The answer is probably more complicated than you think, but might surprise you. In fact, it's likely your organization already has a plan, but you might not call it that or follow it with the rigor you know you should. Complex, multi-unit organizations with distributed employees cannot not communicate internally, or they wouldn’t exist. But to what degree is your team’s plan documented, aligned to, executed and measured?

Recently, I had the privilege to sit with our business development team along the sales journey of a new client. Our goals in the conversations that comprise these meetings are pretty simple: Remove barriers and get to the next conversation. The barriers are usually invisible constructs, present only in the prospects’ minds, but with the potential to block us from doing business together. So the art of the sale is really the act of throwing paint on invisible objects, making them visible only for long enough that we can smash them together.

For centuries, storytellers have employed tools to create and understand the Heroes in their narratives. They work tirelessly to define their Hero from the inside out: from their motivations, fears, and desires, to their mannerisms, appearance, and habits. One of the most popular and time-tested tools for character development? Character personas. And they’re one heck of a tool for HR and internal comms pros too.

If you’re in business, and your business is powered by people, you’re in the business of people. A company’s relationships with its employees should supersede any other, and its actions should support that belief.

Though most HR leaders would agree, there is always a force at work against employee engagement, regardless of the economic conditions. Naysayers will find a way to create headwinds against company values, and their actions will inevitably erode retention. Today, they’ll blame the great resignation (or throw up their hands in defeat). In 2019, they’d point to the lowest unemployment numbers on record. Years before that, the rise of the gig economy.

In the last couple of decades, there has been a seismic shift in the perception of company culture. The black box that once protected corporations' internal activities has been replaced with the glass box. Employees are now both media producers and consumers. And consumers, in turn, are potential employees and media channels. In this open-range digital age, empowering brand champions has never been more challenging.

For years, headlines have shouted how it’s critical for Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) to partner with their Chief Technology Officers (CTO) to create new marketing dynamics. We agree it’s important. Between emerging digital media, third-party delivery, increased hand-held tech in every multi-unit model, and upticks in pressure from the credit card industry, the race to upgrade and raise the tech bar is well underway.

Internal miscommunication can make even the most irresistible marketing promotions fall flat in the final mile. All too often, our brand agency works together with corporate marketing partners to launch promotions they’ve poured their hearts into… only to yield lackluster results when frontline workers don’t have the right story—or motivation—to sell in corporate’s hard work.