Background
Airlite Plastics, a family-owned company based in Omaha, Nebraska, has grown rapidly through acquisitions to seven North American locations. Its divisions produce plastic packaging for food and cosmetics, insulated concrete forms and pavers, and temperature-sensitive packaging. With a multicultural workforce of over 1,500 employees speaking multiple languages, the company faced unique communication challenges. Leaders recognized the need for people-first internal communications to maintain culture and better connect with diverse, deskless employees working in demanding manufacturing environments.
The Challenge
Vision2Voice was engaged to conduct an internal communications audit to help a newly formed team identify priorities and focus areas. The audit addressed three challenges:
- Unclear communication effectiveness: Evaluating how internal communications supported business goals and the employee experience.
- Limited insight into employee needs: Understanding preferences and expectations to ensure communications were relevant, engaging, and delivered through the right channels.
- Gaps in the current approach: Identifying what was missing or underperforming to strengthen the overall internal communications ecosystem.
The Solution
We worked closely with the Airlite Plastics internal communications team and the Vice-President of Human Resources over three months, following our exclusive audit process. We not only identified communication gaps but also provided detailed and practical recommendations – equipping the team with a roadmap for the future. From the beginning of the audit process, we had high participation from senior leaders and front-line workers. What was extraordinary is that every senior leader in the organization made time for a one-hour interview and demonstrated curiosity and openness.
The Scope
Assessment of Communication Effectiveness
Evaluating how internal communications supported business goals and the employee experience.
Employee Insights
Gathering data on employee preferences, expectations, and engagement to guide communication relevance and delivery.
Gap Analysis
Identifying missing or underperforming elements in the internal communications ecosystem.
Stakeholder Engagement
Interviewing senior leaders and front-line employees to capture a broad range of perspectives.
Practical Recommendations
Delivering a roadmap for improving internal communications, prioritizing tasks, and informing future strategy and technology decisions.
“Providing good, effective communication is really hard. Sharing the results and information from the audit created some ‘ah ha’ moments and helped senior leaders understand the importance of internal communications and the value it can bring to our entire Airlite organization.”
The Results
Strategic Impact
The internal communications audit provided Airlite Plastics with a clear roadmap for action, strengthened leadership buy-in, and enabled the team to prioritize initiatives that foster a more connected, engaged, and aligned workforce.
Here’s what Airlite Plastics gained:
- An audit report that became the team’s guide for communications.
- Insights to help the team focus on high-impact initiatives.
- Recommendations that laid the foundation for a full internal communications strategy.
- Support to strengthen senior leadership buy-in and engagement.
- Data to guide the rollout and adoption of ConnectMe! powered by Workvivo.
- Findings that improved connection, alignment, and engagement across the workforce.
