Employees want to hear podcasts — from their bosses.

A 2021 Kantar study of American employees found that 83% of respondents are interesting in getting company news via podcasts, and 78% would like to hear from company leadership via internal podcasts.  An appetite for work-specific audio is the impetus behind FieldCast — which supported the Kantar research — a full-service platform for private enterprise podcasting.

While public-facing branded podcasts help companies burnish their brand images to consumers, FieldCast (“The Voice of  Business”) specializes in creating new and uniquely effective lines of in-house corporate communications. Founded in 2018, the company has developed a full-service suite of tools which enable companies to execute an internal communications flow based on podcasts. There’s a production app and listening app, a music library, remote recording, and analytics.

Dana Elmquist, President, FieldCast

The Covid pandemic, and the emerging post-pandemic (we hope) period have put extra emphasis on FieldCast’s offerings. Company president Dana Elmquist (ex-WNYC Studios and Market Enginuity) noted in a recent WGN interview: “The pandemic has fundamentally changed how company leaders need to communicate with employees to be effective. Companies must adapt to the new paradigm of when, where and how employees work and when, where and how they consume information. Given the rise of blended offices combining remote and in-person workers, one of the most effective ways for employers to engage and motivate employees to create a high-performance workplace is through podcasting.”

Elmquist notes the intrusive nature of video connectivity (e.g. Zoom weariness), and observes that podcasting is eyes-off and hands-off, making it easier to consume without interruption or assigning a meeting time. “Podcasting allows executives to share their news, vision and insight with employees in their own voice – when, where and how employees want to hear it,” he said.

We don’t know whether executive podcasting will replace the time-honored “all-hands meeting.” But in this period of podcasting’s evolution when alternate forms of distribution are putting new definition into a formerly free-for-all environment, we find the idea of private enterprise podcasting an interesting idea, and a distinct verification of audio’s unique qualities.

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Brad Hill