Finding success with podcasts built for employee engagement.
The internal podcast is on the rise — and with good reason.
In a competitive job market, brands are learning how important employee experience is to the success of their business, and that a changing professional landscape calls for an innovative approach. Leaders looking to go the extra mile for their teams and their businesses are embracing new streams of communication and launching impactful internal initiatives.
Among the smarter business practices of highly successful brands — including lululemon, American Airlines, and Saje Natural Wellness — we find the internal podcast.
So, why are major players in today’s economy investing in this content? How can a podcast made just for your team actually help your business grow?
Here’s a simple breakdown.
The case for an internal podcast:
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Internal podcasts are a uniquely efficient and impactful means of communication
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Effective internal communication is essential to thriving teams
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Thriving teams do great work
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Great work is essential to the success of your business
Pretty simple, right?
Also called employee engagement podcasts, these inward-facing productions rely heavily on the idea that investing in your company’s culture, narrative, and sense of team spirit comes with massive benefits for your business — a premise we can probably all agree on.
Assuming that we do, let’s take a deeper dive.
Better engagement means better performance
Part of building a thriving business is getting every player on your team engaged.
In his book, A CEO Only Does Three Things, author and insurance mogul Trey Taylor shares staggering facts to support that.
“Companies with engaged employees outperform the competition by 20 percent,” he writes, adding that they “earn more than their competitors, and rank above industry benchmarks in almost all categories.”
Sounds pretty great, right?
While you may be thinking you’re already doing a pretty good job of keeping your team in the game, statistics suggest otherwise. According to a recent report from Gallup, 85% of the global workforce are either “not actively engaged” or “actively disengaged” when they go to work.
Unfortunately, many common methods of fostering engagement are starting to look a bit rusty — especially in an era of largely remote work. While meetings can feel like a nuisance and interrupt otherwise productive days, long-winded (if heartfelt) emails from company CEOs get lost in piles of higher-priority messages.
The internal podcast, on the other hand, offers a solution that engages employees in a few unique ways.
It is:
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More human than emails
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More adaptable than meetings
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More curated than phone calls
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More efficient than any of the above
We believe that, when it comes to employee engagement, the internal podcast is second to none. This is a medium that ensures your essential messaging is heard, understood and absorbed in a way that feels better for your team.
And hey, we could all use a break from our screens, right? With an internal podcast, you can deliver high-value content to your people as they make coffee, empty their inbox, or go for a midday walk — whatever works for their workflow and their schedule.
Our clients stick with their internal podcasts because the spike in meaningful engagement, and the perks that come with it, are worth the front-end effort — and because they believe in the value of investing in their teams.
The internal podcast and company culture
Peter Drucker once said that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”
In other words — if you can’t retain a great team and build a positive working environment, no amount of strategy can save you from the uphill battle that lies ahead.
Company culture is a reflection of how your team feels about their work, the stories that prop up your business, and the day-to-day dynamic that shapes everything you do as a brand.
A workplace with a clear sense of mission, vision, and purpose is one that attracts the best talent. A culture of sharing, learning, and growing encourages them to stick with you long term. A focus on diversity, inclusion, and equality will help to ensure none of these talented folks fall by the wayside — and that you never miss a great idea.
All of this said, one of the most significant impacts of clear and well translated company culture is a sense of accountability within your teams. Unfortunately, this is something many companies fail to foster. In fact, one Partners in Leadership survey found that as many as 60% of employees have seen a problem developing within their organization and done nothing about it.
An internal podcast provides an opportunity to clarify purpose, elevate voices, tell meaningful stories, and create accountability in a way other mediums can’t. It is the unified messaging opportunity you need to create something bigger and more purposeful than what emails or Zoom meetings can provide.
Here are some examples of culture-building content your business can try:
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Listen-and-learn episodes that foster mutually beneficial relationships
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Deep dives into complex subjects like diversity and inclusion
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Real, honest discussions of your brand’s vision and purpose
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Story-time sessions that strengthen your team’s understanding of your brand
Ultimately, this is a narrative-shaping experience, and with it comes the opportunity to write (or rewrite) the story of your brand.
The bottom line
The internal podcast is not for you if you care more about the profit than the purpose of your brand. The internal podcast is a medium for innovators — for brands that believe that their people are the key to their success.
If you’re happy for your team to show up just for their paycheck, we wouldn’t suggest you pursue this kind of project. Of course, this kind of thinking relies on the idea that a paycheck alone will keep your best folks with you for the long haul.
The internal podcast is for brands that believe that communication, engagement, and employee satisfaction are key to their long-term growth.
Sound like you? Want to get started? Reach out to the team at JAR Audio for your internal podcast quote.
Still thirsty and want to learn more? Check out our Ultimate Guide to Internal Podcasts.
