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Corporate communicators struggling with internal measurement—here are the obstacles

by | Dec 3, 2019 | Public Relations

A large majority (84 percent) of communicators want to implement some form of measurement to determine employee engagement, but they say they often lack the budget and technological resources to do so, according to new research from internal email comms firm PoliteMail Software. Forty-five percent of respondents said they were not even sure where to start, or what to measure.

The firm’s new study, 2019 Internal Communications Measurement Survey Results, also reveals email as the dominant employee communications channel, valued by 96 percent of enterprises with more than 1,000 employees.

Corporate communicators struggling with internal measurement—here are the obstacles

The research, conducted by Ragan Communications, polled internal communications professionals in such sectors as healthcare, technology, government, education and nonprofit. Across all industries and company sizes, the survey found several commonalities.

Key findings include:

  • 94 percent of survey respondents said that email was their “most important” employee communications channel at helping them achieve their objectives.
  • 67 percent of communicators are measuring some of their communications, and 71 percent of those are measuring internet activity—but only 55 percent measure email and 42 percent measure leadership/town hall meetings. And a full one-third of respondents do no measurement their communication results at all.

Corporate communicators struggling with internal measurement—here are the obstacles

  • Internal communicators cite information overload (53 percent), lack of manpower (51 percent) and antiquated technology and tools (45 percent) as top challenges to effectively measuring employee communications campaigns.

Corporate communicators struggling with internal measurement—here are the obstacles

  • Of the 22 percent of communicators who are satisfied with their ability to measure their campaigns, they use these metrics to make decisions (78 percent) and improve effectiveness (68 percent).
  • Only 16 percent of communicators use mobile tools to reach their workforce, and among those using a mobile app, 42 percent are indifferent to its effectiveness, while 16 percent consider it ineffective.

Corporate communicators struggling with internal measurement—here are the obstacles

“The research shows that proving the effectiveness of employee communications continues to be a challenge for most enterprises,” said Michael DesRochers, managing partner at PoliteMail, in a news release. “While digital tools such as instant messaging, mobile apps and social networking continue to flood the market, email remains most effective and companies continue to rely on email. The ability to improve email content and use [it] inside corporations is dependent on accurate measurement to help communications teams make decisions informed by objective data.”

Corporate communicators struggling with internal measurement—here are the obstacles

Download the full report here.

PoliteMail commissioned Ragan to conduct a survey targeting internal communications professionals. The survey was administered to 340 qualified individuals in the spring of 2019. Data points were compiled and analyzed by Ragan’s team, then compared with the 2017 study.

Richard Carufel
Richard Carufel is editor of Bulldog Reporter and the Daily ’Dog, one of the web’s leading sources of PR and marketing communications news and opinions. He has been reporting on the PR and communications industry for over 17 years, and has interviewed hundreds of journalists and PR industry leaders. Reach him at richard.carufel@bulldogreporter.com; @BulldogReporter

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