Welcome to the People Strategy series, unpacking key issues in how HR communicates with employees. In today’s issue, we ask: If we obsess over personalising messages for customers, why do we still send generic comms (noise) to our people?
We explore how rethinking employee experience starts with rethinking how you communicate.
Treating your employees like valued customers.
Organisations talk a lot about the employee experience.
However, in practice, it’s often generic and transactional.
Nothing like the customer experiences your company obsesses over.
The missed opportunity that’s holding HR back.
Customer journeys get insight, intent and investment.
Every touchpoint is designed to deliver value and build loyalty.
But the employee journey?
A patchwork of one-size-fits-none updates and top-down broadcasts that feel more like tick-box exercises than thoughtful engagement.
And it shows:
77% of employees are not engaged at work1
57% don’t believe their organisation has their interests at heart.2
22% don’t trust their leadership.2
If your customers felt like that, you’d be throwing everything at fixing it.
So why not show the same urgency when it’s your people?
HR, the architects of employee experience.
Marketing personalises the customer journey; HR can do the same internally.
Segment your people – Understand their differing needs and how they change through their journey.
Deliver value – Communication isn’t about channels. It’s a tool for solving problems and enabling performance.
Measure what matters – Trust. Connection. Engagement. These are business metrics, not “soft stuff.”
Great employee experiences are built through communication.
The best HR leaders already know: employee experiences succeed or fail on how well they are communicated.
From onboarding, through L&D, career progression, and personal growth, communication is the thread that ties it all together.
When it’s weak, so is the experience.
When it’s strong, trust, engagement, and performance follow.
Employee comms isn’t just admin. It’s care, support, connection.
Your people deserve better than bland messaging. They want more than information.
They want relevance, clarity, and proof that their voice matters;
Plain speaking – No fluff, no filler. Clear, human, and values-led.
Genuine dialogue – Not broadcast. Not spin. A loop that listens and responds.
Visible leadership – Managers who show up. Leaders who mean it.
The Employee Experience Mindset?
If you want better culture, better retention, and better performance…
Make your employee experience intentional. Treat your people like valued customers.
And that starts with how you communicate.