From Noise to Signal – How IT Leaders Can Build a Unified Communication Layer

Digital transformation offers a unique opportunity for IT to drive exciting enterprise-wide change, yet too often the chance to revolutionize internal communications is missed. Consolidating internal communication tools has numerous benefits, including improving productivity, increasing collaboration, and mitigating business risk.  

In this blog, I’ll look at five core ways a single, unified communication layer can reduce digital friction and confusion for employees, and bring clarity, speed, and efficiency to your organization. 

1. Digital noise is a business risk

Tech overload – caused in large part by the proliferation of enterprise tools, many of which seem to overlap (Teams and Zoom, for example) – is a common complaint among employees. According to a 2022 study by Harvard Business Review, the average digital worker toggles between disconnected applications and websites nearly 1,200 times per day, losing around 10% of their annual work time to context switching​. This productivity drain is worsened by a lack of clarity on what platforms should be used for which purpose, and the growth of workarounds and shadow IT.  

The sheer volume and relentless nature of digital noise can mean employees disengage from certain channels altogether, relying instead on their manager or colleagues for news and missing critical company updates. When your people feel overwhelmed, they are more likely to seek solace in their silo, which fragments communications, weakens organizational ties, and reinforces feelings of isolation. Far from strengthening connection, more tech can kill it. 

Digital friction is not just a scare term; it is a real risk with serious financial costs to your business. Harmonising your internal communications into a single digital layer will reduce your organization’s exposure, and simplify life for your employees, so they stay focused, engaged, and productive. 

2. IT’s role in internal alignment

IT is no longer a support function. With the increase in digitization, AI, and cyber security, it is now a strategic driver of business goals. This broader role means that digital transformation is about much more than simply tech and tools – it is about the delivery of your organizational strategy through creating and maintaining a supportive culture. 

IT and the technology estates you drive are more than simply a reflection of your company culture – they are the culture. Deploying a unified communications layer facilitates greater collaboration, making it easier for teams to work together across functions and geographies. This is especially important for remote and hybrid teams, so they can stay aligned and responsive. Single communication hubs also enable faster decision-making, reducing the risk of downtime and maintaining business continuity. 

For your business to deliver growth and sustain its competitive advantage, you must have a culture that is agile, innovative, and customer centric. Those cultures are typically underpinned by having powerful, well-integrated communications platforms that act as a single point of truth, improve community and employees’ sense of belonging, and help architect culture. Adobe is a great example of this, with the company’s internal digital transformation (including a consolidated communications layer) playing a big role in its culture change, which added billions to its market capitalization and significantly boosted its share price. 

3. Beyond email and chat

While some communication forms like email and chat lend themselves to being transactional, internal communications also need to be two-way, dialogue driven, and story led. If you want your employees to engage with your organization’s vision, strategy, and digital transformation, they need to be emotionally moved. 

To do that, you need tools that are built for scalable internal storytelling, discussion and debate, and community building. Employee experience platforms such as Workvivo do just that. By bringing together functionality such as company news, live-streaming of events, and employee-generated content including vlogs and blogs, the focus is on what unites your people. 

Whether it’s employee recognition and rewards, internal social networking, or quick surveys and feedback tools, having a unified communications layer brings your culture to life in a way that no amount of Slack messages ever will. But more than that, it helps to create a culture that is inclusive, interactive, and inspirational. Employee experience platforms democratize rather than simply digitize communications, helping your people feel more empowered and engaged, which will be critical for the change management part of any larger digital transformation.  

With global employee engagement receding for the first time in four years, down to 21% in 2024, it makes business sense to invest in tools to help address declining productivity. 

4. The power of integration

To be clear, centralizing communications in a single platform does not mean replacing every tool. It’s about integrating them into a single layer, ensuring the right messages reach the right people at the right time. 

Because make no mistake, poor communication costs businesses a lot of money. 60% of business professionals face a crisis at least once a month due to communication issues, with an incredible 14% saying they occur weekly.

Toggling between systems and devices, inbox overspill, and access issues mean critical messages get missed, impacting customer satisfaction, future sales, and project timelines. 

The power of integration is that the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Bringing together your various communication tools into a single, user-friendly interface (similar to the social media platforms your employees use daily) helps your people to feel more in control, gives you peace of mind knowing you can reach your audience in real time, and enables messages to be better targeted. Information no longer gets trapped in silos, and insights can be rapidly shared with those who need them most – whether frontline or back office. With 74% of employees missing out on company news due to inadequate internal communication, integrating your communications is no longer a nice to have – it’s business critical. 

5. Metrics that matter

Data drives better decision making. One of the common criticisms of internal communications, especially from senior leaders, is that it’s hard to demonstrate the value it adds. And the more tools you deploy with poor to non-existent metrics, the worse the problem gets. 

Unifying your communications into a single layer eradicates this problem in one fell swoop. For the first time, you’re able to get full visibility into areas such as:

• Reduced time-to-information
• Improved engagement
• Increased productivity
• Less project slippage
• Fewer missed messages
• Greater recognition 
• Content spikes/dips – what works and what doesn’t 
• Employee feedback – frustrations, challenges, successes 

While some internal communication platforms do provide metrics, consolidated tools typically come with integrated analytics as standard, giving you an instant, accurate picture of how your communications and operations are working across your business, enabling you to spot issues before they become crises (86% of employees and executives cite the lack of effective collaboration and communication as the main causes of workplace failures). 

In hybrid and distributed work environments, where it can be harder to get a handle on engagement, productivity, and sentiment due to the lack of face-to-face contact, being able to do this digitally is a must.

Having all these metrics available in a one-stop shop gives you a wider variety of actionable insights to drive further improvements, creating a flywheel effect that powers your ongoing enterprise-wide digital transformation.

They also enable you to demonstrate ROI and build a business case for future investment, to ensure your internal communications continue to stay ahead of the pack. 

Noise to signal, confusion to clarity, and risk to reward

Building a simplified and centralized digital communications layer will take your organization from noise to signal, confusion to clarity, and risk to reward. 

Consolidation of internal communication channels is a foundational and fundamental part of your broader digital transformation strategy, and if IT takes the lead, you will deliver huge benefits to your organizations, including improved engagement, increased productivity, and reduced financial and reputational risk. 

The size of the prize is huge, so we encourage IT leaders to audit your current internal communication tools and evaluate where consolidation and integration could improve the employee experience.