If you don’t measure it …

If you don’t measure it, it won’t get done. This is not strictly true: it will probably be done but badly. Involvement communications rarely get measured and we think they should be and now the 2007/2008 Communication Return On Investment study shows there are pounds, dollars, euros or yen to be earned from doing so. The Watson Wyatt study claims to have “Six Communication 'Secrets' of Top-Performing Employers.” I don’t see it that way, but their fundamental point is valid: measure your employee communications or expect them not to deliver what you want.

If your communications team tells you that communications can’t be measured they may be “misinformed.” Divide your staff into groups and give them different types of communication – measure their different reactions and business performance. Or you could carry out the same measure before and after a communications initiative, or compare geographic areas. When you find out that it is actually Dave or Davina, sitting by the chocolate machine who is the font of all organisational communications not the glossy newsletter nor the CEO blog, you might want to change your involvement strategy.