Blowing a trumpet for academic research: internal comms research hub
Academic internal communication research teends don’t get much attention on social media.
There are many reasons for this, including the challenges in accessing journal articles that are often behind publisher paywalls.
When Public Relations Professor Linjuan Rita Men set up the Internal Communication Research Hub (ICRH), housed within the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, the first steps were established for greater dissemination of research findings.
In December 2024, I volunteered to establish an ICRH European group. The 17-strong volunteer committee consists of academics and practitioners from across Europe (see list below) and we spent the first half of 2025 exploring what we could do to promote research and evidence-based practice.
Our first project is to conduct our own research into the ways that internal communication is valued.
The ability to demonstrate value through data was highlighted as one of five top blockers for delivering for the business in a recent Gallagher Employee Communications Report. It is also highlighted in an Institute of Internal Communication report on the future of the profession which notably concludes that although there is growing recognition of the strategic value of internal communication, perceived value is seen as a ‘challenge’ by 52 per cent of practitioners.
The ICRH Europe research project is in four stages:
- A review of recent books, journal articles and industry reports to set out the core ways that internal communication is seen to provide value.
- Research with internal communication practitioners to understand how they perceive the value of their work.
- Research with senior leaders to understand how they perceive the value of internal communication.
- Research with employees to understand how they value internal communication.
The programme is being conducted over a 12-month period, with free to download reports provided at each stage.
The first stage is a current, work in progress, report that Jenni Field and I have drafted and it has already highlighted some interesting points, most notably about the multitude of different ways that internal communication provides value to organisations, employees and society. The last connection (with society) is a relatively new and rarely discussed concept and one that will be really interesting to explore in more depth.
One of the reasons why I wanted to set up the ICRH Europe group is my belief that there are incredible insights for practice lurking in academic journal articles.
