The employees’ communication bill of rights

In my firm, there’s a tendency to look at internal communication as decidedly second-rate. Right now, despite being qualified in a variety of communication disciplines, I’m assigned to internal communications. And I’m constantly having to readjust the perceptions of people who think my sole job is to write our newsletter.

Heaven forefend I join the “real” communicators (analyst relations and PR) in their meetings with our company leadership to find out what’s going on in the company. I can barely get the time of day once business-unit people hear my job is internal communications. They literally – literally – turn away and tune out. So what are they communicating? We say we value employees, but we really don’t care about communicating with them, unless it’s to pass on some noblesse-oblige-ish, mollifying propaganda.