What if we dared to break the mold of internal communication? Why not bet on humor and originality to boost engagement? How can we desacralize to better unite? 💥
Auriane Vernois, Global Internal Communications Manager at Expleo Group advocates a liberated, desacralized internal COM! Humor, meaning and a small dose of sarcasm, that's enough to revolutionize traditional internal communications. 🚀 Let's say stop to corporate blah blah! Make way for a COM that unites, inspires and above all makes you smile!
Hello Auriane, as Global Internal Communications Manager at Expleo Group, how would you define internal communication?
Internal communicationis a strategic lever. On one hand, it connects the company with its employees by informing and engaging them, helping them to better understand the company's challenges. On the other hand, it fosters connections among employees, ensuring that everyone feels valued and contributing to a sense of unity, pride, and belonging. Ultimately, through this dual mission of connection, internal communication serves as a true reflection of the corporate culture.
What are the main challenges you face in engaging the Group's employees, both nationally and globally?
There are so many challenges—it would take me hours to list them all! 🙂
First and foremost, we need to be mindful of not overwhelming employees, who are bombarded with numerous messages at different levels—global, local, team, and managerial. It’s crucial to carefully select the right messages—those that resonate and leave a lasting impression. Striking the right balance is key to ensuring our voice is heard
As part of this balancing act, internal communication must be sharp and concise, prioritizing simplicity and clarity. To make information accessible to as many people as possible, we need to avoid overly corporate jargon and communicate in a straightforward, no-nonsense manner.
Finally, communication is about quality over quantity. This means creating opportunities for everyone to have a voice at every level and ensuring a diverse range of perspectives are represented.
We must forget the overly corporate blah blah and express ourselves directly.
Your aim is to “desacralize internal communication”. Can you tell us more about the ambitions of this project?
Yes, that's something I’m particularly passionate about. Desacralizing communication means making it more accessible and human by embedding it into employees' daily lives. Communication should be simple and authentic.
This involves using humor and breaking away from traditional corporate communication by adopting a more offbeat, sometimes even sarcastic, tone. Lighthearted formats—such as puns, caricatures, GIFs, memes, and polls—help create content that feels friendly and, therefore, engaging. content who want to be conniving and therefore engaging.
By drawing inspiration from employees’ personal lives and the way they consume information, we’re able to craft communications that truly resonate with them. This approach helps demystify complex or corporate topics, making them more relatable. In short, <strong>we aim to spark curiosity and capture interest—without sacrificing depth or meaning</strong>. we tickle curiosity to arouse interest, without losing depth and meaning.
Would you say that good communication is communication that breaks the mold, that goes beyond the ordinary and conventional?
Yes, absolutely— a thousand times yes, as long as it's balanced and coherent! 🙂 Communication is an ongoing dialogue that must constantly reinvent and refresh itself, whether in terms of content, angle, format, or medium. Let me explain: effective communication is all about coherence, skillfully blending the relevance and meaning of the message with a touch of boldness—the little spark of originality that makes it memorable and impactful. However, originality should never be an end in itself; it should always serve the message. Reinvention requires real effort and daily commitment because what works today might not work tomorrow.
To communicate in a way that stands out, you need continuous monitoring of trends and a solid “test and learn” approach. How to communicate outside the ordinary? With constant monitoring and a good “test and learn” strategy.
Reinvention requires real effort and daily commitment because what works today might not work tomorrow.
In concrete terms, how does this translate into your communications? Can you share a project to present to us?
A recent example is the campaign we launched for the latest Great Place to Work survey, where we needed to encourage employees to share their feedback about the company. To add a touch of originality and “spice,” we created a highly visual campaign featuring sharp and impactful wordplay. The idea was to first catch employees' attention with the visuals, leading them to the key message— the fact that their voices truly matter and that we're here to listen.
Finally, is it possible to assess internal commitment?
That’s a question we hear quite often! Yes, internal engagement can certainly be measured quantitatively using a variety of traditional tools and indicators such as internal platforms, participation in events, and more.
However, engagement isn’t just about numbers; it’s also about human reactions and a true sense of belonging. The best insights often come from direct interactions with employees, through a more informal approach that allows for meaningful, qualitative feedback.
A great example of this is our "Ask Me Anything"sessions, where employees can ask questions directly to the Group CEO. These moments foster genuine engagement—something that can’t always be captured through data alone.
Engagement is not just about numbers, it is also measured by human reactions and the feeling of belonging.
What do you think the internal communication of the future will look like?
In my opinion, internal communication will increasingly lean towards greater personalization and adaptation to individual preferences. This evolution will be driven by digital tools and AI, which can analyze individual needs and deliver highly tailored content. Personalization will also empower employees, who will always play a central role in corporate strategy and, therefore, in shaping internal communication.
Lastly, I firmly believe in the power of snack content. These short, highly visual formats—heavily inspired by Social Media —are likely to become the standard in internal communication, making information more digestible and engaging.
Do you have any final engagement advice to share with We Are COM readers?
Always start with the employees. Listen to them, give them opportunities to express themselves, and recognize their contributions. To address internal concerns and challenges effectively, it’s crucial to put people at the heart of the communication strategy. After all, how can you communicate authentically and transparently without them?
And one more thing—dare to be bold! Experiment, take risks, and continuously adjust your approach.
3 things to know about Auriane Vernois
Her daily source of inspiration? Without a doubt, Pinterest! Auriane spends a lot of time browsing the platform for inspiration. She particularly loves its highly visual and inspiring nature
Her favorite ad, past or present? An impactful and unconventional campaign by Indeed, addressing the gender pay gap. It perfectly reflects her communication style—designed to evoke that little "aha!" moment from the audience with striking simplicity.
Her passion ? Auriane is passionate about photography. For her, photography is a powerful and poetic way to communicate. She even travels extensively to bring this passion to life.
