3: Invite Employee Participation and Feedback
A people-first culture isn’t one where leadership simply pushes out information. It’s one where team members help shape the dialogue. And it’s easier than you think to get others involved.
- Encourage employees to contribute ideas and assist in creating content. Inviting team members to share their stories or insights fosters more authentic internal communication and strengthens connections across departments.
- Establish feedback loops. Whether it’s through pulse surveys, anonymous feedback forms, quick polls, or Q&A sessions during team meetings, give people ways to respond and share their perspectives. Your internal communication strategy should be dynamic, shaped as much by listening as by sharing.
- Assign someone to own it. If your organization doesn’t have a formal communications or marketing function or department, task either an individual or a team with regularly measuring the impact of internal messaging and evolving the internal communication plan (which should include a comprehensive crisis communication plan) over time. Feedback, paired with reflection, leads to sustainable improvements.
Focus Area #4: Cultivate an Authentic Tone to Build Trust
The tone you use in internal communication says as much as the message itself. When your messaging sounds robotic, cold, or overly corporate, it creates distance. But when your tone is warm, conversational, and consistent with your culture, it builds trust.
- Create content with a personality, not just formal text. Friendly internal messaging that reflects your values feels more authentic and relatable. It encourages connection and makes information easier to absorb. You don’t have to try to force a tone that doesn’t fit your brand, but simply “writing like a human” without the use of jargon will be impactful.
- Email subject lines and digital content headlines matter. These are the most likely points of entry—and the best way to catch attention in a crowded inbox or digital dashboard.
- Don’t be shy about reminders. For busy people like your team members, hearing or reading something once is rarely enough. Communicate key updates more than once and in more than one way. Repetition (done right) improves recall, understanding, and follow-through.
Invest in Your Culture One Message at a Time
Creating an employee-centric culture doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through the way you communicate every day—clearly, consistently, and with intention. With the right internal communication tools, thoughtful messaging, and a plan grounded in your values, you can help your team feel connected, respected, and ready to do their best work.
Need a communications partner to help you get there? GRIT can help you build or refine your internal communication plan to better support your people and your mission. Contact us today to start the conversation.