Internal communications - a platform for dialogue and strengthening of team spirit

The survey showed that 14 percent of respondents believe that internal communication is more important than external communication for the company's operations. The vast majority of respondents, almost 85 percent, consider internal and external communication equally important for the company's success, which is in line with world practice and the perception of the importance of the company's reputation among employees, as well as among external target audiences. 

Strong teams create value for the company and achieve good business results. However, according to insights from the survey, less than a third of companies actively and systematically invest in building team spirit. On the other hand, global research shows that employee productivity increases by up to 25 percent in organizations where there is a stronger connection between employees. 

More than 62 percent of respondents answered that the organization they work in does not have a special team or a person who deals exclusively with internal communications, which is quite a high percentage compared to European countries. Also, for more than 67 percent of respondents, the first source of information in the company is their direct superior or immediate manager, while for almost 30 percent of respondents, it is colleagues from the team. It is interesting that informal information is dominant in organizations for more than 12 percent of respondents, and the fact that the employees themselves give priority to it in importance indicates insufficient official information through formal channels. 

The majority of respondents believe that the role of internal communications is to help employees understand internal policies, company strategy and the organization (57%). Building a sense of trust, common identity and loyalty is in second place in terms of importance for almost half of the respondents (48%), while internal information and education is preferred by about 40% of respondents. Among the other roles of internal communications, the interviewees emphasized dialogue and feedback, as well as the promotion of corporate culture and values. 

Employees communicate internally mostly via email and social networks, but also during meetings with the team or through direct face-to-face communication. Internal communication is also through the feedback of the immediate superior, team events, addresses of the general director, then various tools - applications and platforms, as well as internal magazines, boards or internal television. 

However, when talking about the most useful channels for building a quality team, the top three places according to employees are team meetings, direct face-to-face communication, as well as team activations and socializing. 

Respondents pointed out that internal communications often ignore the needs and wishes of employees, that they do not pay enough attention to the atmosphere in teams, that they do not evaluate interpersonal relationships that reflect on the atmosphere and work in the team. 

On the other hand, employees mostly value listening to their needs and opinions, visibility, promotion and rewarding of achieved successes, but also information about projects and news in the sector and outside it and organizing opportunities to strengthen team spirit. 

Last year's European research showed that an incredible 85 percent of employees are not committed to the company they work for, which is one of the biggest challenges in business today. For example, there are estimates that the UK loses up to £70 billion a year due to lack of employee engagement. 

When it comes to trends, as many as 70 percent of respondents in Serbia give priority to authenticity and transparency in internal communication, followed by a focus on employee well-being (51.6%), as well as a hybrid work environment (37.6%).