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General
We’re experts in Internal Communication and Employee engagement.
We partner with some of the world’s largest and best-known brands, supporting them on programmes spanning strategy, culture, transformation, wellbeing, and leadership.
And with proven success! Our peers have named us the UK’s Best IC Agency for 12 consecutive years.
Hessle, Hull, East Yorkshire.
2011.
Send us an email at talktous@handhcomms.co.uk and we’ll get back to you.
If you’re interested in exploring ways we might work together, please complete our contact form and one of our team will be in touch to discuss your project.
Internal Comms
Ever felt left in the dark, removed from a conversation or neglected on the sidelines while everyone around you makes decisions? This is how employees feel when internal communications break down. Effective internal communications invite people to get involved in a conversation. They make people feel valued, which motivates them to give their all. And they keep everyone informed, energised and in the loop, so that employees have the knowledge and fuel that keeps them heading in the right direction, together.
A great starting point for creating an internal communication strategy is with five elements. Who is your audience, what messages are you trying to communicate, what channels do you have available to you, who is communicating the messaging and what timeframe are you working to? Plus, when is best to land the messages?
From the most basic of channels such as posters, emails and team meetings, to digital platforms such as Yammer and Slack, there are lots of channels to choose from. Before considering what channel to use, consider your audience first. What do they have access to? What are they familiar with? Do they use technology a lot? Who will they expect to hear from and how often?
In short, all employees are key stakeholders, but depending on the message you’re delivering, some will take a priority more than others. But it doesn’t have to be too complicated! To get started, break down your employees into groups of the executive team, top management or leadership, middle managers and the general employee population.
An internal communications audit is a review of how well your organisation and its leaders distribute and collect information to and from your workforce and how well the current setup aligns with your overall strategy.
Employee Engagement
Engaged employees are happier, more motivated, more satisfied and more likely to reach their potential. Disengaged employees, on the other hand, are already looking for their next job.
By enhancing the employee engagement, you’ll be rewarded with colleagues who are committed to achieving your ambitions, hungry to deliver their best and keen to make sure their talent brings benefits to your business rather than your competitors. They’ll also talk to others about how great you are, promoting your business to potential new talent and customers.
In the simplest of terms, an EVP outlines what you can offer employees as their employer. In exchange for their talent and hard work, you’re saying what they would receive in terms of benefits, development, culture, rewards, values, purpose and a boat load of other lovely stuff. Basically, it’s why they should want to work for you and nobody else.
When thinking about your current employee engagement, consider how well you do on the following. Do you have authentic and open communication? Do most employees feel a sense of belonging? Do they know the organisation’s purpose and understand why their work matters in relation to it? Do they have psychological safety? And are they rewarded, recognised and have a sense of achievement from what they do?
Transformational Change
In an organisation, transformational change comes from large operations that will affect the business and in turn, a lot of employees. This could be due to relocation, a new business strategy, acquisition, exponential growth, restructure or, potentially, redundancies. Anything on a large scale that means you’re about to do things differently.
Changes that disrupt an employee’s working day as they know it have to be addressed carefully. When change is done well, employees feel in the know, they understand what’s happening and how changes will affect them. This leads to a better buy in, a smoother journey and usually a successful change.
Think about WHO is going to communicate the change, HOW you are going to communicate it (which channels), WHEN and for HOW long are you communicating the change, WHY it’s important the change happens and WHAT employees can expect to see, feel and experience – both as the change is happening and afterwards.
Communication only makes the change process easier. An effective communication plan can help control any fear or assumptions about the change. It’s the golden opportunity to explain the change, how it will affect people and why it’s happening. Depending on the change, it can create excitement instead of worry, and understanding instead of confusion – and it facilitates cooperation. It gets everyone on the same page and promotes a trustworthy and authentic organisation.
Business Strategy
Businesses are only as good at the employees driving them. But you don’t want them driving without a route in mind, right? When we communicate business strategies effectively, we improve the overall productivity of employees. This is because we’re instilling a sense of trust in our employees. They are in the know and have the information they need to feel informed and confident in the business’s future plans.
When we share the vision of our business with employees, we inspire, clarify, and focus them in their work. It helps generate commitment, advocation and belief in the journey ahead.
Keep it simple. Start with why. And make sure everyone in your organisation forms a powerful and personal link to your strategic direction.
This tried and tested approach has proven highly effective with our clients worldwide, delivering meaningful results and measurable impact.
Each of our clients has different goals and ambitions, unique purposes and diverse needs. We tailor all our programmes to meet these specific needs. Each programme therefore looks very different from others. Yet in each one, we’ve started with why, kept things simple and inspired every colleague to play their part in making it happen.
Wellbeing
Put simply, wellbeing is being happy and healthy in body and mind. Some people assume it’s all about meditation and yoga. Sure, these can certainly promote and enhance employee wellbeing. But at H&H we see wellbeing as being intrinsically linked with everything that promotes health and happiness in the workplace.
This is about creating an environment in which people have the confidence to be comfortable in their own skin. A culture that enables every colleague to bring their whole selves to work. Structures that keep them safe. And a workplace that allows employees to admit when they’re not OK as much as celebrating when they are.
So, we embrace each inclusion and diversity programme, health and safety campaign and mental health awareness we’ve worked on as being an essential part of our clients’ wellbeing communications.
Effectively communicating your wellbeing initiatives will clearly have a positive impact on the health and happiness of your colleagues. But did you know keeping your colleagues in the loop about every part of your business will also boost employee wellbeing?
We’ve always known great internal communications can enhance wellbeing. But even we were surprised at how dramatic this impact can be. Our research has uncovered how organisations that value great communications are leading the pack, with lower levels of absence and sickness, higher happiness and increased engagement levels.
Supporting others to be themselves, and to be happy and healthy, is on its own a brilliant gift to give others. The fact you’re reading this page suggests that, like us, you agree that promoting employee wellbeing is simply the right thing to do.
But happy and healthy employees also make for happy and healthy organisations – think increased productivity, dramatically reduced absence, and a robust bottom line.
Culture
Culture is a combination of values, beliefs, rituals and people.
Some of these – such as your values and the behaviours they promote – will be written down and codified. These set the standards and define the ‘rules’ and expectations within your organisation. People, on the other hand, come with their own unique personalities, ideas, perceptions and behaviours.
As with people, cultures shift and change. And culture will happen, whether you nurture it or not.
Your people will have a dramatic impact on your culture simply by being themselves. Supporting them to do this while inspiring them to nurture the culture that fits with your future goals is therefore a win-win.
You know where your organisation wants to be. Your culture is the vehicle that will either get it there – or hold it back.
Our qualified research doctor will use her decades of experience to get to the nub of where your culture is right now, and where it needs to be to realise your ambitions. A combination of in-depth interviews, immersive storytelling and innovative activities will provide qualitative and quantitative results that paint a rich picture of what your culture looks and feels like today. With this as our starting point, we’ll then create all the tools and resources that support you to nurture a culture that’s authentic and aspirational, inspiring and exciting – and which drives your organisation to success.
Values are only one part of your culture, but boy are they a critical part. They define the behaviours that will power your collective goals. They guide people to make decisions that will support your future success. And they shine a light on what great looks like so every employee can feel proud to take ownership.
Maybe you’ve already defined your core values. Or perhaps you need support to understand what your values are. Whatever stage you’re at, we will combine our strategic thinking with showstopping creative to create for you a programme that’ll make sure everyone in your organisation understands your values, feels a sense of pride and is inspired to bring them to life, every day.
After all, you could simply put your values in fancy frames and stick them in your reception. But wouldn’t it be great if instead you had everything you needed to make sure your values are lived, breathed and put into action in every corner of your business?
New structure. New strategy. A new future for 10,000 people. It was time to talk
Jardine International Motors
