Blog - How to leverage internal podcasts on your intranet

Summary

Podcasts offer a convenient and engaging way to deliver information, updates, and messages to employees in a variety of use cases. But can your intranet handle podcasts properly?

Some of you may remember Steve Jobs demonstrating how to make a podcast using Garageband in a 2006 keynote… Since 2014, International Podcast Day has been showcasing independent podcasting talent from around the world and raising awareness of a growing industry. Podcasts can be any length, any frequency, any format, and cover any topic. They are also valuable media for internal communications!

One out of 4 enterprise-sized organizations (with 10,000+ employees) uses podcasts as part of their internal communication strategy and ‘media toolbox’, according to Gallagher’s State of the Sector 2022-23 on Internal Communication and Employee Experience.

Podcasts offer a convenient and engaging way to deliver information, updates, and messages to employees in a variety of use cases:

1. Company updates, where podcasts provide regular updates on company news, developments, and achievements (financial results, product launches, new initiatives, and strategic direction), enabling employees to stay informed in an accessible format.

2. CEO and Leadership messages, with podcasts offering a platform for senior leaders to communicate ‘directly’ with employees to share their vision, insights, and priorities, fostering a sense of connection and transparency.

3. Culture and values, where a podcast series enables the sharing of stories, interviews, or discussions that highlight the company's mission, values, and commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Why you need video for employee experience

Download our free guide to understand most important features, benefits and challenges of an internal video strategy.

4. Onboarding, where podcast series or episodes assist new employees during their onboarding process, introducing key team members, explanations of company processes, and insights into the company's history and culture.

5. Training and development, with podcasts sharing educational content, best practices, and industry insights that help employees improve their skills and knowledge.

6. Employee spotlights and recognition, with a podcast series in which different employees share their experiences, achievements, and contributions per episode, or episodes recognize and celebrate employee achievements, milestones, and anniversaries, acknowledging the contributions of individuals, helping to build a sense of community and recognition among the workforce.

7. Wellness and employee support, with podcast episodes offering wellness tips, mental health resources, and guidance for work-life balance. thus supporting employees' overall well-being initiatives.

8. Internal marketing and promotions, to highlight internal initiatives, events, and campaigns through podcast advertisements or dedicated episodes.

When using podcasts for internal communications, it's important to consider accessibility and inclusivity, so that employees can easily access and listen to the content, regardless of their location or ability.

Seamless podcast management and consumption experience

Instead of hosting your podcast in a separate environment, the video-management module of the LumApps employee intranet natively converts any uploaded MP3 or OGG audio file into a video podcast.

Once your audio podcast has been automatically converted into a video podcast, you can benefit from the following features that will guarantee seamless user experience and accessibility while boosting its consumption by employees:

A content manager can thoroughly define the visibility of a video podcast file by the organization’s employees.
They can include a video podcast in any news article or piece of content via a natively integrated and pixel-perfect player widget for a seamless user experience.
Each video podcast has its own landing page (URL) for better accessibility.
Content managers can add in a few clicks a specific thumbnail to the video podcast, chapters, subtitles, automated audio transcription, or call-to-actions to a video podcast to facilitate consumption and bring employees to additional content when needed.
Any video podcast can be automatically or manually included in playlists if it fits into a specific category or theme, to increase engagement.
Video podcasts are included in LumApps native content analytics dashboards, to monitor consumption and employee engagement.
Based on its visibility settings, a video podcast will appear in the platform’s search results, based on an employee’s query, as any other LumApps content, to foster knowledge dissemination.

Last but not least, whether on their laptop on the LumApps employee intranet or on their smartphone (using the LumApps mobile app), any employee will be able to listen to the podcasts of their choice while doing other tasks.