How Verizon opened up its employee communications to everyone

When it comes to showcasing employees on external corporate digital channels, Verizon is a world leader.

Bowen Craggs spoke with Lynne Freeman, Web Content Strategist and Manager, and Jessica Patterson Everett, Senior Communications Manager, from Verizon's corporate communications team to uncover exactly how “inside-out” storytelling evolved at the company, and how authenticity and transparency came to be a key business priority.  

The why:

Lynne and Jessica told us that historically, external and internal communications were treated very differently at Verizon: “Everything that was internal was internal and on the intranet, and everything that was external was external and on the dot-com space.” 

At first glance, this divide makes sense. Many elements of employee communications fall into the category of personal HR, and it is important that personal and confidential information such as day-to-day work, benefits, vacation days and rate of pay are kept private and secure. But internal communications goes beyond personal HR: employees also need to be kept up to date with the latest news at the company. 

“Our job is to communicate information that employees need to know, which has a big overlap with what we're trying to communicate to our customers. Our employees are the best advocates for our customers, and many of our employees are customers, and so are their families, friends and social networks.” Jessica told us.

Verizon, like many companies, was facing a balancing act: safe-guarding proprietary and confidential information and communicating transparently, especially with employees who may not have easy access to the intranet.

This was the beginning of “inside-out” communications. 

“We turned it ‘inside-out’ to reach our employees in a way that suits them,” said Lynne. “At the end of the day, it's really about transparency and making sure our employees are as educated as our customers. Employees should be able to find information about Verizon as easily as an external reporter, customer or shareholder can.”

The goal is to reach employees where they are. And these efforts have had positive implications for some of Verizon’s other stakeholder relationships as well.

The what:

The "Up to Speed" broadcast: 

Initially an internal platform, "Up to Speed" has evolved into a crucial component of Verizon's external communication strategy. The program delivers essential company news and updates in an engaging video format. Verizon senior leaders feature regularly to share their insights and connect with employees. This content has an appeal beyond the core audience of Verizon employees – at Bowen Craggs, we view this kind of authentic and transparent content as useful for building trust with a variety of audiences, including jobseekers, investors and customers, among others. 

What the Verizon team says about it: 

“Up to Speed is our employee broadcast that we started as a way to succinctly get information out to our employees in video format, which we saw was pretty popular. The team recorded it day one on an iPhone and we've gone from doing that, to now making a news-quality show on a regular basis. 

“During the pandemic, we live-streamed our leaders almost every day, as a way to get important information out to our employees.

“I think what we did during COVID was so unique, and the feedback we received from our employees was that our daily Up to Speed broadcast was the one thing they could count on for trusted information. 

“Now, we have found that employees are most interested in things that relate to them, whether it’s news coming from the CEO about what's going on at the company, an employee story, or something that's going on with their day-to-day jobs and their benefits.”  

Inside Verizon:

Housed within the “News Center” on the Verizon corporate site, Inside Verizon is the company’s employee blog, which shares stories directly from employees (called V-Teamers), providing a glimpse into the company culture and celebrating individuals. As well as stories in the “Inside Verizon” category, employee spotlights feature prominently in the “Careers” section and on the company’s social media channels. Inside Verizon also has its own X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram accounts. 

What the Verizon team says about it: 

“What’s great about Inside Verizon is the snowball effect: you highlight one employee, and another employee comments on that story and says that's such an inspiration. And then that producer goes to that employee and says, What's your story? Suddenly you have 100 comments and people start sharing their stories even within the comments of an article. 

“It’s a small piece of us trying to do that for our employees to help encourage and motivate them and to help them engage with one another.  

“We have a long legacy of really strong storytellers at Verizon on the internal employee comms front, and now we've decided to share that externally. But that storytelling has always been a big part of our culture.”

The how:

Verizon’s corporate communications team attributes its success in making the internal external to strong support from senior leadership and a structure that promotes collaboration and partnership throughout the communications functions. 

“The relationship and the technical ability to get internal content on our dot-com platform was helped by the fact that we are largely part of the same team, and we have great relationships and great teamwork,” said Jessica. “We're a truly cross-functional team. And that made all the difference.”

“We are also lucky to have the full support of the senior leadership team, as they actively support transparent and authentic communication.” 

In-house production:

“We have an internal studio dedicated to internal communications, which produces Up to Speed and Inside Verizon content, and allows us to turn things around as quickly as we can. 

“All our content is produced internally: no agencies, no video production companies. Because at the end of the day, no vendor will be as close to our employee base as our employees themselves. 

“That said, we recognise that an internal studio isn’t feasible for every company, and we have also had a lot of success just recording on a cell phone. The goal is to be authentic, so this format can work really well.”

How do you decide what to put out externally and what to keep internally? 

“It's generally related to the sensitivity of the information that we're putting out there.

“Remember, the press monitors this, and you always have to assume that your competition is also watching.

“If it's confidential, if it's competitive, if it's proprietary, or financial related, then we do not share it. There are all kinds of regulations around what we can share externally and when. I think the vast majority are pretty easy decisions as to what stays internal, and leaning into transparency, I think we try to make as much externally available as possible. 

“And then our Legal team are our best friends. They’re always happy to tell us what we can and can't do.”

We asked the Verizon team if they had any advice for other companies wanting to try this out. This is what they said: 

“If you want to do more inside-out storytelling, there are a ton of ways you can do it. You don't have to follow the particular model that we have, but I think it's essential these days to reach your employees, and every company is going to have the same barriers for frontline employees trying to get into their internal platform, as that’s just the way it is due to security protocols. 

“It's authenticity, it's transparency, and it's just human. Being able to hear other employees’ stories is relatable. Our CEO has been very emotional on certain pieces, and I think that makes him more relatable. 

“Talk in real terms, without corporate-speak, to your consumer and employee base. When it comes to employee storytelling, we’ve been able to meld that and our external voice very well. 

“It’s all about human storytelling.”

Bowen Craggs has long been an advocate for showcasing employees on corporate digital channels, and Verizon’s inside-out storytelling is a leading example of what’s possible. Not only is this necessary for employee engagement and reaching employees in a way that suits them, but the implications go far beyond this one audience. Jobseekers, customers, media professionals, investors and environmental and social analysts all benefit from the increased transparency and trust.