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Internal Communication

2013 – 2014

www.internal–communication.com/stateofthesector

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State of the Sector is an industry–wide census that aims to investigate the challenges internal communicators are facing – and where their focus will be over the coming months. It investigates channel use and explores the impact of new and emerging technologies like Enterprise Social Networks and Apps.

Gatehouse has run the State of the Sector research programme since 2009 and, during that time, has spoken to many thousands of practitioners across hundreds of organisations. Combined with our experience as one of Europe’s leading agencies in this area, this gives us a unique perspective on the current state of internal communications.

The latest survey was conducted in November 2013. With responses from 157 communicators operating in organisations ranging in size from a few hundred people to more than 50,000 employees, this report provides a comprehensive benchmark on internal communication and employee engagement activity across numerous leading organisations throughout the UK and the rest of the world.

This document provides a summary of our key findings. It is required reading for any communicator who wants to better understand what other organisations are doing to engage their people – and to explore how their own organisation stacks up.

Introduction

“ State of the Sector is an industry–wide census that aims to investigate the challenges internal communicators are facing “

Simon WrightDirector, Gatehouse

Lee Smith

Director, Gatehouse

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Who Responded?

Role and focus

71% of respondents said they were in a dedicated IC role, with the remainder having additional duties including external communication / PR, HR and marketing. 12% shouldered responsibility for both internal and external communication. The majority were in either management or senior management positions.

Location

Four out of five respondents came from UK headquartered companies, though many had a pan–European or global remit.

Industry

When asked which area of industry best described their organisation’s primary activity, respondents gave varied answers. However, five sectors made up for around half of the answers: financial services (15%), professional services (10%), government and public organisations (9%), energy and utilities (9%) and engineering and manufacturing (8%).

Many other sectors were also represented, including marketing & PR, business & management and health & social care.

Size of Organisation

Typically for a State of the Sector report, the survey attracted respondents from organisations of diverse scale. Around a quarter represented organisations with a headcount of 1,001 to 5,000 employees, with a similar number working in organisations of less than 500 people. However, nearly one in five (18%) were employed by very large organisations employing over 50,000 people.

Resources and positioning of the IC function

Whilst nearly half of respondents said their organisation employed between one and five dedicated internal communicators, 10% of the total sample said there was no dedicated IC person employed. One in five respondents told us their IC function comprised more than 20 people. Not surprisingly for this group, most of them were working in large organisations (50,000+ employees).

Whilst the majority of respondents (45%) said that internal communications was part of an integrated corporate communication team, it is still fairly fragmented, with the remainder split across a number of other departments. One in ten respondents were part of the HR team, with a similar number in marketing. Only 7% were part of a dedicated IC function.

“ 71% of respondents said they were in a dedicated IC role, with the remainder having additional duties including external communication / PR, HR and marketing“

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Face–to–face communication is still considered as one of the most effective employee communication channels and, thankfully, it has weathered the economic storms of recent years.

The most popular face–to–face channels remain relatively unchanged year–on–year. Whilst traditional team meetings take the lead (with 80% of responses), away days and conferences with senior leaders follow closely. Formal cascade meetings, senior management site visits and roadshows are also broadly used, suggesting that face–to–face remains the preferred route for leadership and line manager communication. Those findings were in line with last year’s results.

The vast majority (88%) of respondents now use large–scale events as part of their internal communication mix – an 8% improvement on last year and another sign that confidence and budgets are returning. In line with this, the number of respondents who do not hold large scale events has fallen considerably – from 20% to just 12%.

Impressively, almost 50% of respondents claim to hold more than three events per year for audience groups of 100+.

Face–to–Face Channels

What face–to–face channels are currently used inside your organisation?

How many large employee focused events (100+ delegates) do you typically run a year?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Team & de

partment

al meet

ings

Away day

s

Confere

nces &

semina

rs - se

nior le

aders

Formal c

ascade

meeting

s

Senior m

anagem

ent sit

e visits

Road sh

ows

Confere

nces &

semina

rs - all

peopl

e

Brown b

ag lun

ches /

lunch

& learn

Round ta

ble se

ssions

with sen

ior lea

ders

Walk-the

-floor b

y seni

or mana

gement

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surger

ies

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ren't a

ny fac

e-to-fac

e chan

nels

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Three main digital channels remain at the top of the ranking this year. E–mail is still the most frequently used by over 90% of respondents, closely followed by intranets (83%) and electronic newsletters (76%).

Communicators’ use of tele/video conferences, blogs and plasma screens/digital signage remains similar to last year, with around 50% of respondents adopting these channels.

But change is afoot... 50% of respondents are using Instant Messaging to communicate with their audiences, and around a third of respondents said their organisation had implemented an Enterprise Social Network or some sort of social media platform. A surprising 16% of respondents stated that their organisation had developed an employee app. The first time apps have appeared in one of these reports.

Although office desktops and laptops remain the norm to access digital channels, around two thirds of respondents said employees in their organisation accessed those channels from home or through mobile devices – a trend we expect to see increase rapidly over the coming years. A significant 38% of respondents said it was now commonplace for employees to use their personal devices to access business content. It appears the shift towards Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is beginning to become a reality!

Digital Channels

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Desktop or laptop at the office

Desktop or laptop at home

Business-owned mobile devices

Personal mobile devices (Bring Your

Own Device)

Other

What digital channels are currently used inside your organisation?

How can employees access digital channels?

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Although social media appears to be gaining ground rapidly, this is certainly not the case for all organisations.

Almost as many respondents describe their use of social media as ‘non–existent’ (15%) as they do ‘advanced’– i.e. organisations where a number of social media channels are already in place and being used by a large proportion of employees (17%).

Over 40% said use of social media is at present rather limited (one or two social media channels exist, but they are used by less than half of employees).

This is a stark reminder to avoid being seduced by the social media chatter that has become so dominant in our profession and to stay focused on employees and the channels and tactics that work for them.

When asked about the feedback channels that exist within their organisation, results were in line with the 2012 report, suggesting little progress has been made in this area.

As with 2012, the vast majority (80%) of respondents said feedback was largely done by e–mail whilst three quarters mentioned team meetings. Almost 60% of respondents said they used an ‘ask the boss’ mechanism on their intranet and 30% said they had a formal ideas scheme.

Social Media & Feedback

How would you describe the use of social media within your organisation?

What channels do your people use to provide feedback?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Advanced

Limited

Embryonic

Non-existent

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What print channels are currently used inside your organisation?

What support do you provide to line managers?

Do you have a programme of communication targeted at senior leaders?

Other Channels

Print channels

15% of respondents say they don’t have any print channels within their organisation – a small improvement compared to last year (18%) – and perhaps suggesting the decline in print as a channel is beginning to stabilise.

Posters remain a popular tactical channel with two thirds of respondents including them within their channel mix.

Line manager communication

Whilst 90% of line managers are given dedicated communication support, it is a concern given the importance of this group, that one in ten are still ignored.

Typical support provided to line managers included toolkits / cascade packs (52%) and dedicated forums or conferences (50%), closely followed by face–to–face briefing sessions (49%). However, only a quarter (27%) have implemented a dedicated hub / microsite / intranet section for managers.

Leadership communication

Only 43% of respondents had a targeted communication programme focused exclusively on senior leaders (compared to 48% last year). This is disappointing given the vital importance of leadership communication.

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80%

Posters Employee magazine

Flyers/Desktops

Newsletters Internalmemos/letters

There aren't any print channels

Postcards

2013

2012

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When it comes to evaluation, the two most popular measurement tools are employee engagement surveys (used by 75% of respondents) and intranet analytics (64%).

The use of focus groups and dedicated IC surveys is limited to around a third, with just one in five (21%) saying they have conducted a comprehensive IC audit.

Worryingly, a sizable 12% of respondents say they do not measure the impact of internal communications at all.

Asked how they rate employees’ understanding of their organisation’s strategic direction, nearly two thirds of respondents thought people understood the values and the mission and vision well or very well. However, less than half of them said the same for the organisation’s short–term plans or strategy – a worrying gap.

Identity and belonging

57% of respondents said that employees within their organisation felt they belonged to a specific division or business unit.

Only a quarter of respondents believed that employees felt they belonged to one organisation, and 16% to one specific regional office – an issue when it comes to promoting globalisation.

Impact & Measurement

“ Worryingly, a sizable 12% of respondents say they do not measure the impact of internal communications at all.“

How do you measure the impact of your internal communications?

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Priorities & Challenges in 2014

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Communi

cating

the org

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ion's s

trategy

Channel

effect

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Reengag

ing em

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Communi

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Headcou

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Top tea

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Cut to o

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Office c

losure

s

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What will be your main priorities in 2014?

What will be your main challenges over the next months?

Challenges

As in 2012, communicating the organisation’s strategy clearly stood out as a key challenge. This was followed by a mix of strategic and tactical challenges, such as ensuring channel effectiveness (37%), reengaging employees (31%) and communication planning (29%).

Positively, financial challenges appear to be losing their importance: restructuring, cost–cutting programmes, headcount freezes are all declining in 2013.

Worringly, a sizable 38% of respondents thought there was no clearly articulated IC strategy within their organisation – a result broadly in line with last year’s findings and further evidence of the immaturity of our industry. 68% of respondents agreed that internal communicators and senior leaders were on the same wavelength – leaving a third who are struggling to connect with those at the top!

Priorities

When asked about their priorities in 2014, the four top answers were similar to last year: improving electronic channels (61%), leadership communication (61%), developing / refreshing an IC strategy (60%), and improving communication planning (52%). Enhancing line manager communication, building the IC team / capability and restructuring the IC function appear to have lost ground over the past 12 months.

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Nearly a quarter of respondents (23%) say there is no dedicated budget for internal communication within their organisation. This continues a trend we have seen in recent years towards centrally held budgets where communicators and others have to establish a business case to secure budget for specific activities. Of those who do have access to cash, the results are marginally more positive than last year.

Less than 20% of respondents don’t know whether their IC budget is likely to increase or decrease – suggesting there are slightly fewer uncertainties around budget issues than last year.

For many, however, budgets appear to be largely static – 41% believe it will remain the same during 2013–14.

Budget

What budget is currently allocated to IC?

In 2014, do you expect that your IC budget will...

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<£10k

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no de

dicate

d budg

et

2013 2012

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Increase Decrease Remain thesame

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2012

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Our conclusions – 10 steps towards communication excellence

Building on the findings of this research, this section of the report highlights the 10 areas where we believe organisations should be focusing their time, energy and budgets over the next 12 months and beyond. Use this as a checklist to assess the quality of your own function.

1. Develop a clear IC strategy

Be clear about the purpose of internal communication within your organisation. Take a step back and establish clearly how the function should support your organisation and what goals it should serve. In the new world order, internal communicators are business enablers, conversation facilitators and community connectors. Take the time to understand how your function can support better interactions across the organisation. Ensure the function has a clear remit, value proposition, overarching principles and clearly defined strategy to guide it. Make sure that your vision is shared with the leadership team and that your goals match their expectations.

2. Plan effectively

In order to add real strategic value and demonstrate its worth over time, internal communication must be well planned. The starting point is to understand the current state – use research and analytics to understand what employees are thinking, feeling and doing and what needs to change to deliver the firm’s goals. Set clear and practical objectives, before mapping out how you plan to deliver them – the tactics, programmes, campaigns and channels you plan to use. Clarity about how you will measure impact is key. Capture those inputs in a communication planning calendar.

Gatehouse Recommendations

3. Communicate the big picture

Make sure the big picture is clear and provides plenty of vision, direction and context. Explain where the organisation comes from, where it is heading and how it will get there. All messages and communications should tie back to this overall story. Work with other departments to ensure that this story is woven into the core processes of the organisation, such as the performance appraisal process or large change programmes.

4. Leadership communication

Don’t assume that leaders have a shared understanding of the company’s vision and mission. Although they do have access to the organisation’s high–level strategy, they may not be able to articulate it in a plain and efficient manner and will tend to focus on their specific area of the business.

Equip them with efficient talking points and create opportunities for them to interact with employees and share their views. Ensure they are visible enough across the organisation.

5. Line manager communication

Consider line managers as a separate audience and develop messages specific to their roles, so that they are prepared to answer questions. Research suggests that the behaviours, attitudes and skills of managers are one of the key drivers of employee engagement, so use every opportunity to remind them that they have a very special role to play. As most organisations rely on some form of communications cascades to get their messages through, line managers need to be aware of their responsibility as communicators. In order to empower them to play this role, equip them with the right tools and take the time to explain why they are key in driving changes.

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6. Drive mobile access

Some people have always been working outside the office walls but technology now enables you to connect with them much more effectively. Work is increasingly shifting towards mobile devices. Gone are the days when employees were sitting in an office and consuming communications at specific hours of the day. There’s a whole audience out there that you need to get to know. Get close to your IT department to understand their policy on Bring Your Own Device. Consider developing apps that will enable employees to connect to company news in real–time, collaborate with colleagues wherever they are and provide feedback. Ensure content can be accessed on mobile devices. One thing you can be certian of, this is not going to go away!

7. Face–to–face communication

Nothing will ever compare to being looked in the eye by your leaders and told about your company. Having a conversation is normal human behaviour that somehow has become alien in most office spaces today. Ensure you have the right forums in place – from large scale conferences to informal ‘brown bag lunches’. Push for a degree of consistency in the way managers run their team meetings. Focus on the roles of leaders and line managers as communicators and, if necessary, invest in building their skills and competencies in this area as it will pay massive dividends.

Become a listening organisation

We’re entering an era where two–way communications is increasingly the norm. Internal communication is no longer about developing and controlling specific messaging; rather, it must nurture internal social networks, stimulate discussion and promote sideways and peer–to–peer communication. Make sure that you have the right channels in place to enable employees to have their say, ask questions, make suggestions and raise issues. This can be done in a diversity of different ways. Run open–agenda round table sessions with the leadership, schedule focus groups throughout the year and encourage managers to run meetings in an open and participative way. Allow people to post comments and send feedback via your intranet. Take every opportunity to listen: read through the comments on your internal blogs, connect to internal social networks like Yammer.

9. Consider getting social... but carefully

Increasingly, employees expect internal communication to deliver the same experience as the channels they use outside the office walls. They want content to be interactive and expect to be able to filter out what they don’t find interesting or relevant.

Many organisations have already implemented social media channels, however this survey suggests that adoption has so far been limited. Remember that those channels – as with any internal communication channel – should always be used as part of a comprehensive and integrated channel mix and aren’t for everyone. Be clear about their purpose, and consider your role as encouraging people to fully embrace them.

Gatehouse Recommendations

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10. Measurement & evaluation

What gets measured gets done. Whilst this report suggests that most companies have some kind of measurements in place, much work remains to be done in this area. Think measurement before launching any communication campaign, and use any possible metrics to measure impact: website hits, app downloads, video views, annual surveys, individual interviews, focus groups, online communities. Focus on outcomes rather than outputs – it’s the impact of our communications that matters, not how many people attended the conference. Turn those metrics into actionable insights and use them to improve your communication on an ongoing basis and win support at the top.

“ Internal communication is no longer about developing and controlling specific messaging; rather, it must nurture internal social networks, stimulate discussion and promote sideways and peer–to–peer communication.“

Gatehouse Recommendations

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COMMUNICATE. CHANGE

State of the Sector is brought to you by Gatehouse – the leading internal communication and employee engagement agency.Gatehouse works with a significant portfolio of large clients across many industries. We design, develop and deliver strategies, programmes and campaigns that unlock employee engagement.

We work with leaders, managers and communicators to provide clearer direction, make management more meaningful and win employee support for change.

To find out more about Gatehouse, please visit our corporate website at www.gatehousegroup.co.uk

www.gatehousegroup.co.uk • +44 [0]20 7754 3630 • info@gatehousegroup.co.uk

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For further information about Gatehouse contact us:

Gatehouse Brentwood25 High Street,Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4RG, UK

Gatehouse London14 Printing House Yard, Hackney Road,London, E2 7PR, UK

Become part of the IC world at:www.internal–communication.com

www.gatehousegroup.co.uk+44 (0)20 7754 3630info@gatehousegroup.co.uk

@gatehousegroup

www.internal–communication.com/stateofthesector