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Communication with all team members is vital to the success of your company. It’s one thing to have a great culture and mission statement, but if people don’t know what they’re working for, it can be hard to stay motivated.

Podcasts are a great way to communicate with staff in a close and conversational tone, without getting too formal.

I remember when I started as a host of “ Leadership and Motivation ” in 2015 practically nobody listened to it. We have spent years teaching on the subject, and now we see the results. In my case, there is currently a community of hundreds of thousands of loyal fans who listen to new content weekly on platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google, iVoox, Podimo, Wetoker and their subsidiaries.

Why does the podcast work in companies?

Podcasts are a great way to communicate with employees. You can use them to share company updates, news, or other information that is important. Finding out what is happening and what is to come motivates employees and helps them stay up-to-date on different topics.

It is about generating audio segments of different lengths, which will be available online every day, with the option of downloading them to be listened to later. Each person can subscribe to certain podcasts by adding them to their favorites list, and download new episodes as they become available.

I work with companies where we have generated different channels of these contents according to the areas; They are all under the same umbrella, on an intranet and a downloadable app that is accessible only to staff, which they access with a personal code or another identification system.

This last aspect is important, since it will allow you to measure the impact, the number of times someone reproduces, what topics they are interested in and other relevant data.

As an option, they also have the possibility of sending messages to those who were the host of each episode, with contributions, suggestions, opinions and voice messages, which can then be included in subsequent episodes. In addition, surveys and polls are included to further fine-tune the content.

And something very important: internal podcasts can coexist by amplifying written content from the corporate blog, videos, advertising campaigns and any company action.

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The great opportunity to speak into your ear

What we podcast professionals are observing is that this tool allows more intimacy with each person on the team. When you hear it in your ear, it is precisely “the voice” of the company that speaks to you with content prepared to measure and in accordance with a strategic plan, which, in turn, is nourished by the interests that are being revealed.

Listening comprehension of messages increases recall, even though the person captures the information primarily visually or kinesthetically (emotions, feelings, movement). In other words, the auditory was not placed on the table of internal business communication until now: the visual and the emotional have been privileged purely. Audio allows these human representational systems to be merged.

While some companies are already using it, others are still pondering it, or worse, they don’t even have an internal communication program.

Have you thought about the enormous potential of doing it? You can even reach not only an operation in a particular city or country, but also expand it to all territories where they have headquarters or teams working in person or remotely.

Let’s see why I think this is the case: traditionally many of the communication strategies have focused on the external public. That is why there are already thousands of people who podcast continuously in public relations and marketing actions to contact consumers, diverse or specific audiences, and generate a greater brand presence based on content marketing.

But at the moment there are few that apply it in internal communication, and that is why I have prepared these 12 concrete ways to apply a podcasting strategy for the members of your company:

1. Onboarding: It allows you to welcome people in a warm way, while setting the values, mission, vision and objectives of the job position you are entering. I have also participated in the creation of personalized content where the colleagues themselves welcome each new member.
2. Recruitment: In this case, you can use it as a simple tool to convey the central axes of the company, its history, values and structure; and, at the same time, its culture: how we do and why we do what we do. It also serves to promote the employer brand ( employer branding )
3. CEO Editorial: A frequent column where the head of the company provides their vision on different topics of the activity. It can be in the form of a first-person account, or even interviewed by company employees.
4. Motivation and practical coaching: Excuse the personal reference, although I want to inspire you with the strategy that I have been carrying out for a long time for companies and brands: they are short capsules on these topics (maximum 5 minutes), by way of microlearning, that employees can listen to while they work, or the moment they decide. The focus is on valuable content, which adds triggers to motivate inside and outside the workplace; that is, betting on personal and professional development.
5. General or specific inductions by areas: The podcast allows that, in addition to digital notes or in physical format and videos, these productions are available with instructions, instructions, update talks and other needs for induction and training.
6. Recognition: This is one of the points that I highlight the most within an internal podcast strategy. Congratulations are part of the emotional salary; and in audio it is very special for people, as well as easy to produce.
7. Employee participation: You can do interviews, present success stories and have everyone listen to the members of the company. What better to do with your own voice?
8. Success stories with clients : Here you will invite clients to give testimonials, or tell how the case was carried out, through which everyone can become familiar with this process, even if you do not belong to that team.
9. Testimonials: Related to the above, when congratulations come from clients or different sectors, they can be collected in the form of audios, or transcripts with different voices generated by artificial intelligence (in case it is an email , for example), or look for the form to record it, for all to hear, amplifying the motivating message.
10. Lessons learned: Resignifying the value of error and failure is one of the pillars of flexibility that we can work on. Before, we would post the learnings in a folder on the intranet, with photos, videos and graphic resources. Now we can also make a podcast with the first-person voice of all the protagonists, so that it remains as a testimony and explanation of the matter in detail, their different perspectives according to the roles and thus the available learning will be highlighted.
11. Training on specific topics: You can create micro-courses in audio, on topics that are or not related to the business; and these more comprehensive contents can be offered for employees to share on their networks with their friends, family and acquaintances, as part of the human development process to which your company is committed.
12. Updating of rules and procedures: The forms of communication of transformations in the company are changing and expanding. It is no longer enough with a face-to-face meeting, or an instructional via email , but it is necessary to create a true culture of innovation. The podcast contributes in these aspects, consolidating the concepts, giving it a voice, being able to open it in different episodes, and even doing experiences with an open line with workers involved, in such a way that it is something alive, and not that someone is only the one who speaks.

To complete these tactics, please don’t forget about music, which is another indispensable stimulus to integrate into production.

8 points to start an internal podcast in your company of any size

• Discover a central theme.
• Determine the responsible team and resources. I assure you: recording podcasts, like doing radio, is one of the greatest ways to reinforce teamwork.
• Find a title that is representative
• Create a summary of initial contents
• Define the format, duration and frequency
• Establish all aspects of production, and then, the appropriate platforms.
• Incorporate podcasts into your app or internal communication network
• “Anabolize” it in other ways, such as internal communication campaigns, references and podcast ambassadors.

As you can see, the podcast is here to stay, and every company of any size can implement it immediately; Above all, the investment is not so great in relation to the benefits you will get in the short term.