On September 21, the RANEPA Institute of Industry Management hosted a meeting of students from a variety of departments: advertising and PR, digital media, marketing, and business management in creative industries. The meeting was hosted by Dmitry Mikhailov, curator of the internal communications department at Gazprom-Media Holding. He talked to the students about the internal communication tools and channels used within the holding, which employs over 9,000 people.
At Gazprom-Media Holding, the three pillars of internal communications are: a Telegram channel with comments enabled, a corporate portal, and an exclusive employee-only mobile app. To launch projects that really matter, it is important to study the interests of employees in detail, and in a corporate environment, surveys are the best way to handle this task. Communicative impact largely depends on involving thought leaders: “If an important message is conveyed by someone people listen to, it will work as intended!” believes Mikhailov.
The holding uses a range of tools to streamline interactions within its enormous team. Some examples include soccer games and photo quests, which are great for small-scale corporate events. Virtual matches are also a good team building idea, because esports also count. “Through corporate projects, the company nurtures the health, well-being, and growth of its employees. Some things that have worked for Gazprom-Media Holding include an English club, intellectual games, sports communities, and partner programs. Usually, around 25 to 35% of employees get involved in corporate projects,” Mikhailov added. In picking project ideas that actually work, he advises considering the target audience’s profession, age, interests, and lifestyle. It is better to conceptually contrast an event or project with the respective specialization: for example, sports are suitable for employees that are usually under a lot of mental strain, while quizzes are incredibly popular among hands-on industrial professions.
Gazprom-Media speakers are visiting RANEPA with a series introductory vocational lectures called MediaEnvironment. Open Mic. This lecture series is part of the Holding’s PROfnavigator project, created to introduce students to the unique features of the most popular professions in the media industry, with contributions from experts in the fields of advertising, media, cinema, and digital technologies.
The first lecture of the series was delivered on September 7 by Georgy Ryumin, creative producer of KIT Group, part of Gazprom-Media.