Internal Communications Excellence: Optimizing Group Structure and Staffing

STUDY OVERVIEW

Internal Communications is a small but important group that delivers information to an organization's employees on issues such as corporate initiatives and benefits. As the conduct between a company and its workforce, Internal Communications performs a vital role in keeping employees informed about issues that can have a large impact on the overall success of a company. Two of the key drivers that determine the effectiveness of an Internal Communications group are structure and staffing. Best Practices, LLC undertook this study to identify the key trends in the organizational structure of Internal Communications groups and to gather resourcing benchmarks for this function at leading organizations. Executives and managers of Internal Communications groups can use this research to compare their structure and staffing with those of leading companies.

KEY TOPICS

• Internal Communications Group Structures: Key Trends and Drivers of Sub-group Evolution
• Internal and External Communications Group Models and Structures
• Internal Communications Group Resource Benchmarks: Key Staffing and Investment Trends

• Functional Factors that Describe how Internal Communications is Designed
• Geographic Factors that Describe how Internal Communications is Designed
• Approaches Internal Communications use to Align with Internal Customers
• Effectiveness of Different Staffing Approaches for Serving Internal Customers
• Approach to Integrating U.S. and International Internal Communications Structures
• Level of Person Leading Internal Communications Group
• Leadership Group that Internal Communications Reports to
• Total Number of Employees within Internal Communications
• Percentage of Internal Communications Employees who are Outsourced
• Percentage of Budget Allocated to Labor and Non-Labor Categories
• Source(s) of Internal Communications Group Funding

• Differentiated Services Hold Great Value During Times of Resource Reductions: For Internal Communications, continue to employ differentiated services in conjunction with customer-issue specialists and clearly defined prioritization rules. Across industries, Communications leaders observe the most effective approach for serving internal customers as to assign staff 100% to either customers and/or an issue/topic. Continue to do this with differentiated service among stakeholders. Standardize prioritization rules to inform and guide differentiation. Economics, issue impact, issue urgency, and impact on company strategy/reputation are cornerstones of prioritization systems.

Thirty communications executives and managers at 26 leading companies from leading bio-pharmaceutical, healthcare and other industry leaders participated in this research. Field interviews and study analysis produced many observations and benchmark findings to reflect opportunities across the Internal Communications Function for organization growth and profitability.

If you purchase Best Practice Database document(s), you will have 30 days from the date of purchase to apply some or all of the cost of the document(s) toward the cost of a Full Access Individual, Pharma, Group or University Membership. Write us at DatabaseTeam@bestpracticesllc.com or call David Guinn at 919-767-9179 if you have any questions.