During the XII edition of the Awards for Best Internal Communication Practices, the Observatory of Internal Communication and Corporate Identity- OCI, created by ATREVIA, IE Business School, and the Human Capital Magazine belonging to the Wolters Kluwer group, announced the companies awarded for their communication projects directed at their internal audiences.: BBVA, DHL Supply Chain Spain, Ecoembes, Grupo Humano, Grupo Unísono, NTT DATA, Pfizer Spain, and Volkswagen Financial Services.
The jury, made up of the members of the Board of Directors: Asunción Soriano, Custodia Cabanas and Mercedes de la Rosa, and the Advisory Board: BBVA, DKV, IKEA, NOVARTIS, and SECURITAS DIRECT, selected the eight best internal communication projects for their strategic contribution, innovation, impact, and effectiveness in reaching internal audiences, during a time in which communication is more challenging and essential than ever.
One of the defining features of this year’s companies has been their adaptability to change, promoting Internal Communication as a strategic lever within their business performance and their connection with employees, both from a distance with teleworking and in the sometimes-complicated return to normality and to the workplace.
As for the winners, DHL SUPPLY CHAIN was awarded in the category of Best Integrated Internal Communication Campaign thanks to its “Together” project, which focuses on its employees and their needs, with a comprehensive communication plan designed to reach them in a direct, individualized, and close way, making them the protagonists. This project sought to revolutionize the method of reaching employees, introducing new spaces for listening and involvement that allowed for a closer relationship, directly impacting the feeling of commitment and the employee’s experience.
The company ECOEMBES, for its part, won the prize for Best Internal Communication Tool, with its APP “Wek’P,” which was launched innovatively with a message to all its employees that read: “From today you can do much more from your cell phone…” The cell phone application was a breakthrough in the company’s digital transformation plan and pursued the goal of caring for its employees’ emotional well-being, creating a sense of unity and connection despite physical distances.
In the Best Idea/Creative Concept category, VOLKSWAGEN FINANCIAL SERVICES won the award thanks to its new way of structuring Internal Communication, which revolves around the concept of “Work&Life.” The program seeks to strengthen the employer brand and convey the company’s values in all of the company’s transformation projects, inspiring and mobilizing the team by focusing on health, wellness, and work-life balance policies.
As for the Best Internal Communication Practice in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development, PFIZER SPAIN received an award for its “Sustainable Development Goals Week.” The campaign focused on raising awareness and training the company’s staff about the Sustainable Development Goals, using internal communication as the backbone of the process. To achieve this, the company used new and creative ways of disseminating its message, allowing employees to participate in the process by selecting the activities that best suited their needs.
In this edition of the awards, a special category was created for the Best Internal Communication Practice in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, where BBVA won thanks to its #BBVAenCasa portal. It enabled the business to keep their employees informed and connected with the company during the quarantine period, when mandatory lockdowns applied to most of them, responding to the concerns of a new and challenging situation.
The Dominican company, GRUPO HUMANO, won the Best Internal Communication Practice for Cultural Change thanks to its great campaign “HuSer ¡Vive la Evolución!” using cross-cutting communication to encourage a culture of digitalization to help face challenges from an innovative and agile stance. The campaign involved major actions, with people as the engine of transformation, ranging from actively listening to employees, managerial involvement, experiential campaigns, new technologies, and more.
“Comunicar es Liderar” (Communication is Leadership) was GRUPO UNÍSONO’s campaign, awarded as the Best System for measuring the effectiveness and impact of Internal Communication, a category that made its debut in this edition of the awards. Through this project, the company strengthened communication within its teams and generated a management tool for executives and middle management. The aim was to improve measurement processes and create a system for the company’s management to facilitate awareness regarding the implementation status of new actions.
Finally, the Best Internal Communication Systematics of Platforms, Supports, and Tools award went to NTT DATA (formerly EVERIS). Its platform, “Doorways, The Everis Digital Workplace,” based on Office 365, has managed to integrate all the corporate communication resources necessary for the daily staff tasks in a single space and in an easy and personalized way. As a result, streamlining processes has led to increased proactivity, performance, and a significant improvement in the employee experience.
The category Best Practice for the Internal Digital Transformation Communication was declared void by the jury’s decision in accordance with the rules governing the awards.
Since 2009, the Best Practices in Internal Communication Awards have been held annually to identify and recognize leading practices in internal communication and people management. In the context of organizational changes, these practices set trends in internal communication and people management due to their innovation, impact, and excellence in the different categories. This 12th edition was attended by 100 companies from 7 different countries, who submitted 178 nominations in the proposed categories.
