Is internal communications punching its weight at board level? Or is it still regarded by senior management as a poor relation to other comms functions?: Marino Donati asks what can be done to boost its standing

As an internal communication director, talking to your chief executive about your strategy runs the danger of watching his or her eyes glaze over as visions of company newsletters, staff surveys, blogs and social media websites take over.

While internal communications plays a vital role in many businesses, it has often not been given the same status as other types of communication, such as investor relations or PR, especially at board level.

However, talk to your boss about retaining good employees, getting more from workers, improving stakeholder relations, not to mention managing their own reputation among colleagues and workers, and they are suddenly more interested. So one of the challenges for internal communication operators is overcoming barriers to perceptions about the fundamental benefits that the internal communications function has.

Nick Helsby, managing director of executive search firm Watson Helsby, which did a recent survey of internal communication professionals, says that the function does not have a natural home in many companies: “Corporate communications people often feel that their domain is communication rather than people while HR is the domain of people without necessarily dealing with communication. People need to be clearer about what they want internal communication to does.”

Jeremy Petty, UK and Europe managing director of internal communication consultancy Yellow, agrees that there is still work to do on perceptions of the profession. “It’s still young as an industry, compared to marketing or PR,” he says. “The awareness and comprehension about how it can drive performance is not necessarily developed.”

However, many internal communication practitioners say that the situation is improving. “There’s recognition that it’s a critical role that requires specific skill and discrete skills,” says Helsby. “Trust in chief executives and leaders in general has plummeted and there’s scepticism. People often trust what the external media tells them about their company more than what the company tells them. But now many senior internal communication directors are telling us that there is a growing awareness of the importance of internal communication.”

In an economic downturn, there are likely to be more strategy changes, management changes and restructuring, all of which need a good internal communication strategy to disseminate information to employees in a way that informs them, reassures them and gets them on side.

Elaine Macfarlane, vice president of global internal communications at Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK), had to work on communicating a new management after a new chief executive Andrew Witty who came into the business last year.

“The new chief executive introduced a massive change programme and put a lot of effort into internal communication,” she says. “If you don’t step up to internal communications in periods of great change, you lose discretionary effort by workers and maybe lose staff.”

She says that GSK understands the benefits of internal communication very well but she is using a technology-based initiative to really support the function: “In October, we’re setting up a virtual leadership conference via the internet which will be a website including seminars in different time zones,” she says. “It’s better than trying to get lots of people in one place at the same time and the cost savings are enormous.”

Macfarlane adds that the key to getting internal communication the respect it deserves is being proactive: “If you’re a comms person, you are the expert. Senior management don’t always know what to ask for and rely on internal communications people. You have to understand what’s going on in the business and the implications of its strategy.”

Jack Winters, UK head of internal communications for Siemens, says that his management expect a lot from the internal communication function.

“A few years ago you had to sell the need to business leaders, now they expect you to come and see them,” he say. “We have a Champions campaign which is a UK-wide recognition scheme to underpin the Siemens values, motivate people and recognise their efforts. There is an online portal for line managers who can nominate employees for recognition, there are awards including the annual CEO award.”

Anna Paul, AXA UK internal communications director, says the key to effective internal communication is relatively straightforward.

She says: “You have to have an understanding of the business, the language of the business and be personally credible. Then you don’t have to try and get into the important meetings, you get asked to the important meetings.”

Nevertheless, barriers and challenges still exist for internal communication operators, some of which are actually being exacerbated by the economic downturn.

Sheila Parry, managing director of agency Theblueballroom says that many internal communication areas are being re-examined in the light of the recession, with firms looking at reducing budgets and cheaper alternatives to existing internal communication practice.

She says: “If we are to achieve buy-in from the board, activities within the internal communications strategy have to be directly linked to achieving the corporate strategy, with measurable outcomes.”

She also warns about the dangers of companies who become reluctant to communicate for fear of employee response. “It’s vital to be open, honest and transparent about how the company will face the challenges of, say, recession or change,” says Parry. “It’s also important to keep communicating the strategy and any good news to employees.”

As part of a drive to create a unified voice and more coherent training structure for internal communications operators, the British Association of Communicators in Business (CIB) is developing a series of professional qualifications.

CIB chairman Dominic Walters says: “Members say that they want proof that they have the right qualifications and skills. They say to us ‘give us a way to prove that we are good’. It’s similar to HR 15 years ago and they’ve done a good job of professionalising their role.”

Nevertheless, what is clear from in-house internal communication operators and external consultants alike is that the onus is on the internal communication staff themselves to keep demonstrating the function’s worth.

Colette Dorward, director at consultancy Comma, says: “There’s still a need from some internal communication operators to get with it. They have to understand that it’s not just delivery of a message or providing the intranet. They have to help represent the employees, make feedback channels that really work. Do people feel they are part of something and not just waiting for something to happen?”

Petty says: “It can be difficult to measure what some people might call the ‘touchy feely’ stuff. But it is possible to do it with surveys and other ways to get feedback. It’s down to all of us to prove the business case.”  

What senior internal comms leaders think
• 77% say employees’ appetite for communication from
their leadership has grown recently.
• 61% say senior leaders are making themselves more
available to their employees and are becoming more visible.
• 77% from financial companies report more visibility from
senior leaders.
Source: Comma Consulting