Navigating the EX Recession: IC Tactics for a Thriving Workplace
A recent report from Forrester predicts that organizations will be freezing or reducing their employee experience (EX) budgets in 2024. For those of us in internal communication (IC), our response is typically a heavily sarcastic, “Great.”
EX refers to the entire journey that an employee takes with an organization from pre-hire to post-exit. At every stage of that journey, there’s IC. Our work has the power to boost productivity, enhance performance, increase job satisfaction, and align employees with organizational objectives. Considering a potential “EX recession,” we’re probably going to be doing a lot of this with the same (or less) budget we had in previous years. Don’t let a modest budget let you get complacent though. Here are a few things you can do to elevate IC on a shoestring.
Engage in employee listening activities—Conduct one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and larger employee surveys that help you further understand what’s working, what’s not, and what matters most to employees when it comes to IC.
Leverage existing IC measurement tools—Dig into the data from your intranet posts, employee emails, and whatever other metrics you can pull from your IC channels. Look for trends that illustrate what topics matter most to employees. Tailor future content accordingly.
Act as executive counselors to organizational leaders—Advise and counsel leaders, particularly senior-level ones, to help further the organization’s vision and help set the direction. Help them establish expectations for themselves to ensure they’re more effective communicators.
Think outside the box to meet audiences where they are—While introducing a new multi-thousand-dollar employee app to better reach frontline employees may be out of the question, there may be alternative solutions. Some applicant tracking systems can send text messages. If your organization has already invested in this technology, you could leverage it without spending another dime. Connect with human resources and IT to see what other solutions may already be in the mix that could serve a dual purpose, at least in the interim.
Take the IC show on the road—While EX and IC budgets by default may have cooled for 2024, what happens in 2025 is still up for debate. Keep building IC’s momentum as a strategic business partner by bringing your accomplishments to the forefront, particularly with your boss and senior-level leaders. Talk about your benchmarks for success, how you’re meeting them, and where you’d like to take IC next. Inject a healthy dose of “what’s in it for me” to really bring it home.
As we navigate the uncharted waters of a possible “EX recession,” IC resilience becomes key. Even with budget constraints, we can still have meaningful employee interactions, leverage existing tools, and think creatively. By acting as strategic partners to organizational leaders and showcasing the impact of our efforts, IC teams can not only weather the challenges of 2024 but also position ourselves for success in the evolving landscape of 2025 and beyond.
