2013 Predictions: Are You on Track?

Back in January, internal communications agency, Tribe Inc., put together a fantastic list of  predications for internal communications and employee engagement. The list was created as a result of conversations with their clients, by meeting with other companies, as well as research and benchmarking sessions.

Now that we’re heading into the third quarter of this year… Tell us, have you made any progress in Tribe’s predictions?

A new emphasis on engagement
[Tribe] predicts that companies will make employee engagement more of a priority in 2013, in particular as a means to improve retention. In the years since the recession, most employees have felt lucky to have a job. If the job happens to offer health insurance, they’ve been even less likely to look elsewhere.

But as the economy improves and the job market heats up, employees will once again have
a choice. The scales will tilt so that companies are scrambling to keep their talent. That’s an
excellent reason to make engagement a focus now.

Cranking up internal communications
As companies turn their attention to employee engagement, many of them will also see the need for more robust internal communications. We’ve talked with a number of companies that have made a commitment to expanding their employee communication channels in 2013.

In some cases, these companies reduced their communications during the recession and
are now feeling the need to crank up the volume again. In other cases, companies that have never had much of an internal communications function are building departments from the ground up, expanding the staff from one or two people to an entire team.

Mobile access for intranets
Last year, everybody was replacing old and dysfunctional intranets. This year, we predict
a trend for taking the intranet mobile. If the intranet is going to be the hub of your
communications, then you want employees to be able to access it, no matter where they are.

Establishing channels of communication for non-desk workers
[Tribe] predicts that one of the top trends for 2013 will be direct channels between company leadership and non-desk workers. When there’s zero communication from corporate, non-desk workers interpret that as a lack of respect.

iPads will become more common at work
We predict you’ll see a lot more tablets in corporate settings. Companies will be providing
them at conferences in order to make the meetings more interactive. Retail companies,
hotels and even warehouses and distribution centers will be mounting tablets to secure
stands or at freestanding kiosks for their employees to access the intranet while on the job.

Tribe is an internal communications agency working with national and global brands. You can follow them on Twitter at @TribeInc.