Although the majority of UK businesses have an internal communication function, they urgently need to change their dated and restricted perceptions of the value and importance it brings to a business, reveals new research from UK-based B2B tech PR consultancy ITPR.
The headline results show that:
- The vast majority of UK businesses have an internal communication function (84 percent)—however, less than a fifth (18 percent) have a standalone department responsible for delivering internal messaging.
- Almost half of UK business decision makers (42 percent) said that they find it difficult to accurately measure the value internal communication brings to their organization.
- Almost one in five UK business decision makers (18 percent) said that internal communication is not important to a company’s bottom line, despite 88 percent saying it is important to employee morale and 84 percent to employee well-being—both of which have a tangible impact on the bottom line.
- 81 percent of UK businesses capture employee feedback at least once a year.
- While 72 percent of those companies that capture employee feedback have an internal communication strategy, less than a quarter (24 percent) act on the information they gather.
The independent market research, with research consultants Sapio, looks at how UK businesses are planning, managing, delivering and measuring internal communication activity. The research conducted in May 2022 among 200 decision makers in HR, marketing or communication from companies with more than 100 employees, was built around three core themes: Understanding, Delivery & Measurement and Value.
“The research has provided us with valuable insight into how UK organizations understand and use internal communication,” said Anthony Monks, Director at ITPR, in a news release. “Whilst the results show that UK businesses understand the need to have an internal communications function, it shows a worrying lack of knowledge and experience gap which may be impacting their bottom lines.”
“The results reflect the fact that the impact internal communications has on a business is still misunderstood and therefore undervalued,” said David Beesley, managing director at ITPR, in the release. “We want to help businesses get to grips with their internal communications by using a proven methodology that will help them identify what is, and more importantly, what isn’t working with their existing internal communications. ”
Monks concludes, “Effective internal communication is a powerful tool, proven to improve engagement, boost corporate reputation and have a positive impact on the bottom line by aligning employees with the business objectives, mission, vision and value. These results show that UK businesses urgently need to change their dated and restricted perceptions of the value and importance it brings to a business.”
