HR strategy | Secret Escapes' HRD: 'Internal comms is vital'

Building communication between employees is a fundamental role of HR, after all without effective communication teams can break down and ultimately cost a business money. In fact, research by Opinium on behalf of Mitel previously found that substandard communications costs organisations around £8,000 per employee per year.

And it seems that a lack of internal communication is greatly impacting productivity and morale among employees, as The Economist 2018 report Communication barriers in the workplace revealed that respondents believe communication barriers are leading to a delay or failure to complete projects (44%), low morale (31%), missed performance goals (25%) and even lost sales (18%).

This is something members-only British travel company Secret Escapes is trying to improve. Understanding that internal comms and HR are distinctly linked, Chloe Palmer, HR, and Operations Director at the firm, believes it is critical to build a sense of community in the workplace and comms is the way to do that.

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“Internal comms is vital for people to understand and feel connected to the company’s vision and strategy, and to have the information they need to do their jobs effectively. It’s also critical for creating a sense of community and social connection. Everything we communicate to our employees needs to consider their wellbeing, how they work, how they think,” she told HR Grapevine.