What does best practice in internal look like?

Introductory statement

I chose this topic because I would like to know what research and theory tells us best practice in internal looks like in 2013. In busy organisations my experience has been that internal communications can often become the poor relation to the reactive and media-driven demands of external communications. Even when a communications team is adequately resourced, there is the challenge of influencing management to adopt elements of best practice, which is constantly evolving. My managers encouraged me to choose this essay topic as there are some changes planned within our team and there may be a chance for me to take on some internal communications responsibilities.

Internal communications is important to the professional practice of because it is where public relations can influence the performance of an organisation, its leaders and employees. Internal communications can also evolve quickly and innovate and is often on the cutting edge of public relations practice.

Paper - What does best practice in internal communication look like?

This essay evaluates two alternative suggestions of a model - including some suggested strategies and tactics - that constitutes best practice in internal communications. What becomes apparent is that what is proposed as best practice is strongly shaped by how the author defines internal communications, and more particularly what they see as the overall purpose of internal communications. Some brief case studies illustrating best practice are also considered.

Defining internal communications

Describing best practice in internal communications requires us first of all to ask ‘What is internal communications?’ As we will see, the two models of best practice are strongly shaped by different opinions of what the purpose of internal communications is.

According to Sprague and Del Brocco “internal communications encompass every interchange between human beings in an organisation and may be the single most influential factor in your organisation’s success or failure.” (Moss and De Santo 2011)

This definition emphasises the important and often overlooked role internal communications plays in an organisation. However, the sheer volume of interactions and messages within an organisation every day, and the ubiquity and immediacy of means that attempting to manage or influence every interchange between human beings in an organisation, or even taking a gatekeeper role, would fall short of best practice if attempted. This suggests there is a strategic component required in internal communications – picking which interchanges between which human beings within an organisation you need to get involved with and at what stage. Supporting good knowledge

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management in an organisation is an important and often overlooked role for internal communications (Mersham et al, 2009).

Morris and Goldsworthy’s definition of internal communications offered by Mersham et al acknowledges the need for a strategic focus and recognises the difference between planned communications programmes and the torrent of other messages and interactions within an organisation. They say internal communications is a “focused activity which is separate from, even if it complements, normal flows of communication within an organisation (...)” (Mersham et al 2009).

Some definitions acknowledge the enormous evolution that has taken place in internal communications over the last decade as it becomes a more strategic function. There are many factors behind this evolution, including the growing influence of social media, change management requirements during a time of economic turbulence, and declining trust in organisations and their leaders.

In a fairly all-encompassing definition, Whysall and Benjamin say internal communications has “moved beyond management of communication output towards a “strategic function facilitating two-way , creating real meaning for employees with organisational goals and supporting leaders to communicate with authenticity and impact.” (Whysall and Benjamin, 2011)

Defining internal communications in this way is likely to lead to a model that supports best practice as it acknowledges the widely accepted preconditions for excellent public relations identified by Grunig and Repper –with excellent public relations defined as contributing to organisational effectiveness. Based on this theory, best practice is most likely to be seen when public relations is an integral part of an organisation’s strategic management process and when public relations is managed strategically. Public relations is managed strategically when it identifies stakeholders and resolves issues created by the interaction of organisations and publics through symmetrical communications programmes early in the development of issues.” (Grunig and Repper, 1992)

Unfortunately Whysall and Benjamin do not put forward a model of best practice but we can still explore what others have to say about best practice, two proposed models and what it might look like in the light of this definition.

Doorley and Garcia’s model

Doorley and Garcia consider the one of the major functions of best practice internal communications can play is to help an organisation manage its reputation through aligning employees with reputational interests. This is reflected in the six best practices they suggest for in organisational communications, which are in summary:

1. Leader-driven communications – have the CEO front and centre to promote alignment

2. Highly strategic communicators driving employee alignment

3. Integrated communications from all the functions that align employees with reputational interests

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4. Using disciplined, demand-driven communications practices to successfully compete for the attention of employees

5. Align employee behaviour with reputational interest through targeted communications around expected behaviours, boundaries and the gaps between “what we say” and “what we do”.

6. Align employee performance with reputational interests by communicating strategy via the CEO, rallying people around a common cause and rehearsing for customer encounters. (Doorley and Garcia, 2011)

These suggested best practices appear to hark back to a time when a top-down message was the norm and overlook changes and possibilities driven by new technology. Evidence shows employees most prefer to hear messages from their immediate supervisors. (Mersham et al 2009)

Doorley and Garcia’s list with its top-down focus also overlooks the significant evidence that effective internal communication is two way and symmetrical. As Moss and De Santo say “Internal communication is all too often a top-down message, composed by executives and management in an effort to inform the ranks about an issue they may not even care about.”

This definition also overlooks social media and this influence of this on the closing gap between external and internal communications. “The increasing visibility of insiders to outsiders means that employees are under pressure to interface with the customer as representatives of the organisation in the way they think, feel and behave. This requires they sign on to the organisational paradigm.” (Moss and Del Santo 2011)

Doorley and Garcia provide a case study around the evolution of strategic internal communication at the large United States organisation Hallmark over the last 30 years that illustrates what this model could produce in a best-case scenario. “Evolution of the employee communication function occurred as Hallmark leaders witnessed the ability of well-crafted, prioritised communication not only to inform, but to motivate employees and move the business forward. It was the professional communicator’s abilities to sort through a glut of business messages and place them into meaningful order and context that helped clarify the company’s direction during the last two decades of the twentieth century.”

The increasing external visibility of employees has prompted some organisations to see them as brand ambassadors. Fast food giant McDonalds has prepared guidelines to train and equip staff about what social media is so they could “ethically and positively” represent the brand through social media. This was what McDonalds US PR director Heather Oldani said: “Because at the end of the day, we absolutely want to recognise that our employees across the globe are in the digital space and communicating. And two, given our size and our reach and the number of people who work for the brand on a global basis, we believe that there is an opportunity for our employees to be a positive representation of the brand through social media.” (McLeish 2010).

This is a relatively recent idea and not without possibilities, however Melcrum cautions that “despite the potential inherent to employee ambassador programs, few demonstrate financial returns. The

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failure of most programs stems not from a dearth of training or support but rather from the inability of employees to internalize or personalize the brand.” (Melcrum 2012 a)

Internal communications is rapidly evolving and Doorley and Garcia’s model already seems dated. However, it does appear that best practice seems very likely to involve communicating the business strategy to employees in a clear, consistent and compelling way to make sure employees don’t just understand the strategy, but embrace it and deliver against it.

“Creating a clear line of sight between the organisational vision or strategy and employee’s day-to- day roles helps employees to care about their work.” (Whysall and Benjamin 2011) This benefits employees as it promotes “meaningfulness,” which research has found is an important prerequisite for employees engagement that is associated with many good outcomes for both individuals and organisations.

The challenge of connecting employees with the big picture saw global paper company Avery Dennison create an online platform, called The Beat, to connect employees with leaders at the highest level of strategic decision making. They created a global community of highly-engaged employees who are called upon regularly to undertake “missions” and submit real-time feedback and generate innovative new ideas. After a recent mission, 100 percent of attendees reported they “felt their voice was being heard by leadership” and that “The Beat has created a more open communication culture at Avery Dennison.” This innovation has been internationally acclaimed as an example of best practice in action and the importance of collaboration and conversation are emerging themes in internal communications. (Melcrum 2012 b)

The MacDonald Model

As an alternative, MacDonald, a contributor to Doorley and Garcia, suggests six alternative principle for best practice internal communications that are shaped by changes in social media, the increasing desire (in Western culture at least) for leaders to communicate authenticity rather than authority and a decline in the perceived trust and credibility of many organisation’s leaders. MacDonald sees the priority role of internal communications as enhancing employee performance, rather than managing an organisation’s reputation. There is a balance between the needs of employees and managers.

 Connect to a business result – establish communication as an integrated system connected to the business strategy

 Connect head, hearts and hands – provide clarity, information and inspiration to engage employees both rationally and emotionally to drive employee engagement, culture change and business results.

 Use communication as a leadership alignment tool – execute a systematic way to align leaders around clear, integrated messages that communicate where the company is headed.

 Establish strategic communications competencies for leaders, managers and supervisors – support a move from transactional management to transformational leadership.

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 Analyse information flow – Provide neutral, objective perspectives on critical information levers and roadblocks.

 Move faster than the speed of change – Understand the cycle of change and identify the opportunities to inspire employees at points when change implementation becomes difficult.

This model provides a good starting point for best practice internal communications. This model and the recommended behaviours, including several references to measurement and actions involving two-way communication closely aligns with the critical success factors for internal communications identified by Whysall and Benjamin, who canvassed an international panel of leading internal communications practitioners. These success factors included broad and deep connectivity; impartiality and challenge; strong commercial awareness; supporting authentic leadership; robust measurement as well as transparency and empowerment. (Whysall and Benjamin, 2011)

Other important aspects of best practice

Robust measurement is an essential part of best practice internal communications, which is alluded to, but not spelt out, in the MacDonald model. Employee preferences for types of communication media need researching to study to ensure they meet employee needs and preferences, says Welch and Jackson. “Similarly, employee preferences for the amount of information they want on a variety of topics requires further study to ensure internal corporate communication meets employee needs since there is a danger that internal corporate communication might be seen as contributing to information overload.” (Welch and Jackson, 2007)

Whysall and Benjamin says communicators also need to monitor the mood and mindset of the workforce closely to determine the likely and then actual impact of messages. This requires measurement as well as broad and deep connections within an organisation.

There are a daunting range of other factors that could also contribute to best practice in internal communications. Reassuringly, Moss and De Santo say research suggests simplicity is often a defining characteristic of internal communications programmes that bring about significant positive change in an organisation. “An effective internal programme, depending on particular organisational size and structure could be as simple as more strategic and planned face- to- face communication methods.”

Face- to- face communications is frequently held up as the ideal in internal communications sources. However, Welch and Jackson acknowledge there are situations where it is unrealistic. “Except in very small organisations, it is a practical impossibility for senior managers to meet and discuss strategy with all employees. One-way communication from strategic managers to all employees is both unavoidable and necessary... One-way communication is appropriate in circumstances where message consistency is important and in this case, mediated means of communication are a necessary strategic choice.” Social media can help put a human face or voice on mediated communication.” (Welch and Jackson 2007)

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A classic study cited in Mersham et al that found that less than 10 percent of members at the Jason company in the 1950s acted a liaison, or passed on information more than a third of the time. (Mersham 2009) Multiple channels for internal communications help mitigate this risk.

Responding to change or crisis

Organisations are constantly evolving and change and even crisis are inevitable. There are specific needs and requirements in these situations, including legal requirements that need careful consideration during industrial relations issues or periods of restructuring. (Mersham et al 2009) However, if best practice internal communications as outlined in the MacDonald model above are established, this will have set the stage for effective management of the challenge the organisation faces. Barrett outlines the communication attributes of organisations that perform well during times of change and all of them are included in MacDonald’s model, including managers who are committed to communications as a shared, core element of business and effective communication that translates strategic messages into readily understandable information and a combination of communications methods with a focus on face-to-face. (Barrett, 2008)

Moss and De Santo advocate frequent communication, especially in a crisis or change situation. “Under-communication is one major reason why change and success do not occur in many organisations. Employees will not make sacrifices, even if they are unhappy with the status quo unless they believe that useful change is possible. Without credible communication and a lot of it, the hearts and minds of the troops are never captured.” (Moss and De Santo, 2011)

Conclusion

In conclusion, best practice in internal communications shows strong elements of both continuity and change. It still requires the factors that lead to excellent public relations. In our post-modern age, with social media at everyone’s fingertips, balancing the needs of employees and management is more important than ever and promoting a two-way flow of information remains at the core of best practice.

The MacDonald model of best practice in internal communications reflects this widely accepted understanding of what constitutes excellence in public relations. It also factors in the increasing need for strategically-focused internal communicators to support an organisation’s leaders as they communicate authenticity rather than authority, and importance of the role communications can play in helping an organisation understand and converse with employees to enhance performance.

While every organisation is different, and reassuringly simplicity can often be the hallmark of a successful internal communications programme, the MacDonald model provides a good starting point for best practice internal communications in 2013.

-ENDS -

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Bibliography

Barrett, D.J. (2008). Leadership Communication (2nd ed.). Boston:McGraw Hill Irwin.

Doorley, J. and Garcia, H.F. (2011) : The key to successful public relations and corporate communication. New York: Routledge

Fearn-Banks, K. (2011) Crisis Communications: A casebook approach. New York: Routledge

Grunig, J.E. & Repper, F.C. (1992) Excellence in public relations and communication management. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates

MacDonald, M. Driving Performance through organisational communication in Doorley, J. and Garcia, H.F. (2011) Reputation Management: The key to successful public relations and corporate communication. New York: Routledge

McLeish, J. (2010, May). McDonald’s leverages social media to engage employees. Retrieved from http://www.employeefactor.com/?p=2658

Melcrum (2012a) Has engagement reached a dead end? in Strategic Communications Management, November/December 2012.

Melcrum (2012b) Connecting employees to leaders through ambassadors at Avery Dennison in Strategic Communications Management, November/December 2012.

Mersham, G., Theunissen, P., Peart, J. (2009). Public Relations and Communication Management: An Aotearoa/New Zealand Perspective (1st ed.). New Zealand: Pearson

Moss, D. And De Santo, B. (2011) Public Relations: A Managerial Perspective. California: Sage

Welch and Jackson (2007), Rethinking Internal Communication: a stakeholder approach in Corporate Communications: An International Journal in Vol. 12 Issue: 2, pp.177 - 198

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