You want to start an internal radio in your company but you still do not know if you should outsource the production. You still hesitate on its format, its content, its distribution, its audience … Today, Madmagz Com’In gives the floor to Hervé Pouchol, a journalist with more than 30 years of experience including 10 on TV and radio,  who recently specialized in corporate radio with his company HPP. 

What is corporate radio?

The online media are unanimous, radio is a popular medium that continues to develop within companies. I just regret not having found figures to be able to justify these remarks. Before understanding the reasons for this success, let’s answer the first primary question: what is a corporate radio? We hear about audio newsletters, podcast, company radio, internal radio, internal audio journal …

“ A company radio can be both an internal radio, intended for employees and an external radio intended for clients/partners, broadcast on the company website, the Internet or on a specific radio channel.  There is also event radio, to celebrate a convention, a seminar… In this case, we are in full swing of the event! » Explains Hervé Pouchol, before adding:« personally, I generally offer internal radios to allow companies to be as close as possible to their employees.  We are addressing SMEs, large groups but also multinationals so that employees who are on the other side of the world can be informed ”.

Company radio, a complementary internal communication tool

For Hervé Pouchol, corporate radio comes bearing a miscommunication e between managers, HRD, the Eircom and employees. “I realized that business and communications leaders were looking for other interactive ways to better communicate with their employees in a concise, dynamic and impactful way! “

In the age of infobesity, shouldn’t we fear the arrival of yet another communication medium? Hervé Pouchol affirms that on the contrary, if the format remains focused on most of the company’s news and does not exceed 3 minutes, radio becomes the communication tool that makes the difference compared to other media existing. 

Complementarity in substance …

“No, it’s complimentary. We focus on the essentials of the company’s news. I try to bring more. I call it the booster shot. If you want more information, you can always refer to the internal journal, the newsletter or the intranet. And let’s not forget too much information kills information, let’s be concise and we will be heard! “

What are we talking about on a company radio? “We, in our Weekly  Audio Flash, we go over the essentials of the company’s news by emphasizing 4 main information. Once a month we invite a leader, an employee, a trade unionist, even a client of the company, to answer 3 essential questions in less than 2 minutes ”.

How exactly does this happen? “The HRD and Eircom we do send their information. For example, for one of our clients, a specialist in-home equipment, I announced the release of a new product. Employees are thus informed in advance of customers of the launch of the new product, which is not always the case. I then can they speak r of security, better business meeting and who won the best products. Sometimes I evoke sponsorship actions, partnership ideas … but also major upheavals, structuring, merger… so that everyone can anticipate change… ”

“At HPP, we have also set up the special 24-hour flash. It is broadcast almost instantly. We, therefore, call on HPP and with my teams, we are available immediately. This is normal when dealing with news, we must be reactive immediately! ”

… And the shape

“We limit ourselves to 3-4 pieces of information per recording, no more, we want the brain to memorize and no fatigue on the part of our listeners. Every Monday morning, I remember most of the news in bed. Our goal is to make people want to know. More than a corporate radio station, we are making a 3-minute audio podcast called “Le Monday’s Flash” ”.

And diffusion? 

For an optimal broadcast of a radio program, you have to rely on traditional communication media: intranet, email, mobile. Hervé Pouchol tells us: “the majority of employees are alerted by email. We also distribute it on the intranet and by text message for employees with smartphones ”.

The smartphone? And yes, you can listen to the radio anywhere, especially on your mobile, and that is its advantage. Nevertheless, this raises the question of the increasingly thin line between professional and private life in the digital age. On the question, which is not foreign to him,  Hervé Pouchol says: “A company proposed on a voluntary basis that we send the podcast on the personal portable devices of employees. We did it because it was a request from them. But we must admit that texting works very well. But in general, it is especially on computers that we listen to the podcast ”.

How to succeed in your internal radio?

According to Hervé Pouchol, the success of an internal radio depends on:

A familiar and external voice

“As far as I am concerned, employees are reassured by my voice, which is often familiar to them. Communication directors tell me that it reassures employees to have a voice known to the world of radio, an external voice. I am selling as a journalist, having total independence, which gives a feeling of confidence. I am also the voice of employees and not just the good word of management ”.

The experience

“And then, radio is a real job, I bring them my experience as a radio journalist on form and content (order of news etc.). From time to time, the communications director sends us information, I reconstruct the information, I submit a more “Radio” version to them and as I told you previously we use all the codes of human understanding, I send them the reworked text back to them, and I receive the ‘voucher for distribution’ ”. It is a real work of oral communication.

The format: concise

“It has to be concise, precise, pleasant to listen to. We stick to the ‘3-minute’ format. This helps to avoid zapping. From time to time, we add an interview where we give the floor to a manager or an employee. It is important to make both managers and employees speak, it is a question of valuing: your opinion interests us … “

Real messages

“We’re getting the real messages across. When I get a boss, I will ask him as awkward questions. It appeals to employees as well as to all employees. The voice does not disappoint, the listeners feel perfect, the en franchise the speech of the intervening. As a general rule, I offer one interview per month for a manager but also for an employee ”.

The playful touch

At a time when gamification is proving its worth both as a management method and to reinforce the feeling of adhesion of employees to their company ( employee engagement), the radio format has its place.

“From time to time, the icing on the cake, we add a little game. For example, for a large DIY store, we talked about the speed limits authorized in car parks in one of our columns. At the end of the column, I asked the listeners the question: what is the authorized speed limit in the car parks and they had to answer the question by email to win a prize. We had a lot of responses, which proves that our programs are listened to. It is also a good way to see if the collaborators have withheld the info. And the 3-minute format is perfect for that ”.

Confidentiality

“Another important point that I would like to underline: we focus on confidentiality and respect for the company. Let us not forget that we manage internal communication, the subjects can be sensitive, the strategies highlighted…! ”

So to answer our initial question, yes, according to Hervé Pouchol, we have to outsource the production of his company radio. “I advise you to read my article on the 10 good reasons not to carry out your company radio internally ”. Not to mention that for a 3-minute chronicle, “it takes around 2 to 3 days of work between briefing, sorting through information, rewriting, recording and editing”.