Watch out for these five internal communication trends in H2 2023

Global workplaces today house employees from diverse backgrounds. While this creates a vibrant environment fostering creativity and innovation, customizing communication based on demographics simultaneously becomes vital. After all, in a mixed environment, it’s not uncommon to find seemingly innocuous messages getting misinterpreted due to cultural differences, and offending people.

Amidst sailing through the different tasks, keeping such minute nuances in mind as an internal communicator become critical. If employees get upset, it impacts their motivation to work, hinders their efficiency and has a ripple effect on bigger aspects such as attrition levels. Read free white paper: Revisiting your employee retention strategy. 

Navigating such myriad intricacies as a solo internal communicator or one from a small internal communication team isn’t exactly the most straightforward task. Furthermore, the modern workplace dynamic is forever evolving. In that respect, it always helps to stay aware of what’s changing. 

This blog summarizes the most recent internal communication trends you must be aware of. Keep a tab on these to maximize employee engagement and connect better with your talent pool in the second half of 2023. 

Here are the top 5 internal communication trends to watch out for in 2023

Internal Communication Trend 1:
Artificial intelligence will continue to dominate internal communication

Whether you’re using AI-based tools like ChatGPT or Stable Diffusion Online to create content for the staff or implemening chatbot-based solutions to answer queries, AI is here to stay and will continue to dominate the internal comms sphere. Though the technology is still nascent, and we’re in a learning phase, the next few months should be a good time to warm up.

If you’re an internal communication professional using AI to create, automate, and communicate with staff effectively, ensuring you don’t lose out on the human touch is essential. 

Learn More: Using AI to Supercharge Communication in the Workplace

Internal Communication Trend 2:
Text is making a comeback

Although 83% of people prefer video content over text or audio, the recent communication trends signal a different reality. Turns out that people have started switching to text all over again due to information overload or video content fatigue. With that, there’s a reversal toward text-based messages. It is realizing this that Meta has launched Threads by Instagram, an application enabling people to communicate through text. 

Talking from an organizational aspect - this means you now need to recognize the shift. In addition, also the distinction between your in-office and frontline workforce as you work on your internal communication agendas. For instance, this may mean that the latter group may overlook video content and you need to figure out more cohesive ways to keep everyone informed and engaged. 

What does this mean for you? It’s time to make changes to the internal communication content strategy, such as increasing text messages wherever suitable; tracking different metrics to ensure your staff is consuming your content. Using an employee communication app is a way to align across all with varied content formats.

Check out this resource: Content Strategy Template for Internal Communicators. 

Internal Communication Trend 3:
Hybrid communication is the way ahead

According to a survey conducted by SHRM, 52% of workers now wish to work entirely from home, while 35% are ready to take a pay cut if allowed to work remotely. Many employees may choose a hybrid model, opting to work from home on some days and arrive at the office on others.  This means, you now need to ensure that your internal communication tool kit is geared towards a hybrid work model so that you can use digital technology to connect with both in-person and remote employees. Here’s what you can do to get more traction:

• Send informative newsletters more frequently to keep all employees in the loop.
• Use both text and video-based team-building strategies
• Send secure text messages to remote and hybrid workers so that they receive information in real-time, just like in-person employees will.

Internal Communication Trend 4:
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies to get attention throughout the year

Although the Pride month ended in June, it’s time to recognize you should continue to focus on implementing concrete diversity and inclusion strategies throughout the year. As many people are now at various stages of coming out, the current time demands doing your bit in creating an inclusive environment, as this feeling has a significant contribution to employee efficiency levels. For this,

• Use language inclusive of people from different backgrounds, orientations, and ethnicities in your communication.
• Make sure that it is not just about using a rainbow flag emoji. 
• Create content that communicates your company's inclusive policies. Ensure that there is ample content that sensitizes other employees as well. 
• Conduct training courses and employee coaching regarding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Dive deeper: Why focus on DEI Initiatives?

Internal Communication Trend 5:
Employee Experience (EX) will make its way to the core KPI list

Employee experience is an important metric that most companies often overlook. A positive employee experience correlates with improved productivity, team cohesion, and lower attrition levels. Companies have started recognizing this, and it’s time you must focus on it more too as an internal communicator. 

Here’s what you can do to brace up for in H2 2023:

• Communicate regularly with your employees to understand what they want. Seek feedback through pre-designed forms. 
• Conduct polls on matters that may be important to your employees and share the results. 
• Focus on employee well-being, and implement a buddy system for your staff to share any concerns with their assigned buddy. 

Remember: Don’t forget to look beyond internal communication trends

While it’s essential to be abreast of the evolving workplace dynamics and internal communication trends, not losing the human touch is also critical. We’re at the cusp of interesting times with the growing usage of AI-based technologies, automation and changing workplace modus operandi. Amidst these, what remains constant is the staff’s human need for personalized and compassionate communication. So you need to gear up to communicate in a humane and emotion-focused way.

Using a a specialized employee communication solution like Speakap can help you strike the balance to connect with your frontline and in-office workforce with the human touch. Using the mobile first app, you can send text and video messages to employees across your organization in real time. There are lots of features to also add a personal touch to strike a deeper note, ensure wide adoption and also measure your impact.

Want to learn how you can use our employee engagement app to turbocharge your internal communication efficiency? Contact us for a demo.