Trends in internal communication

Results of the „Internal communication in Poland 2009” survey as well as our observations of the situation in business and the economy allow us to formulate the following key conclusions on internal communication in Polish companies:

• Internal Communication needs to be more strongly differentiated from Public Relations
• There is a growing need to develop a strategic and planned approach to internal communication
• The areas which go beyond the typical activities of internal communication, but at the same time have a significant impact on effectiveness of the company’s performance, as well as on the corporate identity and employees’ engagement, still remain neglected. These are:
• operational communication between departments
• managerial communication
• bottom-up communication
• Surprisingly few companies communicated to employees their anti-crisis strategies
• The role of electronic communication tools is on the increase, but Polish companies are still very cautious of the next stage of the revolution in communication – social media

The results show that internal communication in Poland, in spite of the passing years, is still at the development phase. It suffers from a lack of a clear distinction from PR field, absence of a strategic approach and the breadth to go beyond the paradigm of the department whose main purpose of existence is to transmit information to employees.

It is an challenge and a big opportunity at the same time: distinguishing the company’s operations in the area of communication with employees can create a chance to gain the outstanding competitive advantage over other companies in which this area is still underdeveloped. Those companies which take the first step to advance development of internal communication will significantly increase their organizational effectiveness. It will also help them to build both within and outside the organization a strong and distinctive image of a modern, open and attractive employer.

More information about the survey and detailed results are included in the full report (in polish): Internal communication in Poland 2009 (.pdf 1,12 MB)