The Role of Communication in Company Culture: How Mo Transforms Teams

Company culture is a vital part of the success of any business. But here’s a hard truth: a positive culture can easily be derailed by mergers, acquisitions or a round of staff layoffs. Changes that come from the top down are particularly devastating for employee culture. Just look at Twitter. No matter how engaged your hires are when they come aboard, motivation can be toppled by badly managed events – many of which could be anticipated. At the root of these issues? Communication.

Without successful communication from management, employees feel isolated and anxious. Nobody likes being kept in the dark. Even worse, contradictory information can make employees feel like they are being deceived. Productivity declines. Staff begin to look for other roles. A Harvard Business Review article reports that survivors experience a 20% decline in job performance after a layoff. Periods of uncertainty can be avoided by better communication, the type that is designed to increase confidence and save your company culture. And when maintained, the sky’s the limit.

While culture varies from company to company, most cite these elements as key to a positive culture:

1. Realistic workloads.
2. Meaningful recognition.
3. Support during sickness and maternity leave.
4. A bonus or reward structure.
5. Meritocratic promotions.
6. Supportive HR policies.
7. Regular social events.
8. Respect and transparency.

Mo is an award-winning culture tool that supports most of the initiatives on the list above. According to McKinsey, only 25% of respondents say their organisations’ leaders are engaged, passionate and truly inspiring. We believe that needs to change. Businesses succeed when their management leaders are invested in the daily achievements of their teams, which is why we created a communication platform that prioritises positive engagement.

In this article, we will explore ways of harnessing employee communication to improve your company culture. We will consider the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication types and how they can benefit remote work environments. 

Don’t forget, you can always book a free consultation with one of our experts to discuss how we can support your culture goals.

How to Improve Employee Communication

While many will cite management as the source of good communication, the truth is more complicated. Leaders must model positive communication dynamics by promoting respect and transparency. When managers are engaged, employees will feel valued. As a result, their sense of accountability will rise, and productivity will increase. 

Before investing in new software or improving your tech stack, take an internal temperature check. An audit will give you a clear picture of the real issues at hand. Many leaders, while well-intentioned, focus on vanity metrics and miss the problems their employees face on a daily basis.

Most employees are suspicious of “anonymous” employee surveys. Instead, ask a trusted team member to hold a town hall to gather ideas.

Once you have a list of common issues faced by your team, you can move on to the next step. Many teams cite communication “silos”, pointless meetings and a lack of follow-up action as chronic problems for their cultures. You will also discover what is working well; double down on your successes.

Mo makes sharing progress updates fun and personal, helping to break down silos and build better collaboration across unconventional working patterns.

Who is Responsible for Employee Communication?

Communication will only be successful when everyone in the team is invested. Senior leadership. Middle management. HR. While these departments will use different communication models, the overall ethos should be consistent.

While official communications will be conducted over encrypted email servers, daily conversations have more flexibility. Some choose Slack or Microsoft Teams for their instant messaging. Others choose Mo to facilitate positive communications, including meaningful recognition, feedback loops and behaviour building. Mo is employee communication software that helps high-performing teams celebrate success and share progress updates.

If you already use Slack or Microsoft Teams, you can integrate Mo into your current tech stack. Our employee communication app makes it easy for employees to recognise peer achievement from anywhere in the world. Think of Mo as social media for work without showboating or negativity.

We recommend Mo to teams that are trying to improve their company culture strategically and holistically. While monthly updates from senior management can be effective, it is those daily positive communications that have the biggest impact. Through periods of change, leaders can use Mo to share updates, ask for feedback and recognise performance, preventing dips in morale and trust.

Axol Boosted Employee NPS by 57% With Mo

In 2021, Axol Bioscience went through a merger that derailed their employee motivation and cohesion. But by 2024, Axol has raised their NPS score by 57%. The solution? Mo.

Axol used Mo’s platform to address leadership concerns. Initial resistance (some feared “Big Brother”-style monitoring) softened as leaders saw Mo’s focus on positive reinforcement and collaboration. Rather than surveillance, our platform brings invisible work to the surface for everyone to celebrate.

Remote and Hybrid Workplaces Need Better Communication Strategies

Remote working can create communication silos, even in the most efficient teams. Without opportunities to share ideas and provide feedback in a casual environment, remote teams risk stagnation. 

When layoffs or mergers happen, remote environments suffer more than in-office cultures. That’s because employees can’t reduce anxiety through ad hoc conversations with their peers and managers. Most remote communications are overly formalised, leading to isolation and mistrust. The antidote to this problem is a mixture of synchronous and asynchronous communications that make staff feel connected and valued.

Synchronous vs Asynchronous Communication

Synchronous: Communication that is happening at the same time, even across time zones. Examples include video calls, live messenger chats and in-person meetings.

Asynchronous: Communication that is happening at different times for each participant. Examples include email, scheduling messages and voice memos. Mo is a form of asynchronous communication. 

Whether you work in-office or remotely, asynchronous communication can benefit your culture. It provides a low-pressure space for employees to express themselves, ask questions and praise their peers – all essential elements of a positive company culture.

Mo Helps Employees Communicate Across Distance

Ask any senior leader about company culture, and they will tell you that real engagement involves more than project management tools. That’s where Mo is different. Our features help employees feel genuinely proud of their progress by encouraging positive updates.

Whether you work in leadership, middle management, or as an employee, you have a role in the communication ecosystem of your organisation.

Mo keeps teams motivated by emphasising the Moments that matter, while our Boosts feature encourages managers to promote good behaviours in their teams. By combining regular recognition, positive communication and easy incentives, you can build a working environment that encourages your teams to aim higher.

Leaders can track team performance, identify areas for improvement and optimise engagement to ensure ongoing connection and success across your business.

As our platform is asynchronous and remote-first, Mo is built for teams who work in remote, hybrid or distributed team models.

Transform your culture with Mo

Book a free demo to learn how Mo can help you:

• 🤝 Improve employee engagement scores
• 🚀 Reduce employee churn
• 😍 Build a collaborative culture

Book your free demo

Mo is a Different Kind of Employee Communication App

Mo is an employee culture app that brings teams together to drive real improvement in engagement scores while reducing staff turnover. We help people teams create great places to work through continuous, positive action.

If you’re looking for ways to take action on measuring employee engagement, learn more about how to shift the dial at the manager level and transform insights into action. To find out if you’re eligible for our money-back guarantee, book a demo with our team.