An integrated evaluation framework for internal communication
Internal communication planning has come a long way in the past decade and it is now very well established with 89 per cent of practitioners reporting that they have a plan in place in their organisation.
However, 50 per cent state that measurement is a “challenge”.
This is not surprising, given the wealth of data available, the complexities of analysing it and myths that still exist about the measurement process.
The International Association of Measurement and Evaluation (AMEC)’s Integrated Evaluation Framework (IEF) provides a robust approach that can be used by any organisation for planning, measurement and evaluation.
It is based on the following seven core elements:
- Objectives – good measurement starts with clear organisational objectives
- Inputs – situation analysis, target audience identification and the resources required
- Activities – content produced and delivered, recognising the importance of the paid, earned, shared and owned (PESO) model
- Outputs – the core measures across PESO (e.g. visits, sessions, posts, views, reads, views, listens, likes, attendance)
- Out-takes – the response and reactions of your target audiences to the activity
- Outcomes – the effect of the communications on the target audience
- Impact – on organizational objectives
The application of the PESO model for activities and outputs is external communication oriented, so I’ve adapted the framework and replaced PESO with a focus on channels, topics and listening for internal communication.
Channels are, of course, very important in internal communication – especially today with a wide range of internal channels in use and the challenges of communicating in a hybrid environment. Activities and output measurement here should be designed around plans and measurement that reflect employee preferences for the channels used for communication.
In terms of topics, employees rightly expect to be informed about the topics that they believe are important to them. This may sound obvious. However, employees often state that they do not receive enough information about business strategy/priorities, policy/operational changes and market/competitor information.
Effective internal communication incorporates listening to employees alongside keeping them informed and therefore is a basic and core element for any plan. To gain the many benefits from listening, activities require the same attention and focus as that given to channels and topics. And responding to what employees say is also always part of the process.
The data available to internal communication practitioners from email systems and digital platforms now enables granular output measurement. The challenge here is not to fall into the “substitution error” trap, where data is presented as out-take or outcome results.
The best insights from output measurement often come from trend analysis that is used to draw conclusions about why certain content generates more views or likes than other content.
There is also a myth that I still sometimes hear – that it is not possible to measure the effect of internal communication on what employees think, feel and do in relation to their organisation. It is true that this does require specialist knowledge about survey design and data analysis, but it is technically possible to assess how far internal communication has contributed towards changing employee attitudes, beliefs and behaviours.
