Internal communications

This Research Work is on Internal Communications. The Research is going to take a look at what Internal Communications is, some benefits of Internal Communication as well as features of Internal Communications. The research will also look at Managerial Communication Approaches, Case Study, Employee Engagement and some Influences of Internal Communications.
Internal communications
Internal communications, also known as employee relations, includes all communication within an organisation.
Internal communications may be oral or written, face to face or virtual, one-on-one or in a small group.
Effective internal communication - which can be said to be "downward, upward, and horizontal" - is a vital means of addressing organisational concerns. Good internal communication helps to establish formal roles and responsibilities for employees.
Definition
Communication is often defined as an exchange of information. True communication requires a two-way process (a dialogue, not a monologue). "Information" can be presented orally, through writing, face-to-face, virtually, one-on-one, or in small groups. Listening to employees (an integral part of two-way communication) enables management to identify strengths and weaknesses, which helps in the process of decision making, and fosters esprit du corps.

Personal conversations between other colleagues
Internal communication in practice
Internal communications departments have broken away from HR since the 80's and 90's and now report directly to senior management in most organisations. In some organisations where internal communication has not been established as a separate communications function; it may be coordinated by Human Resources, Marketing and PR departments.
Benefits of Internal Communication
Internal communications helps employees to understand the organisation's vision, values, and culture. It may involve staff members in issues that affect working life and keeps staff informed on important decisions taken by management. Furthermore, internal communication, when implemented effectively, can be crucial in a time of crisis, providing employees with not only a strategy to handle a crisis, but the facts surrounding such an event. As arguably some of the most invested individuals in an organisation, trusted and valued employees can prove to be excellent partners when addressing a crisis. By maintaining open lines of communication between management and employees, effective internal communications can enhance stronger relationships throughout all levels of the organisation and forge a sense of community.
Excellent internal communications cannot simply be implemented and left alone; the process must be ever-changing and adaptable for success. While more and more organisations begin to spend more time identifying special interest groups within their own walls, internal communications methods are becoming increasingly diverse to match the varying needs of each organisations' internal staff and stakeholders.
The way messages are presented can have a negative or positive impact upon the reader, regardless of the core content of the message. While this could be condemned as spin, organisations who strive to practice excellent public relations will avoid manipulative and ambiguous messages as they destroy trust in the organisation. The most effective way is to find a balance between being "his Master's voice" and representing employees' interests.

Features of good internal communications
Internal communication should be:
· transparent and timely (when details have been confirmed and approved, messages should be presented to employees before any external public);
· clear;
· concise;
· informative; and
· Independent.
Internal communications practitioners should adhere to certain values such as:
· openness;
· honesty; and
· Two-way communication.
An internal communications department can become a moderator of interaction between official organisational representatives and employees.
The internal communications department should be responsible for developing and maintaining a number of channels that allow effective communication to take place. These channels include:
· intranet website;
· a regular Town Hall (an informal session where employees can listen to and talk with the organizational representative such as a Managing Director);
· conference calls;
· internal newsletters;
· email;
· message boards;
· print materials; and
· virtual meetings (which can be housed and facilitated through online MMORPGs, like Second Life)

Managerial Communication Approaches
Clampitt (2005) lists three approaches managers use to communicate with their employees.
Arrow approach - Communications are carefully constructed and aimed at a target audience. It assumes the more accurate the message, the clearer the understanding of the recipient. Problems arise when it is taken for granted that information is mostly transmitted by words and that recipients are passive receptors.
Circuit approach - Communications is achieved with positive relationships and job satisfaction of employees through understanding and discussion. It assumes that communicating is grounded in mutual understanding. Problems arise because of the myopic view that understanding will lead to agreement and that this understanding should be the sole goal of communications.
Dance approach - Communications are achieved through an intricate combination of the practice, understanding, and intuition. It believes that the communication involves the coordination of meanings, the understanding of common rules, and the recognition of patterns between two or more people.
Employee Engagement
Good internal communications bring about employee engagement. Employee engagement is a concept that is generally viewed as managing discretionary effort, that is, when employees have choices, they will act in a way that furthers their organization's interests. An engaged employee is a person who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work. In a book titled Getting Engaged: The New Workplace Loyalty, author Tim Rutledge explains that truly engaged employees are attracted to, and inspired by, their work ("I want to do this"), committed ("I am dedicated to the success of what I am doing"), and fascinated ("I love what I am doing")
Studies have shown that Engaged employees care about the future of the company and are willing to invest the discretionary effort. Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organization that employs them. (Robinson)
Emotional attachment
Only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs. These employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. People that are actively engaged help move the organization forward. 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality of their organization's products, compared with only 31% of the disengaged. 72% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively affect customer service, versus 27% of the disengaged. 68% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact costs in their job or unit, compared with just 19% of the disengaged. Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to the organization that employs them. This is associated with people demonstrating willingness to recommend the organization to others and commit time and effort to help the organization succeed. It suggests that people are motivated by intrinsic factors (e.g. personal growth, working to a common purpose, being part of a larger process) rather than simply focusing on extrinsic factors (e.g., pay/reward)
Involvement
Eileen Appelbaum and her colleagues (2000) studied 15 steel mills, 17 apparel manufacturers, and 10 electronic instrument and imaging equipment producers. Their purpose was to compare traditional production systems with flexible high-performance production systems involving teams, training, and incentive pay systems. In all three industries, the plants utilizing high-involvement practices showed superior performance. In addition, workers in the high-involvement plants showed more positive attitudes, including trust, organizational commitment and intrinsic enjoyment of the work. The concept has gained popularity as various studies have demonstrated links with productivity. It is often linked to the notion of employee voice and empowerment.
Commitment
In 1999, The Gallup Organization published research that showed that engaged employees are more productive, more profitable, more customer-focused, safer, and less likely to leave their employer. The review stated that "engagement with employees within a firm has shown to motivate the employee to work beyond personal factors and work more for the success of the firm.
Employees with the highest level of commitment perform 20% better and are 87% less likely to leave the organization, which indicates that engagement is linked to organizational performance. For example, at the beverage company of MoisonCoors, it was found that engaged employees were five times less likely than non-engaged employees to have a safety incident and seven times less likely to have a lost-time safety incident. In fact, the average cost of a safety incident for an engaged employee was $63, compared with an average of $392 for a non-engaged employee. Consequently, through strengthening employee engagement, the company saved $1,721,760 in safety costs in 2002. In addition, savings were found in sales performance teams through engagement. In 2005, for example, low-engagement teams were seen falling behind engaged teams, with a difference in performance-related costs of low- versus high-engagement teams totalling $2,104,823.3 (Lockwood).

CASE STUDY
Life insurance industry
Two studies of employees in the life insurance industry examined the impact of employee perceptions that they had the power to make decisions, sufficient knowledge and information to do the job effectively, and rewards for high performance. Both studies included large samples of employees (3,570 employees in 49 organizations and 4,828 employees in 92 organizations). In both studies, high-involvement management practices were positively associated with employee morale, employee retention, and firm financial performance. Watson Wyatt found that high-commitment organizations (one with loyal and dedicated employees) out-performed those with low commitment by 47% in the 2000 study and by 200% in the 2002 study.
Productivity
In a study of professional service firms, the Hay Group found that offices with engaged employees were up to 43% more productive.
The most striking finding is the almost 52% gaps in operating incomes between companies with highly engaged employees and companies whose employees have low-engagement scores. High-engagement companies improved 19.2% while low-engagement companies declined 32.7% in operating income during the study period. For example, New Century Financial Corporation, a U.S. specialty mortgage banking company, found that account executives in the wholesale division who were actively disengaged produced 28% less revenue than their colleagues who were engaged. Furthermore, those not engaged generated 23% less revenue than their engaged counterparts. Engaged employees also outperformed the not engaged and actively disengaged employees in other divisions.


Influences
· Employee perceptions of job importance. According to a 2006 study by Gerard Seijts and Dan Crim, "...an employee’s attitude toward the job's importance and the company had the greatest impact on loyalty and customer service then all other employee factors combined.
· Employee clarity of job expectations. "If expectations are not clear and basic materials and equipment not provided, negative emotions such as boredom or resentment may result, and the employee may then become focused on surviving more than thinking about how he can help the organization succeed.
· Career advancement/improvement opportunities. "Plant supervisors and managers indicated that many plant improvements were being made outside the suggestion system, where employees initiated changes in order to reap the bonuses generated by the subsequent cost savings.
· Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors. "Feedback is the key to giving employees a sense of where they’re going, but many organizations are remarkably bad at giving it. What I really wanted to hear was 'Thanks. You did a good job.' But all my boss did was hand me a check.
· Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and subordinates. "...if employees' relationship with their managers is fractured, then no amount of perks will persuade the employees to perform at top levels. Employee engagement is a direct reflection of how employees feel about their relationship with the boss.
· Perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization. "'Inspiration and values' is the most important of the six drivers in our Engaged Performance model. Inspirational leadership is the ultimate perk. In its absence, is unlikely to engage employees.
· Effective Internal Employee Communications - which convey a clear description of "what's going on". "'If you accept that employees want to be involved in what they are doing then this trend is clear (from small businesses to large global organizations). The effect of poor internal communications is seen as its most destructive in global organizations which suffer from employee annexation - where the head office in one country is buoyant (since they are closest to the action, know what is going on, and are heavily engaged) but its annexes (who are furthest away from the action and know little about what is happening) are dis-engaged. In the worst case, employee annexation can be very destructive when the head office attributes the annex's low engagement to its poor performance... when its poor performance is really due to its poor communications.