This document discusses how and when to measure the effectiveness of internal communications within an organization. It recommends measuring communications annually through surveys, before and after specific communication campaigns, and periodically to track approaches over time. The document outlines what aspects of communication to measure, such as awareness, attitudes, behaviors, functional aspects of messages, and impact on business goals. It also discusses how to isolate the impact of communication from other variables and calculate the financial value of effective communication. Qualitative and quantitative techniques are described for measurement.

1. Why, When and How?
When Should We Measure Communications?
Yearly in depth surveys. Satisfaction and engagement surveys are generally carried out annually and
will carry added questions to supply some insights into the effectiveness.
Prior to your specific communications campaign. In order to best comprehend the effect of
communications, it is crucial to quantify (awareness, attitudes, knowledge etc) before a campaign.
Following campaign or an important communication. It's important to gauge the effectiveness and
impact of significant communications systems and initiatives. This enables you to tailor
communications that are internal to make sure they're powerful and delivering quantifiable business
value.
At periods to track approaches. Regular measurement helps communicators to estimate the ever
transferring feelings and approaches inside an organization also to tailor messages to make sure
they are appropriate to their audiences.
Beat checks and to collect feedback on issues that are particular also temperature checks during
and after particular events provide an insight into the dilemmas http://www.lane4performance.com/
and challenges.
At intervals against KPI's to course and benchmark. Measuring regularly against mark and
monitoring trends over time provide an early warning of problems that may go undetected until
they've escalated farther.
What to Measure?
Determining which aspects of communicating to measure will be based on communication objectives
and the organization's particular company. Several examples of communications measurements that
are helpful comprise:
Baseline communicating measurements prior to communicating can quantify; existing knowledge,
attitudes and behaviours of workers, in addition to discovering the existing information accessible,
how simple it's to find, the current communications stations available also to identify other factors
influencing behaviors and attitudes.
Communicating measurements that are functional
Following effort or a communication, functional features of communicating needs to be measured.
Comparisons to the baselines measurements are useful. Additional measures can include; kinds and
the number of messages sent, time of messages, message cut-through / reach, station effectiveness
and allure, crowd satisfaction with content (kinds, volume etc).
What to Quantify - Measuring Impact
Measuring of the impact communicating is a vital measure and measures can contain:
Audience perception measurements including variables for example; kinds and % of messages

2. received, communications remembered. Were messages viewed as consistent, related and credible?
Were the messages comprehended? How well do workers feel they are being supported? Do
employees understand just what needs to happen as an outcome of the communication(s)?
Change in Behavior
Most inner communication's aim would be to modify the attitudes and behaviours of workers. Thus,
it is valuable to identify and quantify variables such as; What changed? What's now different?
Impact on company goals / Results
Communicating measurement should enable Internal Communicators to quantify the effect of
communications on business objectives. For example:
The quantity of employees who signed up for share scheme (following its promotion)
The shift in approaches affecting customer service and the proposed effect of increased customer
retention
The number of usable ideas submitted via an employee proposition initiative (and the financial worth
of those ideas)
Isolating the effect of communicating
Communication will not really happen in a vacuum and it can sometimes be hard to isolate the
impact of communication versus other variables (incentive schemes, new product starts, factors
external to the business and so forth). Potential options comprise:
Communications control groups (not communicating them about a particular initiative or target, and
isolating a group, like one place that is remote, then looking at their activities and groups you and
have communicated differ)
Assessing the change in behaviour with regard to a company aim that was conveyed nicely, versus a
business goal with little or no communicating
Estimate the % influence of communications versus other factors that are affecting.
Calculating the financial value of communication
Calculations of the fiscal value of communicating will, at best, be approximations. Nevertheless, it's
still a significant part communicating measurement as it may attest the tremendous worth of
successful internal communication and begins a conversation with senior managers as well.
Think about the impact of a crisis communication response that is internal that is effective. A
comparison could be manufactured against a scenario (internally or inside a similar organization)
which wasn't handled and quantifiable worth attributed to factors such as:
Quantity of customers retained
Retention of good staff who might have left

3. Tools to Assist the Measurement of Internal Communicating contain:
Desktop Computer quizzes and surveys. Aside from in depth online or paper based surveys, pop-up
desktop computer surveys and quizzes can offer benchmarking capacity and added measurement
through the year.
Motivators. Staff can be encouraged by a prize incentive to participate in a quiz or survey.
Qualitative Communication Measurement
Along with quantitative measures of communications effectiveness, qualitative communication
measurement should also be undertaken. Qualitative techniques can comprise:
Free form replies in surveys.
Focus groups
Discussion forums. Although face to face interviews and focus groups in many cases are the best
choice for qualitative communication measurement, inner social media can be substitute or a helpful
addition. Set employee discussion forums up to investigate particular problems. Monitor remarks
made in discussion forums to collect qualitative measures of how employees are thinking feeling and
behaving
Preventing Survey Bias
Preventing non- self select prejudice or response. When surveys rely on workers to choose in or 'self
select', you may largely hear from the squeaky wheels or folks having an agenda motivating them to
participate. A desktop computer survey tool provides escalation, random sampling and recurrence
options to help ensure that representative internal communications measurement data is collected
from throughout the business.
Control groups. Set up a control groups for communications efforts. Identify survey responses from
control groups and hence to compare and measure the effect of internal communications efforts.
Multiple select questions. For many kinds of questions, e.g. "Where did you hear about XXX from?"
or "What factors affected your choice" supplying single response choices can skew results. In such
cases, supply multi-select answer choices.
Comparisons. Measure the impact of communications on folks who saw a special communications
against those who didn't.

4. Time's impact . Remember rates will drop over time, hence if communication campaigns must be
compared with one another, communications measurement has to be carried out at precisely the
same time interval after each and every campaign. Ensure that communications measurement is
performed after every effort at a regular time.
Supplying context to get a quiz or survey. Circumstance must be given to get a quiz or survey. For
example, a merchandise knowledge quiz without circumstance may cause workers maybe work more
difficult to ensure they supply the right responses and to be worried about the objective of the quiz.
Supporting Survey Participation
Encouraging the survey to support engagement. Important and the more mathematically precise the
results will probably be the higher survey contribution rates really are. Use innovative internal
communications channels like; desktop alerts, scrolling background feeds, screensaver messaging
and user generated staff magazines support participation and to increase the profile.
Communicating survey findings and activities being taken. Employees are far more likely to
participate, when they believe the output signals from staff surveys will probably be constructively
used. Consequently, ensure that survey outcome along with the resulting activities being taken are
well communicated to staff. Articles, newsfeeds and screensaver messages in the staff magazines
are great ways get messages across without their becoming buried in email inboxes.