Internal Communication ~ 14 min

The 10 Internal Communications Tools Your Company Needs

Communication Team, Experts in Internal Communication, Sociabble
Communication Team Experts in Internal Communication

Internal Communications tools, when used properly, can make the difference between a workforce that’s informed and engaged, and one that’s simply out of the loop. In this article, we’ll discuss the 10 best internal communications tools a company can incorporate into its communication strategy at the workplace.Internal communications are more important than ever, for a very simple reason: employee engagement is lower than ever. The fact of the matter is, the needs and habits of employees in terms of information consumption are changing in the face of new technologies and post-pandemic life, and the requirements to hold their attention and keep them informed—not to mention satisfied at their jobs—are also more demanding than ever.

New and innovative communication tools are needed to satisfy those demands and keep employees engaged, all of which we will cover here.

Why your company needs the best Internal Communications tools in 2024

Following the pandemic, and all the changes in work culture that it created, remote and hybrid work scenarios have become the norm rather than the exception. Flex offices are springing up, work-from-home positions are becoming more common.

And working remotely comes with a unique set of challenges, which makes strong Internal Communications all the more important. Essentially, in 2024, technology and digital tools fill in the gaps left by no longer working full time in a physical office. Collectively, they can help your company:

Stay connected

It’s important to keep your employees connected through effective communication channels and tools. This means organizing daily meetings to stay on track and help the teams stay aligned with the company strategy—as well as the everyday life of the company.

But also, it means staying connected with frontline workers who are increasingly demanding when it comes to receiving accurate and timely updates and information. And of course, there is the need for employees to stay connected with their teams, and their fellow co-workers.

Engage your employees

It helps employees feel that they belong to something bigger than themselves and for which they will fully invest. But for that, they need to understand the value of the company and that the company gives them a source of motivation that matches it.

They become more productive and better aligned with the overall strategy. And they, in turn, will be more productive and more involved in company life when they feel these conditions are being met—which of course will raise efficiency and productivity.

Foster social interaction

At the office, you have coffee breaks and multiple micro interactions with your colleagues every day that seem insignificant, but which are actually very important for the well-being of employees. That’s why it’s important to keep those informal interactions going virtually.

Show employees you’re listening

It’s important to know and understand your employees’ needs and feelings regarding the actions taken by the company. When employees feel valued and listened to, they are happier and more productive.

Recognize employee contributions

Remote workers sometimes don’t feel like they’re part of the team, while in-office counterparts have more formal and informal interactions. It’s important to make employee recognition a priority. Regular recognition from peers and managers helps employees feel connected, appreciated, and valued.

internal communication tools infographic

Some statistics that show why Internal Communications tools matters more than ever

Obviously, one of the best ways to demonstrate the new importance of having the best Internal Communications tools is through actual statistics on the topic—research clearly indicates that things are moving in a different direction, and that companies and their employees both need to adapt in order to thrive within the new digital reality.

According to the latest Buffer State of Remote Work 2022 report, it turns out that Internal Communications has a crucial role in addressing the challenges of remote work:

24% of remote employees report loneliness as their biggest challenge.

52% of remote workers feel less connected.

45% think career growth is more difficult for remote workers.

56% changed the way they collaborate and communicate due to remote work.

Obviously, remote work is becoming the norm, new internal communication tools are more popular than ever, and employees are also struggling to find their place in the digital workplace of tomorrow. In short: they need a little extra help.

These are the 10 best Internal Communications tools for keeping employees connected :

#1 internal communications tools: The employee mobile app

Yes, a mobile app is critical these days, and even more so for organizations with frontline workers who may not have a professional email address or work station.

A branded mobile app will create a sense of identity and belonging, and push notifications and alerts will ensure all employees get the information they need. Mobile has largely taken the place of intranets, and it’s where your employees get most of their information—so make sure you’re there!

For example, Sociabble is a responsive Internal Communications software platform that allows both desktop and mobile access, without any need for content duplication or adaptation—content will be shared effectively and identically on both types of devices, in both form and content, without the need for any intervention on the admin’s part.

In this way, you can also improve the connection with frontline workers, who are not equipped with a desktop and are more used to receiving information from their mobile devices, through a dedicated app.

employee mobile app the best internal communication tool

#2 internal communications tools: The internal newsletter

Employees want to read updates and articles that are relevant for them because they often don’t have time to read everything that’s sent. This is why a customizable and targeted newsletter tool with filtering options is key.

Analytics will also ensure you can keep track of what works and what doesn’t, and refine your technique. It’s important to get employees accustomed to a regular delivery of important company news that’s tailored to them. 

With Sociabble, it’s possible to create an internal newsletter in just a few clicks, and with a visually attractive presentation since it can embed different formats. Newsletters are not only easy to create, but also easy to customize.

You can easily generate custom-made internal newsletters according to the audience you are targeting, since you can focus on a specific audience by region, department, or even hierarchical level. In this way, your audience will receive a newsletter that truly interests them, with relevant information tailored for them.

Sociabble also comes with a powerful analytics tool so that you can directly monitor the open rate from within the platform, and adjust the various sending parameters (date, time, etc.), as well as the content, depending on the engagement rate of your internal newsletter. 

internal newsletter the best internal communication tools

#3 internal communications tools: The employee surveys

This is probably the best way to get direct feedback from employees and optimize engagement, as upward communication gives employees a voice and makes them feel truly part of the organization.

Your ideal employee survey tool should be quick, easy to set up, and put the power to create surveys in the hands of top management and local managers alike. A library of templates can make the process easier, and it should have the option of being anonymous, and shareable.

It should be GDPR compliant, and a little gamification (i.e. points for participating) can increase the employee engagement level. The right communication platform will empower you to collect this kind of targeted employee feedback with minimal effort.

With Sociabble, for example, you can send a survey to a specific audience—for example, a team or a region or a group of people doing the same job—to collect opinions and ideas. Answers can even be anonymous. You can decide the duration of the survey, and whether or not to communicate the results to the targeted audience.

employee surveys the best internal communication tool

#4 internal communications tools: The enterprise chat

Among the internal communication tool you need, an enterprise chat feature will allow for the kind of spontaneous and individual conversations that occurred around water coolers, during coffee breaks, and across desks. It should have a good user experience, be intuitive so users are not intimidated by it, and incorporate security and privacy features to protect sensitive information. And if you’d like to delve into internal communications knowledge, here’s a comprehensive guide to employee communications.

Sociabble comes with an integrated chat feature, allowing employees to have the same kinds of formal and informal conversations they used to have at the office. This is especially important for frontline workers who might need to share best practices, or simply feel part of a team.

Secure and GDPR-compliant, Sociabble Chat is a great way to allow employees to not only feel part of a corporate environment, but also to give them a channel to express their thoughts and create connections between each other, and thus enhance team spirit.

enterprise chat the best internal communication tool

#5 internal communications tools: The company newsfeed and content aggregation

A company newsfeed that allows for the pinning of crucial content, and the ability to segment audience by relevance based on department, office, and region, is indispensable in any internal communications strategy. A mix of mandatory and subscription content will also increase the relevance of information provided to each user.

The UX should be simple and easy to use, appealing and visual, so that employees can be attracted and thus engaged. And it should not rely solely on an algorithm to dictate order, as this can give artificial importance to posts that are popular but not critical.

Additionally, content curation can take the legwork out of finding and sharing relevant news that employees can themselves share, and content aggregation to combine content streams.

With Sociabble, you can segment the content you publish by theme. Once the content is addressed to a specific audience, posts are categorized in specific internal communication channels or flows, so that users can easily find the most relevant information. Specific categories can also be applied for a more sophisticated segmentation.

Allianz France has made the most of content aggregation to boost the visibility of its brand content.

Moreover, it is possible for the platform’s administrators to notify users regarding important content, in order to draw their attention. It can be a simple notification akin to a social network alert, or a must-read function that requires acknowledgment via an action by the reader (like a click on a “read” confirmation).

newsfeed & curration content the best internal communication tools

Sociabble is also able to integrate a large number of social media networks, as well as content curation solutions like Feedly and other collaborative platforms.

Automated curation on specific keywords is also available, powered by AI, that can be established by administrators.

social media sharing integration tool

# 6 internal communications tools: The Microsoft tools integration

The employee journey demands that each worker use many different devices and internal communication tools, beginning from their very first day on the job. And it is important that each time a tool is added, it brings real added value to the employee and does not add complexity to an already cluttered digital ecosystem.

With that in mind, Sociabble integrates with the entire Microsoft Office 365 environment, including Teams, SharePoint, and Yammer, to provide direct access to the tools the users consult over the course of their day.

Sociabble’s technology and architecture are fully based on Microsoft Azure, and it benefits from the latest innovations and development features associated with the cloud platform. Sociabble can also integrate a large panel of other tools such as Salesforce, Slack, and more.

internal communication integration with microsoft office 365

#7 internal communications tools: The employee recognition & reward system

This can mean any kind of tool or feature that allows you to reward the actions of employees (sharing content, for example), get them involved and interacting with other employees in a fun and engaging environment, and provide reward and recognition for top performers. A CSR component can also add meaning to the rewards, such as donations to good causes.

With Sociabble, you can liven up your Internal Communications platform with a number of engaging and playful features such as challenges, competitions, quizzes, badge attribution, points and rewards, and more.

Rewarding and recognizing employees is important as it strengthens employee engagement. It can be related to company highlights and successes, all of which can be enhanced through recognition features on Sociabble.

Moreover, it is possible for employees to praise their colleagues thanks to the peer-to-peer recognition feature, which empowers them to send kudos and thanks to their co-workers for a job well-done. And it all also strengthens team spirit.

employee recognition the best internal communication tool

#8 internal communications tools: The onboarding system

Onboarding can be one of the trickiest things to do remotely, so it’s important to have a good platform and system in place for welcoming new employees in the organization, introducing them to their colleagues, and giving them the training they need.

An integration with an e-learning platform can make a big difference, as well as a library of training videos and seminars they can reference as needed.

Sociabble can be very effective for both frontline and office onboarding. Especially for frontline workers, as they can have access to the same training as office workers via their mobile devices.

Sociabble can connect to existing HR learning platforms at a company, including SSO protocols. All this contributes to smoothing out the onboarding process for HR on one side, and the newcomers on the other.

smart onboarding tool

#9 internal communications tools: The multilingual translation

An effective Internal Communications tool should always have an automatic translation feature. It will help your Internal Communications become globally effective, and ensure that messages are received in any office, anywhere.

This will also help employees who are not native English-speakers stay engaged, by receiving information and updates in their own language—which will also increase a sense of belonging within the company.

Sociabble offers real-time translation of any kind of content—even video with transcription—for both admins that manage the platform and end-users. Administrators can save time with an automated translation feature, and they can adapt translations with a specific glossary that applies to the entire company.

Employees can receive the content in the language they understand, and if not, they can translate it with just one click.

multilungual translation tool for internal communication

#10 internal communications tools: The video and Live broadcast platform

Because remote working can diminish the sense of face-to-face interactions, a live broadcast feature is one of the more important Internal Communications tools. It can fill in the gap left by long-distance communication.

This is great for small conversations, but also larger town hall meetings, when it’s important that employees have direct access to top management, including the ability to post questions and comments for discussion.

Sociabble can host a live event both on desktop and mobile. You can also promote it with automatic notifications, via scheduling on employees’ calendars, and newsletters. It displays the number of watchers and comments in real-time and allows the automatic management of the replay.

It is a very engaging format where employees can react, comment, and tag each other, all with an easy and seamless user experience, without any plug-in or dial-in number. Video can also be directly embedded in Sociabble.

Extremely secure compared to mainstream video providers, it offers a smooth and painless experience for end-users. Smart, adaptative streaming, based on bandwidth, screen size, devices used, etc. is the norm. And the resume playback feature means you can resume where you left off, even when changing devices.

Automatic transcription creation and translation is also a video option. Advanced video analytics, access to unique view, time spent on each video, and completion % are additional features you can access with Sociabble.

video and live broadcast platform the best internal communication tool

To summarize :

What are the tools of internal communication?
  • Employee mobile app
  • Internal newsletter
  • Employee surveys
  • Enterprise chat
  • Company newsfeed and content aggregation
  • Microsoft tools integration
  • Employee recognition & reward system
  • Onboarding system
  • Multilingual translation
  • Video and Live broadcast platform

Learn more about Sociabble, the best Internal Communication tool

Sociabble is an Internal Communications software solution that combines all of these tools into a single digital platform, backed up by full support and consulting services.

With industry leaders like Renault Group, L’Occitane en Provence, and Coca-Cola as clients, we have years of experience helping global companies refine their business communications and engage their teams. If you’d like to learn more about Sociabble, we’re happy to chat. Just click here for a free demo.

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