Shaping Culture for Society and for Employees: A Gulf Case Study

6 April 2026

Kateryna Byelova:

The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) shapes cultural and tourism agendas for the Emirate, while bringing together more than 2,400 employees across diverse sectors. An organization that influences cultural experience cannot treat internal culture as secondary.

DCT Abu Dhabi recognized that belonging inside the organization directly affects collaboration, productivity, and how employees represent the institution externally. Internal communication was therefore positioned not only as an information function, but as a driver of engagement. One that required measurement and continuous refinement.

Context: Belonging as a Performance Driver

DCT Abu Dhabi brings together multiple sectors under one institutional umbrella: culture, tourism, heritage, and related functions. Each sector operates with its own priorities and expertise, while contributing to shared organizational values and objectives.

Employee feedback indicated a desire for stronger cross-sector visibility. Many employees were deeply engaged in their own mandates but had limited visibility into initiatives across other sectors. There was a clear need for greater connection and institutional coherence.

Leadership recognized that belonging across sectors directly influences collaboration and performance. When employees understand the broader organizational direction beyond their own department, alignment improves. When they feel connected to the institution, they become more confident external representatives of it.

The objective was therefore clear:
Foster stronger internal engagement and a sense of belonging by actively enabling and reinforcing this through internal communications.

“Belonging is not built by sending more messages. It is built by understanding how people respond.”- Dr. Samia Saeed Alameri, Internal Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility Section Head, DCT Abu Dhabi

This led to a deliberate question:

How can internal communication be measured and continuously refined based on real employee interaction and feedback?

The Design Choice: Building a Measurable Communication Ecosystem

DCT Abu Dhabi approached this question as a systems challenge rather than a channel decision.

The objective was not simply to introduce new tools, but to create a communication ecosystem that could:

• Increase cross-sector visibility
• Strengthen employee engagement and belonging
• Measure interaction and participation
• Adjust communication based on data

Three interconnected layers shaped this ecosystem:

1. A unified engagement platform
2. Behavioural email analytics
3. Multi-channel mechanisms to ensure inclusive reach

Together, these layers enabled communication to become both visible and measurable.

Layer 1: Creating a Unified Engagement Environment

To strengthen cross-sector visibility and foster belonging, DCT Abu Dhabi introduced an employee engagement platform, Workvivo, designed to serve as a central institutional space.

The purpose was to create one shared environment where employees could:

• Access organisational updates across sectors
• Engage with leadership communication
• Recognise peers and achievements
• Participate in discussions and initiatives
• Gain visibility into events and activities beyond their own department

Importantly, the platform was mobile-enabled. This ensured accessibility for desk-less and operational employees alike, supporting inclusion across roles and work environments.

The platform became a structured hub, reducing fragmentation while increasing institutional visibility. This shift supported a broader objective: helping employees see the organisation not only through their immediate function, but as a connected whole.

Layer 2: Introducing Behavioural Measurement

To complement the engagement platform, DCT Abu Dhabi introduced advanced email analytics through ContactMonkey, enabling the team to monitor email reach and understand how employees interact with internal communication in practice.

For the first time, communication performance could be viewed through behavioural indicators such as:

• Open rates
• Click-through rates
• Reading duration
• Engagement patterns over time

This visibility enabled more precise, responsive communication. Follow-ups could be directed to areas with lower engagement, and interaction patterns could provide insight into how messages were received across the organisation. Measurement was introduced as a refinement tool. It enabled the team to continuously adjust tone, timing, and targeting based on actual employee interaction rather than assumptions.

“For us, measurement was not about tracking emails. It was about improving communication.”- Dr. Samia Saeed Alameri, Internal Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility Section Head, DCT Abu Dhabi

This data-informed approach proved particularly effective during organization-wide initiatives requiring high participation. By leveraging engagement insights to guide communication efforts, DCT Abu Dhabi achieved one of the highest response rates among peers.

Layer 3: Ensuring Reach Across Roles and Work Environments

Alongside digital engagement and behavioural measurement, DCT Abu Dhabi designed communication to reach employees across diverse roles and work settings. The communication ecosystem incorporated complementary channels to ensure consistent visibility across the organization:

• SMS communication was used for major announcements and time-sensitive updates
• Digital screens were placed in high-traffic areas to reinforce key messages and promote events
• Speaker announcements were used for key institutional updates and structured audio moments in shared spaces, recognizing that internal communication shapes not only information flow, but also organizational atmosphere

This layered approach ensured that communication remained visible across different employee environments while maintaining coherence within the broader ecosystem.

Implementation: Designing for Scale and Institutional Stability

Given the Department’s scale and public visibility, communication systems are inherently interconnected and must align with broader organizational structures. They influence multiple sectors, leadership layers, and employee groups simultaneously.

At this level, implementation is not a pilot exercise. Once deployed, systems shape daily interaction patterns across the organization. Careful preparation is therefore essential to ensure consistency, security, and long-term sustainability.

Prior to rollout, DCT Abu Dhabi conducted structured evaluations covering vendor credibility, technical feasibility, IT security alignment, and operational impact. Budget discussions were positioned within strategic performance objectives and measurable engagement outcomes.

This level of preparation reflected an understanding that large-scale institutional adoption requires clarity from the outset. When communication tools are introduced across diverse sectors, disciplined implementation enables confident expansion and sustained usage.

Leadership Alignment: Positioning Communication as a Strategic Capability

Sustaining a measurable communication ecosystem requires more than tools. It requires leadership alignment.

At DCT Abu Dhabi, communication initiatives were positioned strategically. Proposals were framed around engagement outcomes, participation rates, institutional visibility, and long-term performance impact.

Leadership recognised that employee belonging influences collaboration, execution quality, and how employees represent the organisation externally. Internal communication was therefore understood not only as an operational function, but as a capability that contributes to institutional performance.

“When employees feel connected internally, it reflects externally. Communication plays a role in how our people represent the institution beyond the workplace.” – Dr. Samia Saeed Alameri, Internal Communications & Corporate Social Responsibility Section Head, DCT Abu Dhabi

Innovation was encouraged, with clear objectives and measurable impact to support it. This alignment reduced friction in adoption processes and reinforced accountability across communication initiatives.

In this context, measurement was not a reporting exercise. It was a shared language between communication and leadership.

What This Case Shows in Practice

This case demonstrates that strengthening belonging at scale requires both design and discipline.

Effective internal communication in complex institutions rests on three interconnected foundations:

• Shared visibility, enabling employees to understand the organization beyond their immediate function
• Measurable interaction, allowing communication to be refined based on behavioural insight
• Leadership alignment, ensuring engagement is positioned as a contributor to performance rather than a parallel activity

When these elements operate together, communication evolves from information flow to institutional capability.

Belonging becomes measurable.
Engagement becomes actionable.
Employees become informed contributors and confident ambassadors.

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Kateryna Byelova is the CEO and Principal Consultant of Sage XP, Internal Communications and Corporate Culture Consultancy