Internal Communications - Role of IC in The Organization

Role of IC in The Organization

People at work communicate regardless of the intentions of their managers or leaders. The purpose that a formally-appointed IC manager or IC team will serve within a given organization will depend on the business context. In one, the IC function may perform the role of 'internal marketing' (i.e., attempting to win participants over to the management vision of the organization); in another, it might perform a 'logistical' service as channel manager; in a third, it might act principally as strategic adviser.

It is important to distinguish between communications on behalf of the organization and the day to day intercourse within work groups or between managers and subordinates. Minzberg talks about the fact that communications is intrinsic to the work of a manager - it is the very essence of work in many situations. This article is less concerned with the interpersonal communications that take place in most workplaces and which are explored by writers such as Phillip Clampitt.

There are a number of reasons why organisations should be concerned with internal communication.

Importantly, there is commonly a legal requirement for organizations to communicate with their workers. In Europe, for example, the EU has made very specific provision about workers' rights to be informed and consulted.

Effective internal communications is one of the key enablers of employee engagement (see, e.g., the UK government-sponsored Macleod Report for a summary of research) and thought to add significant value to organizations on all metrics from productivity to customer research (needs more detail?).

As noted in Quirke (2008): "Traditionally, internal communications has focused on the announcement of management conclusions and the packaging of management thinking into messages for mass distribution to the 'troops'". Research indicates a limit to the value of this 'broadcasting' model of IC. Without feedback loops and harnessing the active involvement and mediation skills of frontline supervisors or team leaders, broadcasting tends to be more effective at influencing senior and middle managers than frontline employees - see, e.g., Larkin and Larkin (1994).

As the IC function matures within the organization, then, it may come to play a wider role in facilitating conversations "upwards", "downwards" and "across" the organization, per Stohl (1995). Organizations increasingly see IC as playing a role in external reputation management. Joep Cornelissen in his book Corporate Communications touches on the relationship between reputation and internal conversations. This trend reaches its full potential with the arrival of new 'norms' and customer expectations around social media, for example in the work of Scoble and Israel. Market researchers MORI have likewise highlighted the effects of employee advocacy on an organisation's external reputation.

IC managers try to get senior leaders to think strategically about how management decisions can be perceived internally and externally. The focus of IC is often to ensure that employees can support a decision and understand how it impacts their work.