Essay: Cornerstone - Internal And External Communications Overview.

While it is for you to decide upon the content and structure of the report, you might feel it appropriate to include aspects such as:

A brief overview of the organisation: its mission statement, goals, strategic objectives, etc.

A communications audit or SWOT analysis of communications

Consistency of messages – or brand - conveyed across different media and extent to which communications are integrated

Communication and appropriateness of any sponsorship (if appropriate)

Communication of Corporate Social Responsibility programmes (if appropriate)

Barriers to successful communication and use of language; evidence of intercultural sensitivities (if appropriate)

An evaluation of publications used for internal communications, marketing/PR (advertisements, leaflets, web site, social media, etc.)

An analysis of crisis communications (plan or case study) if appropriate

Recommendations for improvement (including costings) and/or Communications Plan

Internal Communications

Cornerstone is a UK based startup founded by entrepreneur Oliver Bridge. The company was established with an aim of making the process of shaving for men efficient and effective. It is an online portal that allows men from across the continent to order their shaving needs online and get it delivered at their doorstep in a single click. The website offers membership which accepts details about the frequency of shave and based on the same, it assists customers in ordering their shaving package online. The startup has created waves across the country and is already considered a disruptive innovation. With a target of acquiring over 250000 customer by next year, the firm has truly garnered attention from men at different walks of life. The firm is well known for its suave packaging, efficient design, customized parcel and timely delivery.

This report throws light on the internal and external communications of Cornerstone. Communication is one of the key functions in any organization. These communication tools assist in the transfer of knowledge and information in an efficient manner to different stakeholders of the organization. The internal communications create transparency in the organization while external communications assist in building customer relationships and attracting new consumers towards the brand (Bovee, Thill & Raina, 2016).  

Communications within the organization among employees is known as internal communication. This is an important aspect of the business as it creates transparency and a clear flow of information within the organization (Rogala & Bialowas, 2016). Many organizations work towards building more tools that assist in internal communications. Over the last many decades organizations have only focused on their communications with the customers. It is only recently that firms have identified the importance of internal communications and have worked to improvise the same (Men, 2014). The following internal communication strategies are being adopted at Cornerstone. This information was gathered by speaking to the business’s employees.

Most of the internal communications take place by the means of staff meetings. These meetings are conducted between the department members as well as among all the employees of the organization. The agenda of the meeting is to discuss the ongoing processes in the organization, understand the current state of affairs, review performances, provide constructive feedback and address grievances of employees. These meetings form a part of the employee’s daily ritual and helps the team stay connected with a transparent flow of information across everyone in the team. There are two meetings held in a month within the organization which involves all the employees. However there are different teams like sales and marketing, human resource management, Finance and accounts and operations. There are various team meetings that take place on a weekly basis. These meetings are meant to resolve conflicts and evaluate the performance of the team as a whole. The team leaders lead the meeting and the minutes of the meetings are sent to everyone in the team on the same day. Minutes of meetings are very important to review the meeting and share information with those employees who could not attend the meeting.

Staff Meetings

Email communications are a part and parcel of every organization. Every employee at cornerstone has a separate email ID for official purpose. Important files are shared on Gmail which enables all the employees to be able to access the same information. Even though, there are frequent meetings in the organization, emails help employees in documenting the communication. This is very useful in case of a conflict (McGregor, 2014). All the employees are expected to maintain their calendar on mail and all the meetings that happen in the organization are marked on the calendar in advance. This helps people in managing their time as well. Emails help in sharing information without leading to any kind of a miscommunication (Holtbrügge¸ Weldon & Rogers, 2013). Employees are encouraged to keep their emails clear, simple and professional. Emails are a fast means of communication. In fact with the advent in technology, everyone has access to emails on their smartphones. Which makes it easier for employees to stay connected even on the go.

Noticeboards are the easiest way to pass on information to every employee of the organization. The noticeboard at cornerstone is very creative. Since the firm is really small, everyone tries to keep their noticeboard attractive. Birthdays and anniversaries are mentioned on the noticeboard and the respective employees are wished by everyone. The company’s long term goals, visions are targets are placed on the notice board for everyone to see on a daily basis.

When interviewed, the employees of the organization also mentioned that every person is given the responsibility to maintain the notice board of the organization for a week. This creates a sense of ownership and enhances communication among employees.

Since the organization size is small, most of the communication happens face to face. Every employee of the firm knows all other employees which is why they believe it is the quickest way of transferring information (Meyer, 2016). However, face to face communication can often lead to miscommunication, lack of understanding and also misinterpretation of the message. This form of communication is not documented and hence cannot be verified in the future. This is why it is imperative that crucial information is not passed on through this means of communication. Face to face communication also poses the risk of forgetting the information which can hamper the communication system (Drago, 2015). Cornerstone employees have not yet faced any such problem but even so such modes must be avoided specifically while passing on important information.

Email Communications

Grapevine is an informal source of communication within the organization. It is a form of word of mouth communication and exists in every organization. This is not a reliable source of information however it is important to keep the team related. Grapevine communication follows in any manner in a random and undocumented fashion (Sethi & Seth, 2016). The information passed through the grapevine is open to constant change as per the individual interpretation of the employees. Such a mode of communication can wreak havoc by transferring misinformation. However Cornerstone is a really small firm. Which is why the grapevine communication firstly holds some truth and secondly is more transparent as opposed to bigger organizations. Sometimes, grapevine communication gives employees a chance to temper their reactions or get prepared for an event that may happen in the future but has yet not been announced as a part of official news.

External communications are used by organizations in order to share information with customers, media houses, news channels, potential clients, investors and other such stakeholders of the firm. It is very crucial that businesses select their external communication channels effectively in order to maintain the decorum, honesty and efficiency of the information shared with the public. The company’s external communications play a major role in establishing and maintaining the brand image of the business. The following communication channels are adopted by Cornerstone in order to communicate externally with their stakeholders.

The advent of social media marketing is evident by its increasing usage as well as its impact. Social media has now become a source of two way communication between the organization and its stakeholders (Tuten & Solomon, 2017). Most of the employees of the firm are millennial and so are the organization’s target customers. All of whom have a solid presence on the social media. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat and even twitter have become an important part of people’s everyday lifestyles. Which is why it would be foolish not to invest upon this tool of communication by organizations. Cornerstone has used the following platforms to mark its presence in the business, garner attention from customers, attract potential clients and establish communication with all its stakeholders.

Cornerstone is very active on twitter. In the span of two years they have attained 19k followers (twitter, 2017). They should work towards gaining more followers and ensuring that they keep their followers engaged with their marketing strategies. The firm has effectively succeeded in promoting their discounts via twitter which has received several retweets.

Notice Board

Cornerstone is not entirely active on YouTube marketing. Though they ensure that all their television advertisements are available on YouTube as well, they have just 59 subscribers. They have also only updated 7 videos which is too less to keep customer attention (YouTube, 2017).

Cornerstone is very active on Instagram. They are fully aware that their packaging and products are very appealing to the eye. To stress this fact efficiently, they have utilized the platform of Instagram to post pictures of their products. They have over 7k followers on Instagram which can be increased with frequent uses of hashtags and buying Instagram’s paid advertising service (Instagram, 2017).

Cornerstone is actively involved in attracting Facebook users. They have 40k followers on Facebook and the firm is known to reply to user messages almost instantly (Facebook, 2017). The platform has enabled the firm to market their products in an efficient manner and gain more customers due to their attractive referral schemes.

Newsletters are means of communicating internally as well as externally. They are aimed at letting the customers know more about the on goings of the business as well las the business’s future plans. This information is important to customers and other stakeholders. Cornerstone has used a creative strategy to send newsletters across to their customers. Instead of mailing the newsletters, they send it along with their shaving package (Appendices 2). This way it surely reaches out to all the customers.

Newsletter are important to know about the existing offers and discounts which are given by the firm. They also help customers become aware about the upcoming offerings and lets the customers know if there are any events organized by the firm (Wardhana & Pradana, 2016). Newsletters are not considered the most efficient tool as it is a one way communication which is often incomplete.

Every organization aims to establish strong relationships with media houses as well as news channels. After all, these television channels and newspapers carry important news about the business. Cornerstone has a dedicated team to handle their Public relations with various news houses. Cornerstone also has a section of their official website devoted to throwing attention at the company news that has been published anywhere across the globe (Appendices 1). The effectiveness of these media relations can help Cornerstone build a positive brand image and establish a goodwill in the market.

Advertisements by the organization in the form of television ads, newspaper ads, billboards, hoardings, social media marketing, YouTube ads or even magazine commercials are one of the primary means of establishing communication with the external stakeholders of the organization. Advertisements enable the firm to reach out to a large audience and make viewers aware about the firm’s offerings (Aaker & Biel, 2013). Advertisements also help in creating the positioning of the brand in the minds of its consumers. This directly impacts the company’s revenue.

Face to Face Communication

In the current marketing scenario, the power resting with the customer is gaining ground. The customer’s opinions can make or break a brand. This is what makes it crucial for organizations to focus on customer servicing and ensure that their customers are satisfied and retained. There are various platforms online which allow customers to review products. Such platforms include GlassDoor, trust pilot, reviews.uk etc. These websites are now considered reliable sources of information regarding a product, service or an organization. Even though cornerstone has a sufficiently good rating on all these platforms it is important that cornerstone takes the time out to reply to all the people reviewing in order to build a connect with its customers.

Despite effective communication policies adopted by the brand there are various barriers to a successful communication process. These barriers create obstacles in the interaction efforts by the firm to its external stakeholders (Baker & Warren, 2015). Given below are few barriers that cornerstone faces:

1. People don’t trust online delivery: Despite the changing scenario and increasing digitalization of the world, there are many people who still prefer to buy their everyday requirements by physically visiting the store. Shaving kit for men is a part of the monthly grocery shopping in almost every household and this is why people would still take time to adapt to this changing scenario.
2. Little control over information: One of the biggest disadvantages of the digitalized world is that companies now have little control over the information that circulates the internet. There are many million customers and competitors who post about the company details over the internet. This makes it difficult for the firm to evaluate everything posted on the internet and retaliate to the same. Very often, competitors create fake profiles and post negatively about the brand. This makes it tedious to control the brand image of the firm.

Cornerstone is a small firm and hence the communication process adopted by them are relatively simple. However, a few recommendations could help the firm create more transparency and higher visibility to their communication process.

In order to promote effective communication within the organization it is important to create a culture of transparent communication. This culture must spring from the top management of the firm. Everyone in the organization must be encouraged to communicate freely and address their issues without hesitation. Adaptation of such a culture automatically improvises the communication system of the business.

Social listening involves the procedure of being an excellent listener of what is being posted throughout social media. Social media platforms have become a two way communication for the business (Koehler, 2014). It is crucial that Cornerstone dedicates a team for social listening whose aim would be to respond to queries posted on Facebook, revert Instagram questions, reply to reviews posted on GlassDoor, retweet tweets on twitter which help in publicizing the product and basically demonstrate an active presence on social media.

Internal meetings could be conducted more frequently. A high number of internal meetings create transparency of information, facilitate efficient sharing of organizational details and reduce the negative impact of grapevine communication in the firm.

Open door policy is a new strategy and has been adopted by various leading businesses. This enables the top management of the firm to leave their doors open at all times symbolizing that they are open to communicating with all the employees at any given point of time (Newey, 2016). Open door policy builds trust in the management and leads to quicker addressing of queries and grievances in the organization and hence faster resolving of conflicts as and when they arise.

Grapevine

Conclusion:

Cornerstone is a leading startup based out of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2015 and in a short span of 2 years has garnered over 1.5 lac consumers from across the continent. Their primary offering includes shaving needs of men delivered at their doorstep via an online membership portal. The brand has truly changed how men buy products for their shaving needs. Like every other business, communications with internal as well as external stakeholders of the business are an important source of transferring information. This enables the business to operate freely and enables transparent flow of information inside the organization as well as outside.

Internal communications within the cornerstone space are relatively simple owing to the small size of the organization. This process of internal communication takes place by the means of staff meetings, notice boards or even face to face communications. These communications form an important aspect of the organizational culture and avoid any misinformation from getting transferred within the organization.

External communications are the communications that a firm has with their external stakeholders including but not limited to customers, clients, media houses, competitors and investors. The external communications of a firm are very crucial to the business as it helps organizations in building and maintaining their brand equity in the market. These communications help in positioning the product in the minds of consumers in an efficient manner. Cornerstone has aced its communication channels and has managed to garner immense customer attention. They must however, work upon their social listening skills and enhance presence on YouTube in order to reach out to a wider customer base.

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