Tone of voice?
It's essential to internal communications - so get a copywriter involved
I'm sure many internal communications professionals will be familiar with the Towers Perrin 2007-2008 Global Workforce Survey about how engaged or disengaged workforces are. Their figures show 21% engaged, 8% disengaged, and about 70% partially engaged or partially disengaged in between - ‘the massive middle’ as they call them.
In my own not-quite-so-scientific way, but based on experience, I've attempted to summarise what the attitudes of this 'massive middle' might be to their work and their employer. I guess it ranges from those who enjoy their job, are keen to progress, keen to contribute and like to have people take an interest in them - through to people who will turn up and make a reasonable effort in return for their wage.
That is, we have eliminated from our thinking the ultra-keen, and the downright negative. For these we can devise specific internal communications if necessary. But one of the major opportunities available to organisations is to move the attitudes of some of this massive middle towards the keen end. Similarly, there's the threat that with poor internal communications, some of them may drift towards the negative end.
If you've got this far, I'm hoping it's because you generally agree. In which case, I'm hoping to persuade you of two more things between here and the end of the article. One, that developing a suitable 'tone of voice' will help you talk to the massive middle. And two, that it makes sense to work with an experienced business copywriter to help you do this.
Why a tone of voice?
As most communicators know, developing and using a distinctive style of language – or tone of voice – to talk to external customers has become increasingly important in brand communications. Most big brands and many smaller ones are seeing its value. Most companies' tone of voice guidelines generally start by pointing out some of the things the company doesn't want to be seen as, such as old-fashioned, uncaring or distant.
An internal communications tone of voice exercise is much the same. It's about finding the tone of voice and language that talks to that massive middle by eliminating the voices that won't work. And for this audience in particular - who we know to range from vaguely interested to vaguely apathetic - the language and message must be relevant, interesting and above all, plausible.
So here's where it gets difficult. Because many internal communications campaigns have as their starting point the sorts of things that will switch off (or disengage) the massive middle almost immediately. I’m talking about the enthusiastic rallying cry many HR managers would like a campaign to be. Or the patronising message down from the directors in their ivory tower. Or worse, that hybrid of both, using jargon and management-speak to tell people about ‘our values’. I fully appreciate the importance of an organisation having values - but it's not a subject which particularly interests the ‘massive middle’, so it's important to think very carefully about how you word these messages.
Why use a copywriter?
Which is why using a copywriter to help develop and apply the tone of voice is a good idea. As with branding, creating a personality for your campaign or organisation is a good start - and a good copywriter should be able to capture this in words, translating the personality into a credible and effective tone of voice. Copywriters work with words every day, so are used to creating different styles, for different reasons, for different audiences. They are also experienced at putting themselves in the readers' shoes – judging how a reader will react to different words.
There's also the important external perspective that having an outsider (or external copywriter) on your team can bring. HR and management people are used to a certain internal language specific to HR, their sector or their company, and it can often be difficult for them to spot it and translate it into everyday speak appropriate for the massive middle. For a copywriter, that's part of every job.
Plus an experienced external copywriter will be used to developing a tone of voice for many different circumstances - so they know how to spot bland language or jargon, as they'll have seen it a thousand times before. They can use their experience to help the company come up with its own unique verbal identity, and then apply a firm editorial hand to ensure it's implemented consistently across all internal communications. This is particularly important if many different people around the company submit elements of an intranet or handbook; busy internal communications managers simply may not have time to add this to their 'to-do' list.
In summary, tone of voice is essential for connecting with that all-important massive middle - and an experienced copywriter will have the time and skills to devote specifically to this element of your work. So if you want to create and use a tone of voice effectively and distinctively, it pays to get a copywriter on the team.