Get the Internal Communications Resources You Need to Help Your Organization Succeed
// By Jane Weber Brubaker //
It’s hard enough to get marketing budget for efforts directly tied to external goals in the strategic plan like patient acquisition or physician referral growth. If the key to the success of any major organizational initiative is keeping employees informed and aligned, what are the best strategies for getting the investment in internal communications needed to help your organization succeed?
Where would an orchestra be without a conductor? Someone has to get all those musicians playing together in unison. Stephanie J. Ramos, director of internal communications at Mount Sinai Health System, wrote in a LinkedIn post, “As an internal communications professional, many days I feel like I am conducting an orchestra. I took two semesters of conducting in college and one of my teachers, Dr. Matthew Mailman, said, ‘The conductor’s job is to make the musician’s job easier.’”
But without adequate resources, the internal communicator’s job is harder, as we’ve seen during the pandemic, which has demanded so much of communicators. According to Gallagher’s State of the Sector 2021:
- 1 in 3 communicators said they were struggling with a lack of human resource in internal communication (IC)
- 2 in 5 felt under pressure to deliver
- 1 in 5 felt considerably overworked
While the workload and pressure have increased, internal communications budgets have stayed the same or decreased, according to the report.
Priya Bates, president, Inner Strength Communication
Priya Bates is president of Inner Strength Communication, a strategy and consulting firm focused on internal communications. Bates offered her advice in a recent webinar hosted by Poppulo, “Three Strategies to Get the IC Budget You Need.” We’ll share some of the highlights here.
If you’re an internal communications professional experiencing high demand for your services but inadequate resources, these strategies may help you make the case for a bigger budget.