Top measurement headaches for internal communication professionals revealed

March 5, 2012 - PRLog -- Internal communication professionals say the impact of campaigns around corporate objectives, values and change are the toughest to measure, according to results of a new survey by the Institute of Internal Communication.

Initiatives designed to raise awareness of and commitment to organisational objectives and values were rated the hardest to evaluate by 36% of respondents, followed by change programmes (26%).

Factors contributing to raising the difficulty level included: separating out the impact of the communication programme from a whole range of other variables; problems capturing and measuring actual behaviour change and its impact; continually evolving nature of change programmes; workforce reluctant to comment on senior management; internal communication brought in too late so there is no baseline; logistical challenges getting information directly to everyone and tracking who has seen it.

By contrast, they said the easiest activities to evaluate were online tools such as intranets and ezines (38% of respondents) and events (36%). Reasons cited for online media were they usually incorporated measurement metrics and lent themselves well to periodic surveys while events had a ‘captive’ audience, clear and simple objectives and were fresh in attendees’ minds.

44% of respondents did not undertake measurement on a regular basis and 52% found it difficult, with only 17% saying it was straightforward.

Resourcing issues were the major inhibitor to undertaking measurement (52%), followed by practitioners not being clear on what form of measurement would be meaningful in specific circumstances (48%).

Institute chief executive Steve Doswell comments: “This survey clearly illustrates the challenging nature of evaluation, and the issues thrown up by certain kinds of exercises, for example employees may understand values but are they acting on them, and what role has the communication programme played in this?

“Perseverance and fine-honing expertise in this area have never been more important as senior decision-makers increasingly expect robust evidence that communication activities are achieving quantifiable benefits for the business.

“IC practitioners should focus on outcomes rather than output and constantly ask themselves if current evaluation methods are homing in on the right information. They should also get organisational commitment to act on results.”

*48 respondents took part in this survey

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The Institute of Internal Communication is the UK professional body for internal communication professionals. It offers professional development, promotes the importance of internal communications, develops industry knowledge, provides a strong network.