Measurement and strategy. They were the two subjects that really jumped out of Poppulo’s Inside IC Global Survey last year, for all the wrong reasons. We expected measurement to be an issue, a consistently stubborn problem, for internal communicators because it always has been. However, now more than ever it’s an absolutely critical element of any effective communicators job. But it’s so often perceived as being too difficult. And that ill-founded perception exists despite the emergence of powerful and easy-to-use software developed specifically for the internal communications industry by Poppulo, which not only measures and analyzes communication outputs, but also outcomes. Nevertheless, we were still taken aback at the scale of the problem when the results of our survey came in. On the positive side, over 95% of the 700+ IC professionals from around the world agreed that measuring their activity was important, but rather alarmingly, more than half admitted it was the activity they “spent least time on each week”. Tellingly, two out of three said they felt communications “difficult to measure”. As a result of these findings we decided to commission one of the world’s leading experts in organizational communication measurement, Angela Sinickas, to create The Ultimate Guide to Measuring Internal Communications, which we published earlier this year, to a tremendously positive response. It has prompted us to focus similar attention to the second standout issue from our Global Survey, strategy. Successful companies share one common trait, they spend a lot of time and energy making and executing plans to insure they continue to flourish. Yet, when it comes to internal communications there rarely is a strategy. In fact, our Global Survey showed that ‘only one in three internal communications departments (35%) has a long-term strategy in place for internal communications”. This, regrettably, is in line with other international research. The one-in-three ratio is even more alarming as even in the minority of cases where strategies do exist it’s reasonable to assume that not all are as good as they should be. This is the backdrop to our decision to create the Ultimate Guide to Internal Communications Strategy, and why we commissioned Gregg Apirian and Mike Lepis of Vignette, the Employee Experience Agency, to write it. This accompanying infographic has been extracted from the strategy whitepaper. the accompanying infographic has been extracted from the strategy whitepaper.

1. The ultimate guide to internal
communications strategy
Introduction
Step 01
Vision: A future state of
set of goals that will
guide the process.
First step:
Explore the business goals that
internal comms strategy must
support. Define objectives
before developing strategy.
Find out:
Four pillars to craft a
strategy that wins over
leaders and employees:
Alignment: Synchronizing
goals with stakeholders,
leadership and peers.
Research & Insights:
Validate the vision with
researched data and
insights.
Creation: Prioritize
actions that will shape
the strategy and how to
achieve objectives.
Vision: Lead the way
IC Strategy Infographic
Step 02
Align: The secret to success
Identify current comms:
What works, what doesn’t? Look
at the business goals and how
internal comms can support it,
demonstrating value.
Identify KPIs relevant to
your business:
E.g.: Lower staff turnover,
increased trust, change behavior.
What are best channels to
reach employees?
Are they getting the info they
need/want?
Is info timely enough?
Are there feedback channels?
Resources needed to bring
vision to life.
How you’re going to measure
your efforts.
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Now compare future state
with what’s there now.
Document the vision:
For credibility and also to
make it happen
Goals are more often met
when they are documented
Design it well, share it, get
buy-in
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Support beyond your
department is vital:
Identify who to align with to
move vision forward
Identify change management
needs along with comms
strategy
Look at stakeholders,
executives and your team. No
buy-in, no strategy
Get support across
departments
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Be honest about how
much can change, and
how quickly.
Know your team’s
capacity and manage
stakeholder expectations.
Share, align, and prioritize
objectives. A phased
approach is best.
Don't get discouraged.
Change requires
leadership and tenacity.
Cost strategy creation
and implementation.
Step 03
Research & Insights: Removing the guesswork
First, DO NOT go straight
from alignment to
execution.
DO an audit: Areas of
strength and improvement
needed.
DO remove guesswork: Validate
vision with data-driven insights.
DO deliver statistical validity.
This powers effective
comms strategy:
Understand your audience
and their needs.
Preferred consumption info:
visual, auditory or tactile
learners, or one-to-one
meetings?
Find out time and day info
consumption preferences.
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Dig deeper by conducting
surveys and interviews:
Leadership interviews
Employee survey and
interviews
All employee survey
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And then what?
Analyze research to find
strengths, weaknesses and
gaps between where you are
and where you want to be
Create a roadmap
Present to leaders
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Don’t expect it to be
plain sailing.
Don't be surprised if some
insights are challenging to some
closely-held assumptions or
beliefs. Embrace the outliers and
dig in deep to uncover the "why?".
Step 04
Creation: Building your IC strategy
Apply vision, alignment
and insights to build
internal comms strategy.
Now get leadership sign
off. Crucial to get their
full commitment.
Create an audience profile:
either in personas or more
robust segmentation. This enables
targeted content creation across
the organization.
Create or enhance employer
brand: helps employees
understand the values and
benefits of working at the
company, and expectations of
them as employees.
Document everything:
Overview
Insights
Audience Profile
Employer Brand
Channels & Vehicles
Resources
Change Management
Measurement
Roadmap and action plan
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Congratulations! You now have an
internal communications strategy!
Next steps: From strategy to tactics
Create a tactical plan for each action, focussing on one at a time
Assess what actions to measure and how to measure
Create editorial calendar
Develop promotion plan
Revisit and reevaluate strategy over time
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Don’t confuse strategy
and tactics.
Strategy is a plan to create a
future state of operations.
Tactics are the means used to
achieve the goals defined in
the strategy.
IC Strategy Infographic