BUS603: Managing People

This study provides support that public relations tends to lead internal communication and that human resources is a close collaborator. However, it appears that human resources may be the department facing potential functional encroachment as a few participants reported that internal communication was recently restructured to report to public relations or marketing. One executive reported this change was made due to the perception that public relations executives had stronger skills in writing and design. Areas where human resources had a dominant role in internal communication were recruitment and new employee orientation, as well as oversight of employee awards programs and annual performance evaluations. At the same time, public relations tended to oversee routine communication such as newsletters, videos, and employee intranets. 

One trend that appears to be emerging in larger corporations is an integrated communication approach to internal communication, which involves treating employees as just another stakeholder in larger campaigns rather than assigning dedicated employees to internal communication. This trend would represent a shift compared to earlier research, which reported the creation of independent internal communication departments. This new approach may be due to limited resources, but it also may be attributed to the perception of the blurring of audiences that was mentioned by five of the executives in this study. Employees often read information about their employer from external sources such as the media and external social media channels as well as internal communication channels. The integrated approach also may be due to the push to create consistent messaging both internally and externally. At the same time, public relations practitioners should engage in stakeholder analysis as priorities will change based on the specific issue. Treating all audiences as a general public is neither an efficient use of resources nor effective.  

One of the biggest forces impacting internal communication is the generational shifts. Millennials are resisting traditional communication tactics such as long mass emails instead preferring short messages on the device of their choosing. But internal communicators warn this change can present another challenge for employees, the lack of one primary source of information. Millennials also expect more dialogue in internal communication, and internal social media channels are enabling more collaboration. Verčič et al. had previously identified internal social media as the number one issue in internal communication through a Delphi study in Europe. This study provides new insights regarding the types of tools being used and the benefits associated with employee engagement. Opinions varied on whether internal communicators should only monitor employee comments posted on internal social media channels or engage directly in the conversations. 

The entrance of Millennials in the workforce also has reinforced the need for employer branding as a means of increasing employee loyalty and engagement. The majority of the internal communicators were well aware of this trend, and had implemented specific strategies and tactics to promote their core values as a competitive advantage. These efforts included promoting their values in employee recruitment materials, employee orientation, routine communication as well as recognizing employees who are modeling their values in annual awards program. 

Finally, it is encouraging to see internal communicators using annual surveys as a benchmark to identify areas for improvement. More specifically, there was evidence of questions to measure engagement not just communication processes. Public relations practitioners should adopt some of these specific questions in their employee surveys to measure employee engagement. Six of the participants also discussed the lengths they go to use feedback from employees to enhance their work environment, providing evidence of two-way symmetrical communication. This is a sign of progress as Verčič et al. found that internal communication was more tactical and focused on one-way communication in their study in Europe.