Internal communications

Filming a day's work for the US Armed Forces Network Television Services, an internal communication channel.

Internal communications (IC) is the function responsible for effective communications among participants within an organization. Many practitioners highlight that they are not responsible for the day to day intercourse between colleagues but rather in helping an organisation achieve its goals by building understanding and engagement.

Modern understanding of internal communications is a field of its own and draws on the theory and practice of related professions, not least journalism, knowledge management, public relations (e.g., media relations), marketing and human resources, as well as wider organizational studies, communication theory, social psychology, sociology and political science.

History of internal communications

Lady Lever Art Gallery, built in 1888 as part of a model village for the workers of the Lever's soap factory - Port Sunlight, UK

Large industrial organizations have a long history of promoting pride and a sense of unity among the employees of the company, evidenced in the cultural productions of Victorian-era soap manufacturers as far apart as the UK's Lever Brothers (right) and the Larkin Soap Company of Buffalo, New York.

Internal communications is fundamentally a management discipline, but as a discrete discipline of organizational theory it is correspondingly young. Stanford associate professor Alex Heron's Sharing Information with Employees (1943) is an outlier among texts which focus solely on the factors involved. Theorization in academic papers accelerated in the 1970s, but mainstream management texts mostly post-date 1990.

Writing in 2013, Ruck and Yaxley explore how the discipline evolved from the days of employee publications in the late 19th century. As organisations became more complex, the impetus to communicate with employees grew and led to the emergence of an increasingly specialised discipline.[1]

Role of IC in the organization

People at work communicate regardless of the intentions of their managers or leaders. The purpose that a formally appointed IC manager or IC team will serve within a given organization will depend on the business context. In one, the IC function may perform the role of 'internal marketing' (i.e., attempting to win participants over to the management vision of the organization); in another, it might perform a 'logistical' service as channel manager; in a third, it might act principally as strategic adviser.

It is important to distinguish between communications on behalf of the organization and the day to day intercourse within work groups or between managers and subordinates. Minzberg [2] talks about the fact that communications is intrinsic to the work of a manager - it is the very essence of work in many situations. This article is less concerned with the interpersonal communications that take place in most workplaces and which are explored by writers such as Phillip Clampitt.[3]

There are a number of reasons why organisations should be concerned with internal communication.

Importantly, there is commonly a legal requirement for organizations to communicate with their workers. In Europe, for example, the EU has made very specific provision about workers' rights to be informed and consulted with Directive 94/45/EC (Works Council).

Effective internal communications is commonly understood by practitioners to improve employee engagement (see, for example, the UK government-sponsored Macleod Report [4]) and therefore to add significant value to organizations on metrics from productivity to customer research.

As noted in Quirke (2008):[5] "Traditionally, internal communications has focused on the announcement of management conclusions and the packaging of management thinking into messages for mass distribution to the 'troops'". Research indicates a limit to the value of this 'broadcasting' model of IC. Without feedback loops and harnessing the active involvement and mediation skills of frontline supervisors or team leaders, broadcasting tends to be more effective at influencing senior and middle managers than frontline employees - see, e.g., Larkin and Larkin (1994).[6]

As the IC function matures within the organization, then, it may come to play a wider role in facilitating conversations "upwards", "downwards" and "across" the organization, per Stohl (1995).[7] Organizations increasingly see IC as playing a role in external reputation management. Joep Cornelissen in his book Corporate Communications [8] touches on the relationship between reputation and internal conversations. This trend reaches its full potential with the arrival of new 'norms' and customer expectations around social media, for example in the work of Scoble and Israel.[9] Market researchers MORI[10] have likewise highlighted the effects of employee advocacy on an organisation's external reputation.

IC managers try to get senior leaders to think strategically about how management decisions can be perceived internally and externally. The focus of IC is often to ensure that employees can support a decision and understand how it impacts their work.

Internal communication strategy

There are two sides to strategy in internal communications. In the first instance there is the organization's strategy — what it hopes to achieve and how it plans to go about achieving it. That strategy will be supported and, to some extent, delivered through effective internal communications.

In this context internal communication can help on several different levels:

Secondly, and more importantly, internal communications needs a strategy of its own. It should be positioned more than a simple plan of tactical interventions in support of business activities. The strategy should consider the following:

The strategy will inform the best way to organize effective communications.

Five general modes of IC practice are itemised below, ranked loosely according to their position along a spectrum from tactical to strategic activities.

The modes of IC practice, arranged along a spectrum from the tactical to the strategic

Message distribution

Formal channels typically fall into one of four broad categories:

Informal channels reflect the non-linear dynamics of a social network and can be as influential, if not more so, than official channels, often more likely to stimulate and create discussion and dialogue. The channels may manifest themselves via the rumour-mill, water-cooler conversations, social networking, graffiti, spoof newsletters, etc.

Selecting channels

One of the key challenges any internal communicator will face is how to select the right channels - and the right mix of channels - for both the audience and the message. Bill Quirke[5] offers a simplistic guide; See Weick[11] for some theoretical grounds for this basic insight.

The practical considerations are:

Traffic control

A typical large organisation IC function will be concerned to monitor and limit the quantity of information flowing through each internal channel, prioritising according to the relevance of a given message to the audience implicated in that channel, as well as the urgency and impact of the message. Such organisations typically face a risk that channels (such as intranet news, or email) are over-used for inappropriate, low value messages, causing vital audience groups to filter them out.

Channel development and administration

IC teams will often (but not always) hold responsibility for the administration and development of several of the organisation's communications channels. The range of media available is wide - and growing fast with new electronic media. Initially, IC tends to focus on the existing resources of the organization, typically an intranet, email distributions, and newsletters.

One common element of channel development and administration involves managing supplier relationships - agencies external to the organization typically specialise in one main channel area, such as audiovisual, or print production.

Line manager 'cascade'

Sending information down the line to local supervisors, expecting them to deliver it without any corruption, interpretation or deviation has long been the main focus of 'cascaded' internal communications (for example, UK guidance from The Industrial Society, now the Work Foundation, focused on giving managers very clear instructions about what to say and how to say it). However, in recent years thinking has evolved and literature now concentrates on empowering managers to facilitate discussion rather than cascade management of messages which will have little authority or impact. This is a particularly strong theme in the writing of TJ and Sandar Larkin.[6] Clampitt (2005) lists three approaches managers use to communicate with their employees.[12]

Employee communication is an important skill for all line managers, irrespective of their seniority. Like any skill it requires training and development. Often, organisations do not invest the appropriate amount of time and effort in developing managers' communications skills. Too often this leads to managers abdicating responsibility for communications to their 'internal communications department' and a lack of confidence in facilitating discussion in their teams. This raises debate around the following issues:

FitzPatrick and Valskov argue that strong manager communication systems attempt to address five essential issues:

Social Media

Social media is becoming increasingly discussed in the field of Internal communication. However, there is little documented, academic, evidence of where it is being used successfully as part of a planned campaign of employee communications and it is often confused with digital media. There are case studies published on a number of commercial websites including www.simply-communicate.com and www.melcrum.com (other publishers exist) and there is a useful chapter on the subject by Tracy Playle in Ruck's 'Exploring Internal Communication'

Message design and production

Basic IC services to an organization begin with editorial services - either fine-tuning messages drafted by participants in the organization, or drafting new material on their behalf. IC practitioners might simply correct basic grammar, etc., especially in organisations where many participants may be operating in their second or third language. Or they might re-work it to conform to house style or its branded equivalent, 'tone of voice'. The skillset involved relates closely to media professions such as journalism, copywriting and film or print production. Message design may be iterative, or involve a range of participants in an approvals process.

Project communications

IC practitioners may be seconded to a specific project team, to support the stages of the project that carry a communications or engagement component. Project communicators might produce a schedule of communication objectives and milestones for the project; a map of vital stakeholders (senior individuals or large groups / segments of the overall population); and a message framework to guide project participants towards a single, coherent message about their work. They might also contribute to the project's aggregate risks 'log' on the reputational risks, and work-up contingency plans covering unintended situations.

Change communications

Most writers on the subject of communications talk about the idea of change. Most intentional communication takes place with the aim of effecting some kind of change or another. However, many practitioners in internal communications make a distinction between change and transformation.

Drawing on the work of writers such as William Bridges, practitioners talk of 'change' as the act of altering something within an organisation (such as the introduction of a new IT system or the closure of an office) and they describe 'transition' as the process through which an individual passes as part of the process of coping with change. The use of the two terms interchangeably causes some confusion. Communicators who specialise in change communications tend to be interested in behaviour change and will draw heavily on psychological models.

There are important contributions made to the debate about practice in this area by Herrero [14] and Quike.[15]

Crisis communications

Organizations occasionally face unplanned reputational crises which can destroy brand value or even finish the organization. At such moments, the support of the internal constituency becomes especially valuable, as employees' friends and relatives seek their account of events, and as talented and motivated participants consider whether or not to remain with the organization.

As with Media relations and PR, the role IC plays in a crisis can be decisive for the success or failure of an organization, as it responds to a critical challenge. Organizations with a mature IC function may have contingency planning in place, ready to be tailored to the particulars of the situation. They are also more likely to have 'well flexed', well-rehearsed line management communications capability, etc., making crisis communications more effective. Less mature IC functions may find it difficult to bring senior leaders' attention to the internal audience, when critical stakeholders such as investors or customers appear more likely to desert the organization.

Although unplanned and usually under-resourced, the quality of an IC function's response in a crisis often has a decisive impact in the maturing of an IC function within an organization. Effective responses bring IC up the list of priorities for senior leaders, following the crisis.

Internal communication roles

In recent years the practice of internal communications has professionalised.

In common with the Ulrich model for Human resources practice, IC may be delivered via a 'business partnering' relationship, acting as adviser to a given function or unit on IC issues relevant to the delivery of their strategic plans and projects. As a representative of the audiences with a stake in the developments under discussion, this can be both an awkward and a privileged position to occupy, requiring skills of diplomacy and objectivity.

IC associations and accreditation

There is not yet a globally recognised internal communication qualification, though various training courses and formal qualifications have been established to create and maintain standards.

In the UK, the accreditation bodies representing the profession offer competing qualifications. The UK's Chartered Institute of Public Relations offers training and qualifications in internal communications including Diploma and Certificate courses.[16] There are also postgraduate Diploma or Masters programmes in Internal Communications Management at Kingston University in London.[17]

In Europe, related courses are available at the University of Lugano in Switzerland and Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands.[18]

Professional IC associations include the Institute of Internal Communication, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), and others. In 2013, IABC closed its Accredited Business Communicator qualification, but planned to launch a Certification Programme for Strategic Communicators in Autumn 2014.

Synonyms

IC may variously be referred to as: employee communications, employee engagement, employee relations, internal marketing, company communications, staff communication. Responsibility for IC may sit within various established functions, including marketing, corporate communications, transformation, HR and the CEO office. Internal communications functions can require several skills, e.g.: writing, marketing, event organisation, web production, facilitation, advertising, stakeholder management, corporate social responsibility, branding and communications training.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.exploringinternalcommunication.com/what-can-we-learn-from-the-history-of-internal-communication/
  2. ↑ cited in Hargie O and Tourish D eds, (2004) Handbook of Communication Audits for Organisations London Routledge
  3. ↑ Clampitt P, Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness, Sage 2009
  4. ↑ Macleod D, Clarke N (2009) Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, www.bis.gov.uk, http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file52215.pdf
  5. 1 2 Quirke, B. (2008). "Making the Connections; using Internal Communications to turn strategy into action", Burlington, VT: Gower Publishing Company
  6. 1 2 Larkin, TJ and Larkin S. (1994). "Communicating Change: winning employee support for new business goals", New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, Inc.
  7. ↑ Stohl, C. (1995). "Organizational Communication: connectedness in action", Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc
  8. ↑ Cornelissen, J. (2004). Corporate Communication: a guide to theory and practice", Thousand Oaks, CA: Sge Publications, Inc.
  9. ↑ Scoble R, Israel S. (2006) Naked Conversations: how blogs are changing the way businesses talk to customers, Hoboken NJ, John Wiley & Sons
  10. ↑ Corporate responsibility: The communication challenge Jenny Dawkins Journal of Communication Management, 2004; p.108
  11. ↑ Weick, K.E. (1995) "Sensemaking in Organizations", Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
  12. ↑ Clampitt, P. (2005). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc
  13. ↑ FitzPatrick L & Valskov V Internal Communication; a manual for practitioners, Kogan Page 2014
  14. ↑ Herrero, L. "Viral change." Beaconsfield, UK: Meetingminds/The Chalfont Project (2006).
  15. ↑ Quirke, Bill. Communicating corporate change: A practical guide to communication and corporate strategy. McGraw-Hill, 1996.
  16. ↑ "Internal Communication Certificate | Chartered Institute of Public Relations". Cipr.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  17. ↑ "Internal Communication Management Masters (MA) - London postgraduate courses - Kingston University London". Kingston.ac.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-26.
  18. ↑ Susanna Marco. "Employee Communication - Employee Communication - Corporate Communication - Programmes - Open Programmes - Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University". Rsm.nl. Retrieved 2014-06-26.

References

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