How to encourage your employees to interact in an internal social network? – 5 effective methods  

Why should you care about interactions between employees? 

There is a strong business case for using internal social networks. Companies that use them in the right way note, among other things:  

• Faster knowledge flow within the organization,  
• Accelerated decision-making processes,   
• Deepening of less formal relationships between employees. 

All of this leads to increased efficiency and has a positive impact on digital employee experience and employees’ engagement. This translates into the company’s bottom line. Employees who are able and willing to comment and react to the information about the internal life of their organization have a greater sense of belonging and autonomy – one of the three components of the famous 3.0 motivation theory.   

How to encourage employees to interact in an internal social network  

Getting employees to interact with posts on the internal social network is just as difficult as getting external social media users to interact. That’s why good practices used by marketing departments are worth applying to internal communications as well. Here are 5 of them that will encourage employees to interact and increase the effectiveness of internal communication.   

#1. Create concise and engaging messages.   

Social media communication is based on short messages that convey specific content that is important to the recipient. There is no room for inaccuracies and insinuations. You have just 5 seconds to grab an employee’s attention before their gaze runs further. Communicate what’s most important at the outset, and ensure visual quality – clarity, bullet points, and emojis. Don’t forget to add a photo, video, or gif.  

#2. Be authentic.  

One of the most common mistakes made in using the internal social network and creating internal communications in general concerns the lack of consistency between external and internal policies, And the discrepancy between words and actions. Address authentic, truthful, and timely topics. Content that touches employees must be about them and ideally, created by them.  

#3. Follow the trends.

Social media has built its strength on the ability to respond immediately to current events. The best Real-Time Marketing campaigns are also based on this phenomenon. The use of RTM, gifs, and references to current pop culture events will effectively attract the attention of employees in the internal social network. It will also show the company from a different, less official, but also more “human” side. However, using them requires caution and sensitivity to controversial issues.   

#4. Introduce elements of gamification.   

Gamification uses game elements, such as scoring, rewards, and competition, to drive greater engagement with published content. This fits in with building a culture of recognition – sharing successes, celebrating together, and rewarding achievements. And these have a very broad concept – an achievement can be the best financial result in the sales team, but also the funniest photo and the most reactions to the content posted on the internal social network.   

#5. Encourage interaction and set a good example.  

If you expect a response – ask a question and allow people to comment. Use a variety of tools – posts, and surveys; tag people and teams that may be interested in specific topics. Also, set a good example by being visible on the internal social network. This applies to leaders and members of internal communications teams.   

Using methods borrowed from social media to create communications in the internal social network can effectively increase the level of interaction and attraction in internal communications. Thus, it is worth taking advantage of them.