Insights

Today, it's difficult to talk about internal communication without saying a word about cultural transformation. It is everywhere and is taking the form of a new ritual, that of the perpetual evolution of organizations. In our daily life as communicators, we take part in these transformations, initially structural ones, which then announce other more profound ones: strategic and then cultural. It is this movement that it is interesting for us to analyze.

We have all seen that governance is being structured to face ever more complex challenges. Two-headed organizations have become legion, with a CEO function in danger of disappearing. The dissolution of this post towards a president/CEO tandem speaks volumes about the need to arm ourselves at the highest level. The SEB Group, Danone, L'Oréal and Bouygues have experienced this. The year 2023 will have been marked by a wave of new strategic cycles, especially among the major CAC 40 players. Shorter and shorter roadmaps to adapt to the current economic turmoil and the lack of visibility in many markets (formerly a plan could last ten years, it generally does not last more than four years today, or even two). Strategic plans have never been so powerful internally. Beyond the growth trajectory they outline, they are also an opportunity to rally an entire collective to the same cause. The famous. One that gives meaning to action and that mobilizes employees for reasons that go beyond their simple relationship with work. Cultural transformation here lies in rethinking one's function, acting and interacting in order to meet clear, realistic goals, which in turn corresponds to a useful, just, and even noble cause. This transformation is also a valuable opportunity to create intimacy with internal audiences (managers but also internal staff): sharing your vision, but also its challenges, and its difficulties (too silent in business). That it is difficult to address its shortcomings in external communication in front of an audience of investors, of course. On the other hand, the internal population increasingly expresses the need to understand and decode the strategic challenges of companies, so why hide them when it is admitted by everyone that we are in a time of multi-crisis?

Finally, cultural transformation makes sense when it is experienced as a relational contract between the company and its employees. In this contract, both parties commit themselves. Employees will no longer be satisfied with corporate narratives. “Reassuring” no longer makes sense today, “making people understand” has much more value. Internal communication can no longer be linear; on the contrary, it has every interest in following the curves of these new cycles. So everything is nuanced. Discourses to these audiences should systematically meet two criteria: first, human-level semantics. In other words, these communication actions must be simple and clear. (In Praise of Simplicity, to read and reread!) Second, semantics must also be up to the challenge. That is to say, nourished by power and federation. The reality is that many companies are playing for their future at this time: either their leadership over their competition, or unfortunately their survival. Without falling into too much emphasis, it is still necessary to convey the idea of positive tension. The one that will make it possible to write the future... collectively. Cultural transformation is therefore a state of mind that it is urgent to adopt because to transform is to change mental patterns and mentalities take longer to change than processes!

Cultural transformation is a concept that may seem a bit out of the ordinary, but it is very rooted in economic reality. It is the starting point for change. It is therefore to be welcomed and encouraged!