Internal communication plan: why and how to create it?

The internal communications plan guides the company's communications strategy for its employees, based on the objectives it wishes to achieve. It is an essential monitoring and control tool for communication teams, enabling them to easily manage the various campaigns throughout the year. Discover the 7 steps you need to know to create an effective internal communications plan that maximizes campaign results.{{cta('a9c3190d-785d-48ac-8685-72490cbafbb5','justifycenter')}}

The benefits and challenges of an internal communications plan

The internal communications plan is the essential roadmap for managing the various communications campaigns relating to the life of the company. It is created in parallel with an overall reflection on the needs of employees and the company: it enables us to determine the main lines of development and the objectives to be pursued, as well as to monitor the deployment and effectiveness of the actions put in place. The internal communications plan provides the necessary framework for the preparation and dissemination of campaigns aimed at :

• Facilitating the recruitment and retention of talent;
• Improve employees' quality of life at work;
• Developing team cohesion ;
• Increase team commitment and motivation;
• Streamline communication between managers and employees;
• Transfer information useful to all ;
• Enrich corporate culture and enhance employer brand;
• Improve productivity and business results.

Today's dispersed teams represent a real challenge for team cohesion, which a good internal communications strategy can help to overcome. By regulating the dissemination of information and exchanges, it prevents the lack of transmission or, on the contrary, the overflow of information that affects productivity. A well-designed internal communications plan has many benefits, and plays an active role in developing corporate well-being and competitiveness.

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How do you draw up an internal communications plan?

Creating an effective internal communications plan involves a succession of key stages. From auditing the initial situation to defining the target and editorial line, and including performance analysis, these different phases of analysis and execution contribute to the deployment of a concrete and well-structured plan, adapted to its objectives.

1. Analysis of existing situation

An initial audit is an essential part of drawing up an optimal internal communications plan. The aim here is to take stock of the current situation, in order to evaluate the current management of internal communications. This stage of observation and reflection requires us to take a step back to understand the needs of employees and the resources required - material, human and temporal in particular - to gradually refine the strategy and maximize its results. By identifying the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, teams of communicators will be able to detect actions likely to improve the effectiveness of internal communication initiatives. As employees are the main target of the various communications, it is important at this stage to find out their opinions, expectations and needs regarding the practices to be implemented, through surveys or interviews.

2. Definition of objectives and budget

A relevant internal communications plan is part of the pursuit of objectives geared towards the overall success of the company. Whether it's a question of uniting teams, connecting employees, boosting performance or enhancing the company's culture and employer brand, every approach must be motivated and guided by the achievement of precise, realistic and coherent objectives. In addition to giving concrete form to the strategy, they provide a common direction, a collective goal that unites and motivates everyone to participate in their achievement. The process of defining objectives is also the ideal time to draw up a budget, in order to project the cost of the actions to be implemented. Defining these elements in parallel enables you to visualize the efforts to be made and to release the corresponding budgets. From the outset, this work enables you to take an effective, long-term view of your internal communications.

3. Audience targeting

For engaging internal communications, it's essential to study the target audience precisely, so as to adapt the way you address it. By aligning your messages with the company's culture, values, objectives and overall vision, effective messages tailored to the audience will be all the more likely to reach them. Interviewing employees to clearly define their needs, expectations and preferred media is an essential step in determining and employing the means that will best capture their attention. As the latter are the focus of the internal communications plan, setting up polls, surveys and interviews will enable us to get to know them and find the best way to talk to them according to their profile. This will make it easier to adopt the right tone and choose the ideal media for your campaigns.

4. Message development

Whatever the nature, purpose and content of the various messages to be communicated to employees, it is essential that they contribute to achieving the objectives of the internal communications strategy. The axes, already established thanks to the definition of objectives, will make it possible to gradually outline the themes and angles to be integrated into the internal communications plan. This exercise will determine a set of messages to be broadcast over the course of the year, grouped together in an editorial schedule. In addition to setting the themes and topics to be addressed, this steering calendar provides an overall view of the company's major projects and the year's highlights, for which the communications teams will have to implement a number of actions to communicate accordingly.

5. Channel selection

Depending on the theme, the form of the different messages and their audience, it becomes important at this stage to analyze and opt for the most effective channels for transmitting them. Some content will be more appropriate orally than in writing, or even more impactful electronically. Physical meetings and events facilitate and encourage dialogue and the exchange of opinions between employees, while certain announcements are better suited to communication via newsletter or intranet. Video and digital signage are particularly appreciated for their ability to attract and entertain, while CSR is ideal for transmitting information and news in real time.

The Cenareo solution is part of the company's digital workplace, as close as possible to employees' daily lives. Directly integrated into their digital workspace, the in-house communication software enables a multitude of different content to be broadcast to all employees, wherever they may be. On computers, tablets, screens or smartphones,digital signage enables all employees to receive an impactful and memorable message simultaneously and in real time. This flexible, intuitive in-house communications solution boosts performance and engagement through increasingly contextualized and effective campaigns. More than just management software, Cenareo is an innovative, high-performance channel that contributes to the success of your internal communications strategy.

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6. Creation of publication calendar

The editorial schedule is a file dedicated to managing the publication of its various contents, purely operational and designed to put the internal communications plan into practice. It provides an overview of the year's projects and a chronological view of the actions to be taken. It is organized by date for efficient campaign management, and includes a number of elements:

• The date and frequency of publication of each of its communications;
• The theme or subject of each publication;
• The format and choice of channel;
• The person(s) in charge of content creation and distribution.

7. Identification of key performance performance

Taking stock of your internal communications strategy enables you to measure its effectiveness and relevance. In this way, it is possible to identify the subjects and media that have been the most engaging, as well as those that have not met with the expected success. This phase of analyzing the actions of your internal communications plan reveals the performance of each campaign and tool, which must be able to illustrate their ability to create engagement. Their effectiveness is assessed using performance criteria and optimization levers to be defined, as well as employee surveys. Cenareo has also created the first performance measurement score dedicated to on-screen communication, based on the evaluation of 4 indicators:

• The attractiveness of the media used ;
• The freshness of the campaigns created ;
• Contextualizing messages ;
• The global balance of communication.

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Example of an internal communication plan

The internal communications plan prioritizes the actions required to achieve the company's internal communications strategy. It forms an indispensable basis for the deployment of coherent, relevant, contextualized and appropriate communications. It takes the form of a document organized by theme, such as an Excel spreadsheet, dedicated to managing campaigns over the year. It summarizes a number of data in a single place, such as :

• The themes of the various subjects to be addressed: events or subjects that require the deployment of a communication action;
• Strategic objectives: the goals and results the company wishes to achieve through its various communications initiatives;
• Target(s): the people concerned, the audience targeted by the communication campaign;
• Publication methods: is it a single content, a topic to be developed at a certain frequency, a weekly update... ;
• Channels: the media used for each communication action ;
• Important dates: the actual date of the event, when the launch is to take place, key stages in the project...;
• The allocated budget.

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The Cenareo solution is an intuitive, flexible and easy-to-use multi-channel internal communications software that adapts to the objectives of corporate internal communications strategies. It enables the most relevant information to be transmitted to employees at the right time, using a variety of media. Internal communications software integrates directly into the company's digital environment, helping to boost productivity and motivation, improve team cohesion, and provide more engaging communication tailored to the needs of employees, whether on site or working from home.