Every organization wants an engaged, aligned, and high-performing workforce propelling their business. But many don’t realize the role internal communications plays in creating employees of this caliber.

When done well and intentionally, strategic internal communications positively impact employee engagement, which, in turn, impacts business performance. Conversely, the cost of not making internal comms a priority is staggering. Gallup reports that employees classified as “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” were responsible for $1.9 trillion in lost productivity nationally in 2023.

A new report just published by the USC Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism in partnership with Staffbase found that nearly two-thirds of employees (61%) who are considering a job change cited poor internal communication as a key factor in their decision-making. More than half (54%) of respondents said they feel unfamiliar with their organization’s goals and vision; and 65% said they are unsatisfied with the amount of information they get that is necessary to do their jobs.

For professional services firms — where human capital is the primary asset — the impact is especially profound. Engaged employees are more productive, provide better client service, and are more likely to stay with the firm, reducing costly turnover. 

Helping professional services firms establish effective internal communications strategies and strengthen employee engagement is a priority for Greentarget and a professional passion of mine. And it’s an area in which many firms are hungry for guidance. So when a friend recently introduced me to Matt Goebel, a communications expert who has helped lead sweeping change initiatives at Fortune 500 companies, I asked him to sit down with me for a conversation. 

The lessons Matt has learned and the impact he’s made offer valuable lessons for firms that want to communicate with internal stakeholders more effectively. Here’s what he had to say.

How did your career path lead to internal communications and what has kept you invested in the role?

I’ve always loved to write and communicate, leading me to study English in college and in journalism in grad school. But to my surprise, I soon discovered I didn’t truly want to be a journalist. 

Instead, I put my writing and communication skills to work for a large global public relations agency and learned the ins and outs of external communication and media relations. During that time, I was handpicked to be part of a group launching a new service focused on helping clients with internal communications. 

And that’s where I discovered my niche: The unique ability to get into the heads of executive leaders and translate what they’re trying to say into messages employees can understand and internalize.

After transitioning to a smaller, boutique agency, I eventually took an in-house position at Abbott and later Novartis, where I discovered that internal comms is a big tent with so many facets and challenges. From strategic communications and crisis management to organizational culture, there’s so much to do, which keeps me energized and motivated.

It all comes back to being a translator — helping senior leaders communicate effectively with employees at all levels of the organization to foster engagement and buy-in.

How have internal communications changed since those early days piloting a new service? And what kinds of lessons have you learned about how to do it well? 

When I first got started, internal comms were rote, even mechanical. Much of the messaging centered around disseminating basic facts such as the date of an event or the deadline for benefits enrollment. While these elements remain important, modern internal communications have evolved into a strategic function that touches every aspect of an organization.

When prioritized and executed effectively, internal comms can help employees understand the firm’s strategy and their role in it, facilitate change management and organizational transformation, and even support talent recruitment and retention. Internal comms enable leaders to listen better, collaborate more fully, tell engaging stories that highlight successes, rally employees to make needed improvements, paint a compelling picture of the future, and put their team on a concrete path to get there. 

What I’ve learned over the course of my career is that you can’t throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Nor can you keep important strategic matters and organizational decisions close to the vest. There needs to be a middle ground — one that’s thoughtfully sussed out. It really does take intentionality and commitment (and oftentimes an expert partner) to find the right balance.

Of all the internal communications programs you’ve managed over the years, which had the most impact? 

One of the greatest adventures I’ve been part of was at Abbott when they decided to carve out their pharmaceutical business and create a new company, AbbVie. As part of a smaller team that helped separate AbbVie from Abbott and take it public, we were faced with a significant challenge: How do we pull 35,000 people across 70 countries out of an existing company and help them feel part of this new organization?

It felt very much like the world’s largest start-up, and it took about a year and a half to create AbbVie out of Abbott, culminating in a bell ringing ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange. During that time, I worked closely with our new senior leadership team — the new CEO and C-suite that had been pulled out of Abbott — to help communicate with their “new” employees.

Our internal comms strategies centered around helping Abbott-turned-AbbVie employees understand the rationale behind the strategic decision and break down the complex separation process so everyone understood what would happen and when. This was far from easy, especially since various countries around the world underwent this separation at different times.

Along the way, we weighed questions like: Who are we going to be as a new company? What are we bringing over and leveraging from Abbott in terms of strategy, culture, ways of working, vision, mission, and values? Where are there opportunities for differentiation? And how can we help all employees understand where we’re going rather than hold on to where we’ve been? 

Of course, it was critically important not to answer those questions in a vacuum. We engaged employees through focus groups and surveys to get their input and sentiments. Then, as we made decisions, we cascaded the information to employees and asked for ongoing feedback to foster two-way communication.

It was an incredibly complicated and challenging time — but it was a truly phenomenal experience. 

Some professional services firms don’t have a mature internal communications function — or even a dedicated role. If you were pitching the idea of building the function to a leader of one of these firms, what would you say?

That’s an easy one. I’d say: Imagine dividing your employees into two groups. Employees in each group are equally equipped to succeed in terms of education, experience, skillset, and drive.

But members of the first group know the ins and outs of your organization. They understand your firm’s values, business goals, and strategic direction. And they’re fully informed about their role in the organization and what they’re expected to contribute to help the firm thrive. Members of the second group don’t have that deep well of knowledge.

Which employees would you rather entrust with a key client account? 

Since the answer to that is obvious, the next thing I’d do is offer some encouragement. For many professional services firms, especially smaller ones, building a dedicated internal communications function is daunting. The good news is leaders don’t have to boil the ocean, nor should they. Perfection is not the goal. I’d tell them to simply make internal comms an organizational priority and then get started.

Many professional services firms utilize partnership structures, where leadership is made up of an owner or owners who are leading other owners of the business. How might this dynamic complicate internal communications — and where might it open up new opportunities? 

Alignment and consensus are crucial any time an organization is introducing a new priority — but it’s even more important when leaders share power and authority. You can’t have one leader saying one thing and another leader saying the opposite if you want messaging to stick.

One way to achieve that alignment is to involve select partners in the process of developing the firm’s key messages and strategy. I realize this can be a “be careful what you wish for” situation that can create an overwhelming amount of feedback that paralyzes the process. But I also think there’s a way to foster a sense of ownership without inviting everyone to become an editor.

An area of opportunity to consider is assigning different partners as the “face” or point person for different types of communications, playing to their strengths and areas of expertise. This can help get key messages across more broadly while fostering widespread buy-in.

What advice would you give to an executive who is stepping into a leadership role for the first time? What steps can they take to make internal communications a priority and, in turn, foster support for the organization’s strategic initiatives?

Think about your role from a short-term and a long-term perspective. In the short-term, what is the immediate impact you want to make? What are your top priorities? And what do your internal stakeholders need to hear from you?

But don’t stop there. Take time to envision the legacy you want to leave behind and the indelible impact you want to make. How do you want to be remembered after you’ve moved on? What do you want to leave behind for the next person? 

Big picture, let the answers to those questions inform your communications strategy. And then tactically, begin the communications process by putting yourself in your audience’s shoes and identifying one or two primary issues — like your business strategy and organizational values — that you’d like to focus on. Engage employees consistently on those things. Then, once you’re sure employees have internalized what you want them to know, move on to new topics and messaging.

Be sure to include leaders and supervisors at all levels in the process and provide materials and training to help them communicate and disseminate messages effectively.

Return-to-office announcements are still all over the news, and some company decisions have been met with criticism. How should leaders communicate about RTO?

It can be challenging to share difficult news in a way that doesn’t make it worse. The most important thing is to communicate a clear rationale for the decision — one that’s focused on the benefits the company and employees stand to gain. For example, in professional services environments, in-person work is often key to training junior talent, assessing performance, and helping up-and-coming professionals rise through the ranks.

Storytelling can be particularly impactful here. Employees may be unimpressed by statistics or hard facts, but if you can tell stories that tap into their emotions, you’ll be more likely to persuade them and win support. Look for stories of impact that demonstrate the value of in-person work and communicate them broadly in a variety of channels. 

Any final thoughts you’d like to share? 

Building a robust internal communications function is not an overnight process. It requires consistent effort, ongoing resource allocation, and a commitment to continuous improvement. 

It’s a significant investment in a firm’s most valuable asset — its people — but it’s an investment that’s guaranteed to pay dividends for years to come.