Independent channels for local comms are inevitable. Can we improve quality and reduce rogue messaging?
We know “shadow IT” to be the technical workarounds that people devise without the approval of the IT department, like a WhatsApp group that employees use for work topics.
“Shadow localization” is a close relative. Local workplaces devise their own channels for communication, usually unknown to the corporate office.
Examples of shadow localization include:
- Local SharePoint, evolving into a local intranet
Much of the employee experience – insurance forms, payroll and reimbursement, training in local language – are unique to a country, or they are legally required to be in local language. These instructions and forms are put into a SharePoint, and because they’re frequently used and important to employees, sooner or later people start calling it “the intranet,” which means they’re probably ignoring the global one.
- Local newsletters
People really like producing local news. They may not have readers, and there may never be an issue #3, but they really like it. These aren’t going away.
- Local posters
Like newsletters, people put a lot of faith into posters that “create awareness.” They might adapt existing posters, or they create their own in PowerPoint. In one warehouse in the Czech Republic, I saw posters that had been produced in English for the entire company. Next to each was a locally printed meta-poster: a text-only translation of the poster content. I admire the optimism.
- Global comms from various functions
Global groups like IT, security, and procurement have their own local people, and they dispatch campaigns on their own. Like a pachinko machine, various groups continually dispense tiny balls of content that take unpredictable paths. Those campaigns may be translated, but they’re rarely synchronized with Communications. They think it’s a simple request (“translate this”), but these separate corporate functions can put a significant combined workload on local organizations – particularly in smaller countries.
I’m calling these “shadow localization,” and I generally applaud the effort. But there are risks if we in corporate communications leave local business units entirely on their own.
Shadow localization: what are the risks?
Shadow localization has been going on for years, yet the problems can be more serious than companies realize.
Too many translations
Sending content around the world and telling them to translate “if necessary” is asking for various interpretations and inefficiency. People in different locations within the same language group may decide to devote time to it, and they will make different language choices. The result is duplicated effort and distortion of key concepts.
Off message
It’s always amazed me how work from Communications has so many levels of approval, yet local channels on the same topics seem to have zero. Without checking with comms, or Legal, or Investor Relations, they put out statements with, let’s say, unfortunate wording.
Misuse of branded visuals
Maybe the DIY approach to visual brand is not really the problem we once thought it was, but people who don’t know better can copy a photo from the web, and the company may have to pay for illegal use.
I’ve never seen the organization that fully sanctions local news channels,
yet I’ve never seen an organization that successfully prevents them.
The local needs to communicate are real, and the energy they commit to it should be encouraged rather than policed. Instead of controlling them, we should be enabling them with content operations.
Think content operations
Corporate communications can improve the quality of local channels and lower these risks by learning from one important concept of the localization industry: content operations.
Instead of English content that countries are obligated to translate word-for-word, give them the raw materials. At any given time, they should have easy access to:
- Key messages on universal topics
- Easy and culturally appropriate templates
- Culturally appropriate assets (photos, graphics, etc),
- A clear understanding of the global content strategy
- A global content calendar
On the corporate side, make sure business functions have a matrix of product availability by country. It’s often the case that “global” content talks about products or services that aren’t sold everywhere.
Content operations can be continually refined, but put these basics together, and you are starting to build a process for localization.
Content operations will be especially useful in your most strategic markets, where you’re more likely to have experienced communicators. But sooner or later even your smaller markets will start to plug into it because it saves everyone time. If the components you share are easy to access and use, and if they’re culturally and operationally appropriate to their market, people will be attracted to them. They will learn to check in and stay up to date.
Instead of policing local channels, we will be collaborating to optimize them.
This post has been adapted from my book, Localizing Employee Communications. Have a look at the table of contents on Amazon, watch my preview video, and read the reviews.
If you’ve read it, please leave a review or rating on Amazon. It helps others find it.
Photo by Emile Guillemot on Unsplash
