Hello Corentin, to begin with, we are curious to know your definition of Internal Communication.
Internal communication is the most essential form of communication for the company, because it intervenes upstream of all the others. She's a real transmission belt between all its actors.
Historically, internal communication was mostly top-down. Increasingly, it has become horizontal and even bottom-up. It is interesting to see that good practices are now coming more from the field.
I am convinced that internal communication should be the primary focus of any organization. By informing employees in advance about all the strategies being implemented, they will be best equipped to communicate effectively. and to live these last ones.
Finally, it seems to me that Internal communication should be the starting point for all other forms of communication.
Internal communication should be the primary focus of any organization's communication strategy.
Decathlon France has over 23.000 employees spread across the country. How can internal staff be engaged within such a large organization?
Indeed, Decathlon France it's more than 23.000 employees and more than 400 jobs different. Therefore, the question of everyone's commitment, despite each person's specificities, is a fundamental one. Each recipient must feel concerned by the information they receive and understand its language.
To achieve this, we have put in place a media mixto disseminate information "to the masses" to all our employees. To facilitate their understanding, our editorial line is fundamentally general, without jargon or specificities.
In addition to this media mix, and to further this employee engagement, we are also deploying highly personalized communications, which are aimed at very specific target audiences with a tone that is unique to them.
Finally, we encourage the sharing of best practices internally by regularly publishing testimonials from our employees. These inspiring exchanges are yet another way to increase the sense of belonging, which is essential for engagement.
The question of everyone's commitment, despite each person's specificities, is a fundamental issue.
What communication channels and appointments do you prefer to ensure good transmission of information, without differentiation, to all of your audiences?
With the aim of reaching the largest number of employees, our media mix, intended for everyone, is divided into 4 communication channels. The goal? To guarantee that our employees have access to information first. through different editorial lines depending on their media consumption patterns.
"Good News" is a newsletter Published every two weeks, initially created during the Covid pandemic to maintain contact, this highly popular format has continued ever since. It allows us to communicate about our news, new products, and services. This internal communication channel works extremely well, since Its open rate is generally around 65% and 70%.
"Radio Moquette" As its name suggests, it's an audio media outlet based on the same principle of sharing news and best practices. Each day, like a morning radio show, the program reviews current topics, interspersed with musical interludes.
"DKT! Mag" is a magazine quarterly sent to the mailboxes of all our employees. Its editorial slant is is similar to codes of the traditional print magazine with news, immersive features, discovery reports…
Finally un intranet company is dedicated to so-called "hot" information, via a news feed system, like on social networks.
Regarding your internal magazine, how is your editorial line developed? What content do you offer and why?
Again and again, with this aim of facilitating access to information for employees, This internal magazine aims to be general in scope and jargon-free.The editorial line, developed internally, is similar to that of a magazine. Everyone can choose to read more or less in-depth, skim the news or delve into feature articles.
The unofficial advantage of the print format is that it can be consulted by everyone, not just internally. Why shouldn't this general-interest magazine be able to be browsed by the families and friends of our employees?
We deliberately chose not to build “DKT! Mag” like a magazine only corporate and not the ultra-branded Decathlon. It was designed to adapt to everyone's consumption habits, in the style of a magazine you might find at your local bookstore.
The unofficial advantage of the print format is that it can be consulted by everyone, beyond just internal stakeholders.
And regarding “Radio Moquette”, who is it aimed at and what are the ambitions of this program?
Our internal radio station is for our 23,000 teammates.As for retail and logistics, the show is broadcast directly via the speakers in our stores. Other employees can listen to it whenever they want by connecting to decathlon.fr and other streaming platforms.
Audio offers a unique mode of consumption. Interviews, sharing of best practices or even music can be listened to while doing another activity: in the car, at work, etc. Always with a view to adapting to the consumption patterns of our target audience.
Beyond these channels, you also established a network of intermediaries during your major restructuring project. Can you tell us more about this network? How do you manage it?
The main purpose of our relay network is to professionalize communication in internal. It is by pooling skills, tools, and solutions, that we are able to combat these phenomena some fake news et de theinfobesity. Urban artist This internal communication network facilitates the implementation of monitoring.
On the entertainment side, we organize "Internal Communication Cafés"National video conferences will be held to exchange best practices and strategies. Furthermore, a chat system It was developed to be as close as possible to our relays and to answer their questions on a daily basis.
We are convinced thatAn employee who receives effective, branded Decathlon communication will be more likely to remember and pass it on. to another colleague.
It is by pooling skills, tools, and solutions, that we are able to combat these phenomena some fake news and de infobesity
Furthermore, how do you combat the current scourges of fake news and information overload at Decathlon? Do you have any best practices to share with us?
It is essential to implement different strategies. On the one hand, To combat information overload, it is necessary to ensure better ventilation of the push and pullDepending on their roles, employees have different information needs. Therefore, to reduce our email consumption, some information must necessarily be targeted.
We want every email an employee receives to have a direct impact on their daily work. For more general information, we make our media mix available.
In the longer term, and with a view to reducing our internal email consumption, we encourage employees to search for the information they want themselves, as they regularly do in their daily lives, by consulting search engines.
On the other hand, Regarding fake news, the key word is anticipation. We always make sure to prepare our communications in advance, so we're never caught off guard. Fighting fake news means being ready to release verified information as quickly as possible after a decision is officially announced.
In your opinion, what will the future of internal communication be: the trends and developments of tomorrow?
In my opinion, the future of internal communication rests on ultra-personalization and authenticity of experiences.
Tomorrow, communications will need to be addressed not just to employees, but to each individual employee. It is with this in mind that...We need to start working on the future of our communication channels today.
As for experiences, they have the power to convey strong messages and to engage or re-engage people significantly, and more fundamentally, than a simple speech. In my opinion, Experience already tends, and will always tend, towards greater authenticity. You don't need to bring out the glitter to offer memorable experiences internally.
Communications should no longer be addressed to employees in general, but to each individual employee.
Finally, what advice would you give to the communications professionals who read this?
Be curious, seek out information everywhere around you. Follow trends and news, see what is being done in other companies, in other countries, etc.
And never forget to begin any strategic thinking by putting yourself in your target audience's shoes.By thinking like them, you will best be able to adapt your communications to their changing information consumption patterns.
3 things to know about Corentin Vrand
His mantra? « Every experience we have helps us progress and evolve! "Corentin often reminds his team that every moment in life is part of a long experience that makes us grow.
His favorite ad? He's a big fan of communication campaigns that, while seemingly simple visually, are actually the product of real creativity. Recently, did you see the Barilla spaghetti fireworks display?
His passions ? Sport, of course! This discipline fascinates him both in its history and in its practice: cycling, running… and soon his first marathon.
