Intranet versus employee newspaper – which suits your company?
Internal communication is more important than ever. But how?
Especially in the current employee market, communication is just as important internally as it is externally. We compare two popular alternatives. Which suits you better?
Internal communication is essential for every company. Employee newspapers and the digital intranet are particularly popular. Which of these two information channels can companies use to reach their employees better? Do I reach more employees with the intranet or is the classic employee newspaper more suitable for communicating company information? What advantages and opportunities do both tools offer?
Intranet: communication in real time
A key advantage of an intranet solution is that I can pass on information in real time. Especially if a company has several locations, they can communicate with each other easily via a shared intranet. The decisive criterion here is the speed of information transfer. The employees have permanent access to current but also to past information.
Emotional activation: The employee magazine
Speed is not everything. Especially when it comes to employee retention and employer branding, emotional activation is the key to success. Here, a physical employee newspaper can often score more points than a post on the intranet. It thrives not only on the stories but also on the appropriate images that show the employees. Employees can take a printed company newspaper home and show it to their families and friends. Many employees are happy and proud when they can show an article about themselves or their work.
Good asset for the next trade fair.
It’s relatively difficult to hand over the intranet to a customer, potential employee, or other interested parties at a trade fair. As long as our glasses don’t have an interactive interface and Elon Musk’s chips are not yet in our heads, a physical employee newspaper is the better tool for such occasions. Here too, the rule is: In a sea of overstimulation, you have to stand out, and a tangible takeaway can be a good way to achieve this goal.
Summary
Both forms of internal communication have their advantages and disadvantages. We believe: Why not both? For day-to-day communication and the like, an intranet is an excellent solution, while an employee newspaper serves as a benefit for the employees. Important: The objective must be clear. What is the function of the intranet, and what is that of the newspaper? What is to be achieved?