What are some key considerations that could drive organizations to put metrics in place to measure
the effectiveness of internal communication initiatives?
According to Klipfolio (n.d.), business metrics are essential measurements that companies utilize in
order to monitor and evaluate the current state of a certain business process. Internal
communication initiatives should be tracked and measured just like any other business process to
determine how successful they are overall. Initiatives for internal communication typically have
some kind of aim in mind as well as a message that needs to be conveyed. If a business does not
monitor the success of an internal communication campaign, it will be impossible to make any
adjustments to the strategy in order to make it more successful in the future. Effective
communications are those that can reach and influence their intended audiences, as well as those
that are successful in accomplishing the goals, they set for themselves about those audiences.
Implementing effective communication initiatives results in improved communication overall, more
employee engagement, and a more pleasant culture in the workplace.
How might the metrics be similar or different with an external communications initiative?
Both internal and external communications will have their own unique set of similarities and
distinctions in the metrics that are used to measure and evaluate communication activities. Internal
communications are directed toward the employee population of a business, whether that
population is seen as a whole or is segmented into groups or teams. The recipients of external
messages include shareholders, customers, and possible future employees, amongst other groups.
The data will be examined and compared to previous performance in a manner that is analogous to
how the metrics are calculated. The metrics will vary depending on the way in which the
communication was able to reach the audience that it was meant for. Internal communication is
made simpler by the fact that workers frequently check their work email, and if you hold a meeting
with the team, you can more easily ensure that everyone is present. On the other hand,
communicating with an audience that is external can be a lot more challenging.
Why are the business environment organizations operating in an important consideration when
implementing metrics?
When implementing business metrics, the business environment in which an organization operates
is a crucial issue that must be considered. It is necessary, when introducing metrics, to compare
such measures to defined benchmarks or business objectives, which will differ depending on the
context in which the business is being conducted. According to Klipfolio (n.d.), "this provides
valuable context for the values used in the metric and allows users to better act on the information
they are viewing"
A business metric is used to create qualifiable data. This can be useful to determine if criteria are
being met to achieve long and short-term goals. These tools can be used as performance
monitoring tools. a (Klipfolio) This can be beneficial for a business to determine the efficiency of
different teams within the business structure. Companies tend to use business metrics to measure
financial data such as cash flow, net profit, and revenue. This is underselling the use of business
metric because it can be used for many different methods there are marketing metrics, sales
metrics, SaaS Metrics (software as a service), and social media metrics. (Klipfolio)
Companies can utilize these different metrics to put into place internal communication initiatives.
Using sales metrics to assess the leads and lead to win ratio can be beneficial. a (Klipfolio) Leads are
typically found by a team or service and then given to managers or employees to pursue. Using the
lead to win rate metric would help determine the likelihood of a lead being captures by the team.
This can as a determinate to assess the internal communication among the team. The assessment
can lead to internal communication initiatives to ensure the leads are being given to the
appropriate people and teams that correspond with the leads. This might be done through large
meetings that have break out groups or small meeting amongst teams to determine the best
options.
When considering new external communication initiates, companies can use social media metrics
to determine steps moving forward. Social media metrics have five key elements according to
Klipfolio, “account reach, followers, comments, post engagement rate, and video views.” (Klipfolio)
Account reach is the number one factor in my mind because it is the metric that measures how
much the company is growing a presence on social media. When a company’s key consideration is
to grow their online presence then focusing on social media metric would be the best option. The
metrics using to determine internal communication and external communication are often different
because the data quantifies different items.
After reviewing the Strategies to enhance Air Force communication with internal and external
audiences: A workshop report, it was obvious that there need to consideration about the business
environment when regarding communications. This chapter of the book outlined that the messages
cultivated would need to adhere to the, “construct under which to align the U.S. Air Force’s
(USAF’s)”. Understanding the business environment in which an organization operates in will help to
better understand the tone and structure or messages internally and externally. Understanding the
formality of the organization and history will allow the messenger to properly convey a message
while maintaining the same level of respect typically shown from such organization in the past.
References:
Klipfolio.com. (2023, April 9). What are business metrics?. Klipfolio.
https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/articles/what-are-business-metrics
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016). Strategies to Enhance Air Force
Communication with Internal and External Audiences: A Workshop Report. Washington, DC: The
National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/21876.
Klipfolio. (n.d.). What is a business metric? https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/articles/what-
are-business-metrics
