Transparency is en vogue, especially in the fast-growing technology sector, but it is much easier said than done. While business leaders want to encourage transparency at their companies and among their teams, too often these efforts fail when it comes to implementation. We know the dangers of lack of transparency: a disengaged culture, lack of alignment, and, ultimately, poor employee retention leading to inefficiencies and employee churn. Luckily, there is a highly effective solution that today’s leading teams are using to cultivate true transparency and reap its benefits: internal blogging.

In this post, we’ll dive into what internal blogging is all about as well as why it is crucial for employee retention.

Internal blogging promotes company values

Values alignment is a top reason employees stay. The Harvard Business Review reports research from the Hay Group that finds that "highly engaged employees are, on average, 50% more likely to exceed expectations than the least-engaged workers. And companies with highly engaged people outperform firms with the most disengaged folks—by 54% in employee retention, by 89% in customer satisfaction, and by fourfold in revenue growth." Consistent, authentic, and values-driven communications is one way to create a more transparent culture and engages employees. Your executive team is very busy, but needs to communicate information beyond quarterly all-hands. And internal blogging is one of the most effective formats to convey important news in a manner that is convenient for every employee.

Delivering difficult news deserves better than email

Internal blogging provides an effective platform for delivering difficult news. If you made a public mistake, or an entire team was laid off, or you haven't hit your numbers for the quarter...internal blogging provides an effective platform for engaging in an honest, open discussion about this. It also encourages employee engagement because employees can interact with the blog post and participate in the conversation in comments, with the leadership team and with each other. 

Internal blogging increases employee collaboration

Internal blogging is one of the best ways for them to highlight and document their achievements to let the entire company know what they are working on and how they are contributing to the overall company mission. Any employee can make a difference and be heard. And employees feeling heard makes them more likely to stay on board. Read this post to see more about how collaboration is fostered through internal blogging.

Internal blogging breaks down silos among departments and reduces friction, leading employees to feel more successful

Empowering our people to be successful is a top priority of HR departments. At least, it should be. Cross-department collaboration is cited as a top pain point, especially at large companies. Employees who blog internally and can share their work and ideas with colleagues are likely to feel empowered to do the work. For example, if someone from the marketing department conducts a Voice of the Customer interview, then blogs about it internally and shares it with the entire company, it invites a discussion. Product teams may weigh in about a feature called out, for example, or Services teams may share their perspectives on an implementation discussion. Better yet, if you’re using a platform like Atlassian Suite, you can easily translate any internal blog conversation in Confluence into meaningful workflow by integrating with JIRA product management tool right in Confluence.

Internal blogging invites action

Whereas email or other communication methods often impede communication and collaboration, internal blogging invites action and reduces friction. Because internal blogging, by its nature, invites people to contribute, communicate, and collaborate, it encourages a culture in which people share ideas, act on those ideas, and work in a more transparent way.  

ServiceRocket can help you set up Confluence to apply the principles in this post to increase communications, transparency, and employee collaboration. Our ServiceRocket Quick Start Workshop is a fast and light-weight way to begin an engagement. If you are really trying to build a more transparent and collaborative culture, you need the leadership and the tools in place to make that happen. We can help you with the tools. Click on the button below to learn more about our Quick Start Workshops.