Data Description: Simpplr Research conducted a study, State of the Intranet Survey 2019, surveying over 400 internal communications leaders. The survey asks respondents whether improper or insufficient communications technology is a problem in their organization. The plot above breaks down those responses by the strength of a respondent’s internal communications program. 90 percent of organizations leading in internal communications cited that communications technology was not a problem. Conversely, with laggards in internal communication, over 75% of organizations report trouble with communications technology. On average, about half of companies report that communications technology is a problem. The laggards have significantly more problems than the average company with internal communications at the 0.1 alpha level and the leaders have significantly fewer at the alpha 0.01 level. Because these are both derived from one-sided t-tests for independence and assume constant variance across subsamples, and the trend is monotonic, we conclude that the leaders have fewer communications technology problems on average than the laggards at least the alpha 0.01 level.
Internal communications (IC) is essential to employee engagement and bridging the gap between leadership and employees. With the impact of COVID-19 and work from home policies, communications have become even more important to align an organization. It’s unrealistic to expect that employees proactively sift through emails and other applications to consume announcements as they are busy with their day-to-day. It’s the communications department’s responsibility to make sure announcements and information get in front of employees. The good thing is, modern intranets are a powerful communications platform that streamlines top-down critical information.
If you look at the respondent data that rates the overall state of internal communications technology as “poor” or “very poor”, the respondents often cite that they frequently have problems with IC technology. Simpplr Research’s previous Chart of the Week: Use the Most Effective Internal Communications Technology helps us dive deeper to understand the most important internal communications technologies and how each technology impacts the overall state of IC. Based on this supplemental information, organizations lagging in IC may be limiting their channels of communications, and missing the most effective tool, the intranet.
It’s important to note that not all intranets are created equal. Modern intranets empower your organization to run at the speed of business, without heavy reliance on technical resources. In addition, modern intranets should replicate a virtual watercooler and serve content that is:
- Trusted by all employees
- Secure within the organization
- Curated and relevant for each employee
- Timely so employees are up-to-date
- Distributed through multiple channels
- Measurable
Communicators must evaluate how their communications infrastructure and whether the technologies are used appropriately to disseminate corporate communications. The chart presented in this post concludes having a proper communications tool separates the leaders from the rest, assuming that these organizations have a sound content strategy.
If you’re for expert communications advice from industry leaders on how to guide your organization, download our free resource: 10 Internal Communications Best Practices During COVID-19. Simpplr is also offering a rapid deployment service to get your organization up and running during this time. Learn more here.
