Mark Bunker, Head of Communications at Aldermore Bank takes us through the why, what and how of developing a brilliant internal communications strategy.

Start with purpose and objectives.

Your communication strategy isn’t worth the word doc it’s written on if if it isn’t aligned to your company values and purpose. If in doubt, go read Simon Sinek. The most important thing is knowing what the company strategy and purpose are to begin with.

Love your data.

Data is everything; if you don’t have any, find a way to get some. Some people are doing ongoing data gathering, others will have to strip back and conduct an internal communications audit. Importantly, don’t just look at channels; focus on the effectiveness of your communications and content.

The disease to please.

Being an internal communications manager is not about being well liked and jumping at every request. It’s important to step back and focus on the priorities; and that can make stoping and scraping some of the previous pillars of your internal communications.  For example, do you really need a printed magazine?

Gold, silver, bronze.

Here’s a great way of prioritising.  Set out a gold, silver, bronze of priorities and stick to them.  For example, large change transformations are gold. Bronze is much more about town halls, recognition and light-touch initiatives. We can spend too much time on a volunteering day, when change is much more important.

Many thanks to Mark Bunker for sharing his approach into the process of developing an internal communications strategy