Effective internal communication, how to measure and why?

11 April 2025 Reading Time: 7 minutes

by Edyta Blachowska: 

It’s well known how to define marketing goals. They have to be SMART. They must define the direction of marketing activities. They must bring profit to our business. And how to define internal communication goals? The same way.

I guess few companies carry out marketing activities without a specific strategy and goals. It is known that if a company spends a certain budget on advertising activities, it must pay off. So why don’t we take the same approach to internal communications? Internal communication is often not treated as a company priority. However, more and more executives appreciate its value. It increases employee value of being informed and having a sense of purpose. Informed and engaged employees achieve business goals. So how do you ensure that employees are well-informed?

Internal communication is not just about distributing a newsletter to employees, organizing a Christmas meeting or editing a CEO’s email. Above all, it’s about engaging employees in activities that will bring the company closer to achieving its business goals.

Why measure internal communication

We sent an important email to all employees. Does that mean we have done our job? No. We don’t know how many employees read the message, how many understood it, and how many did what we asked them to do in the email. We held a meeting for managers at an exclusive hotel, and 80% of the managers attended. Is that enough to say that the meeting was a success? No. We don’t know how many employees were at the entire meeting, whether they listened to what the CEO was saying, whether they understood what was important, whether they communicated to their employees. If we don’t check all of this, we don’t know if the money we spent on the hotel and the time we spent preparing the email has paid off.

In communication, we always need to check whether the information has received, has been well interpreted and has changed into specific action. Every communication activity should have some effect: changes in employees’ knowledge, attitude or behaviour. Only then we can be sure that the time and money spent on communication activities, have paid off, or brought profit to the company.

How to measure internal communication

Internal communication goals are defined in the same way as marketing goals. They should be SMART:

S (specific) – concrete. The more specific the goal, the easier it is to assess the possibility of achieving it.

M (measurable) – measurable. To be sure that we have achieved a goal, it is useful to determine how we will measure the degree of achieving it.

A (ambitious) – challenging. To achieve our goals, we should be motivated to achieve them, so they should challenge us. Easily achievable goals are unlikely to motivate, and certainly not to improve our competence.

R (realistic) – realistic. Goals must be achievable. It’s good to have ambitious goals, but if you can’t achieve them, you won’t find the right motivation either. Estimate resources well and take constraints into account.

T (time-bounded) – defined in time. We need to specify when we will check if we have achieved the goal.

Once we have defined goals according to the SMART method, it is also necessary to define KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). KPIs allow us to determine how the value created for the employees, we can translate into business value.

What to measure in internal communications

We already know why we should measure internal communication and how to measure it. But that’s not all. The most important thing is to know what exactly we should measure, to see if our communication activities are effective, and if they have the right effect.

When measuring the effectiveness of communication, it is useful to distinguish which outcome we are achieving: whether it is a change in behaviour (OUTCOME) or a result of activities (OUTPUT). How is one outcome different from the other, and which is better?

Output is the effect of communication activities. However, it does not translate into a measurable impact on the audience.

Outcome is the additional value that communication activities create for the target group.

Outcome affects the value to the company (impact).

What metrics to use to measure communication

To study the effectiveness of communication activities, it is necessary to measure both output and outcome. This affects business objectives.

OUTPUT: number of meetings, workshops, page views, number of participants, questions, number of messages sent, surveys, responses, documents

OUTCOME: knowledge gained, competence, attitude change, motivation gained, commitment, feedback, decisions made

IMPACT: financial result, social, economic, environmental impact

In order to achieve a certain result, we need to put in a certain amount of effort, which we should also estimate (INPUT). This is how we know if the results exceeded the investment. We consider employee time, operating time, money, materials, equipment, knowledge or technology as input.

Example: how to measure communication activities on the basis of new value campaign

To define communication goals, we need to start with business objectives and link them to what we want employees to know, think, feel and do.

Example: Implementation of new values

For what we want employees to know, think, feel and do, we select appropriate communication tactics and define metrics.

Example: Introducing new values – tactics and metrics

The value of communication effects

 We already have our communication goals defined, we know how we want to achieve them and how we will measure them. We look at whether the goals we have defined involve not only communication activities (output), but also behaviour change (outcome). We also estimate what resources we need to put in to achieve the intended effects (input).

 

The next step should be to estimate whether the value of the investment has not exceeded the value of the communication activities.

In order to count the investment, we take into account the time of communicators, the project team and the time of employee involvement, as well as all the additional costs associated with handling by external companies or business trips.

 

INVESTMENT COST:                

                                           

Then we estimate the value of communication activities. How to do it?

We estimate an example of the cost of the problem, that is, for example, that due to employee turnover the company loses two million euro a year.

Then we determine the estimated probability of solving the problem through communication activities, i.e. that by introducing a new value system we will reduce employee turnover by 20 percent. The estimated cost of the problem times the probability of solving the problem through communication activities equals our value of communication.

That is, using the example of the new values campaign:

* We estimate that the company loses 2 million euro a year due to employee turnover,

* We estimate that we will reduce employee turnover by 20% through communication activities,

The value of communication is EUR 2 million x 20% = EUR 400 thousand.

Now we subtract the cost of investment from the value of communication. The amount we get is our value of the effects of communication activities.

VALUE OF COMMUNICATION – COST OF INVESTMENT = VALUE OF COMMUNICATION EFFECTS 400,000 EUR – 25,000 EUR = 375,000 EUR

Source: Business case, Mike Klein.

This means that thanks to the communication activities undertaken in this campaign, the value of communication amounted to 400 thousand euro, investment costs 25 thousand euro, which indicates the value of communication effects at 375 thousand euro.

Summary

Internal communication is not used to inform employees about an initiative. If we send out a message to employees, but do not measure the effects of this action, we are only distributing the message and acting as a mailman, not as an internal communicator. If we want internal communication to be treated strategically, we have to prove that we bring value to the organization, our actions have specific measurable effects and bring profit to the company. Because at the end of the day, all actions in business translate into money. And it is worth keeping this in mind when planning your next information campaign. Because the ability of employees to absorb information is limited. And because of this, this resource is strategic for the company and we should not waste it.

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Edyta Blachowska, Internal Communications Director. She has been working in internal communications for over 15 years. She gained experience in banks and PR agencies. The internal campaigns carried out by her team have won many awards in Polish and international industry competitions, including BEA World, European Excellence Award, Golden Clips, Golden Arrow, and Digital Communication Award. She is a Mentor, Fellow Institute of Internal Communication and Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence. Member of the Institute of Internal Communication, IABC, and the Polish Public Relations Association. She holds an Advanced Diploma of Proficiency in Internal Communication in collaboration with Solent University. She is the founder of industry meetings for bank communicators. She is a Strategic Columnist, and a panelist and speaker at many events dedicated to internal communication, including iComms and IC Mobile. She is a juror of the Golden Clips and Gold Quill Awards. The only Strategic Communication Management Professional (SCMP) certified communicator in Poland. Member of the steering committee of The Internal Communication Research Hub – European Affiliate Group, which deals with research in the field of internal communication and cooperation between the scientific community and practitioners.

 

Written by: Editor