Internal Communication Audits - Steps for Success
After the past 12 months, it’s fair to say that most organizations will struggle to craft messages and articulate how employees really feel about work. Workflow will continue to change, as well hours invested and physical location. Budgets will face more scrutiny and communicators are under increased pressure to deliver.
You will need to justify what budget you have for communications, if you have a budget at all. There is simply no time for “nice to haves” any longer. A project’s time and resources that you “think” are the right solution may not be the right investment. Concentrate on the vehicles that have proven to add value; and because you can’t build this on a feeling alone, you need to ask for help.
Now’s the time to re-evaluate your internal communications (IC) and develop a path for the future. It’s time to build a case for what and why things will work, and the data to back up your claim. The people who are in charge of budgets will need to see the hard data for additional investments. An internal communication audit can help you measure the ROI of communications technology, adapt messaging so it’s interpreted correctly, promote your D&I initiatives and secure crucial buy-in.
This has been a long-standing process for successful communication departments but many don’t take the time or even know where to begin. When was the last time you could evaluate the effectiveness of your internal messaging? What's the secret to getting it right?
Start with the Why
Before you get started, it’s important to understand why you want to conduct an IC audit. This may be obvious but this is about allowing yourself to take a more strategic approach and ensuring you’re delivering employee information in a relevant and timely way. Yes, it matters.
Poor employee experience can have disastrous results.
We’re living in the age of employee experience, so set clear research objectives with attainable goals. Open discussions around what communications mean in terms of that experience. This research will help you not only have actionable data but will also allow you to overcome the “so what?” questions we get all of the time.
I’ve conducted audits for more than a decade and there are numerous reasons why teams should start this process. Here are some real-life examples:
You implemented some quick wins last year to adjust to working remotely and, while you’ve seen some real successes, internal communications aren’t meeting the audience needs.
Where is your organization going? Consider what the new normal might look like (if you don’t know, work on this with your leaders). Research can set you up for success.
A recent merger or acquisition has jumbled your media channels. You’re not sure what is effective and what’s not.
You need to review your entire organizational communications framework and you’re unsure what some business units have done on their own.
You have a goal to establish an aligned communication process that leaves some autonomy to business divisions while reducing noise.
Your leadership team is trying to transform the business’ direction, but internal support is poor. Values and culture are not in alignment.
It’s time that internal communications treat their audience like the company treats its customers (again, employee experience)
This should help you get started but think about how they play into your organization and its needs.
Develop the How
Start with people data. Data is readily available and your organization most likely is swimming in it. Yet, you need to get the right data in order to make it valuable.
Start with the wealth of data you already have at your fingertips but never find time to review.
Make friends with your human resources and IT data champions (and others) to enrich your access to high-value information.
Pull analytics from your current IT platforms; this is an easy win.
Remain focused on what’s important and don’t get overwhelmed.
Ensure you get qualitative and quantitative data to build the strongest case.
Surveys provide the hard data (we always suggest this as an early step to help direct the rest of the research). You also need a feedback mechanism to gain the greatest detail and sometimes discover underlying issues. Think focus groups, one-to-one interviews, feedback from line managers, chatter on your social channels and questions asked during events.
Once you have your findings, design the report based on audience groups: think geography, business line, role, levels of management, tenure, etc. Leaders will expect this and when you’re asked if the findings apply to all or part of the business, you can answer accordingly. Always make sure you can reference specific audiences. This also relates back to employee experience, as you may even correlate some of the findings to things like turnover.
If you need help in crafting the how or considering a partner to complete an audit, contact us.
Report your findings
Closing your audit begins a new phase in your internal communications. Sharing your findings will offer up incredible opportunities with your senior leadership and provide backing as to why they need to rethink internal communications and messaging.
This is an evolutionary process, and unless you use what you’ve discovered to move things forward, you’ll be cheating yourself out of an opportunity to keep redefining what good looks like within your team.
Tips for reporting:
Use benchmarking data wherever possible – leaders like knowing where they stand.
Reference broader business challenges when applicable; it’s not about whether employees read emails or visit the intranet, it’s about how you can improve retention, increase collaboration, drive employee advocacy and deliver a better customer experience.
Have a tangible business case with solutions at the ready; tell leaders how much investment is needed to fix these problems and articulate the cost of not doing so.