Even the most well-crafted strategic messages can leave employees unsure what they need to do in their day-to-day role to help the business deliver on its objectives. The real test of strategic communications is not whether employees engage during the town hall; it is whether they know what to do differently in the morning.

What are strategic communications? 

Strategic communications are the planned messages, channels and leadership narratives that help employees understand where the organisation is going, why it matters and how their work contributes. 

For internal communicators, a good communications strategy turns business priorities into a shared understanding of what matters, why it matters and how employees need to think. 

Yet internal communicators have spent years trying to become more strategic. Gallagher’s State of the Sector research shows that 73% of teams want to operate as strategic consultancies, but only 18% say this is their current reality.  

So, what’s going on? Most central communications teams that own strategic communications still operate as centralised broadcast functions, pushing out messages when the exec request them. It is no wonder that nearly one in five feel like a reactive service desk. 

Meanwhile, operational communicators such as department heads interpret what the strategy means for them and communicate this in an ad-hoc manner to their teams, with varying success. 

Without clear reporting lines from operational communications into strategic communications, and operational communicators often wearing the role as a second hat, central communicators can find themselves uncomfortable asking for greater coordination for fear of being slowed down or challenged.  

Effective collaboration between strategic and operational communicators 

So how can strategic communicators be exactly that? By planning strategic and operational communications together.  Operational, day-to-day, communications are what translate business priorities into action. Operational communications include guidance, manager briefings, process updates, FAQs, nudges and self-service content that turn business intent into employee action. 

To do this successfully strategic and operational communicators can agree a ‘what to use when’ matrix, a cadence for different types of comms and KPIs to mitigate a slow down or conflict as part of collaborating more closely together. This ensures all communicators are empowered to work independently and at pace within an agreed framework.The employee experience  

Employees do not experience communication as ‘strategic’ or ‘operational’. They experience work. Their questions are practical:  

• What is changing?  

• What does it mean for me?  

• Where do I findwhat I need to do now?  

• Who do I ask?  

Manager talking points, FAQs, self-service resources, training materials and targeted updates should be developed alongside the strategic narrative, helping employees understand not only why change is happening, but what they need to do next. 

If strategic communications explain the destination and operational communications provide the map, employees know where they need to go andhow to get there. That provides clarity and consistent behaviours, aligning organisational intent and employee action.  

Building a strategic communications capability

With alignment between strategic and operational communicators, collaboratively communications can then take a lead on how feedback and measurement should be considered as part of the same journey. This creates the scenario in which central communications is responsible for message cascade throughout the business via operational communicators and being able to report back to the leadership about how far and how well the strategic messaging has been consumed and understood through the business. 

Mature communications teams look beyond attention metrics to understand whether employees consumed the message, understood what it meant and changed their behaviour as a result. Measuringunderstanding and sentiment provide a richer picture of communication effectiveness, helping communicators focus employee attention on what matters most, rather than simply increasing the volume of content. 

Not sure where employees are getting stuck? Speak to our team about Addin Analytics and discover how organisations are using data to understand how employees engage with strategic communications, find operational guidance and navigate their digital workplace, so they can make evidence-based improvements where they matter most.