The last decade has arguably been the most challenging of all for internal communicators in the 21st century.

Organizations have been rapidly changing in response to a plethora of external events and disruptors such as the global pandemic, political unrest, economic shifts of power, and cost-of-living crises.

At the same time, climate change, organizational sustainability, and a long-overdue—and better—understanding of equality, diversity, and inclusion at work have all significantly influenced leadership and culture.

All of these events have shaped the contemporary experience of work for employees and how they are managed, motivated, and led. In turn, this has impacted internal communication management in profound ways, as practitioners have adapted their methods and approaches.

We are now, effectively, in a new era of internal communication where it feels like everything has changed.

The changing nature of internal communication practice, driven by these influences, was the main reason why we decided to undertake a major revision and rewrite of the highly respected handbook Exploring Internal Communication.

This fifth edition of the book incorporates major revisions to chapters from the fourth edition in 2020. It takes readers from applied theory and principles through to practical steps, such as employee segmentation and content and channel management, with a more detailed emphasis on effective planning and professional practice.

This blend of theory and how it can be applied to improve practice is a consistent theme throughout the book, which underpins its usefulness for practitioners and sets it apart from other books about internal communication.

As joint authors, we believe that internal communication is a critical occupation that enables organizations to be more successful because it is a primary enabler of organizational engagement.

This is not a new idea, and internal communication has long been associated with the concept of employee engagement, and more recently with employee experience.

In our chapter “Engagement, Alignment and Performance,” we explore how our understanding of the links between internal communication and employee engagement is becoming more sophisticated and the implications this has for practice.

We chart the evolution of employee engagement through four distinct waves, drawing out the distinction between work and organizational engagement, so that we can pinpoint more accurately where internal communication can have the most practical impact.

Internal communication, as it is mostly practiced today, is largely grounded in the delivery of corporate-level information, which is primarily linked to organizational engagement rather than work engagement.

This has positive associations with organizational commitment, organizational citizenship, and job satisfaction.

We also review the differences between employee engagement and employee experience. The latter is a broader concept which, in essence, is the entire lived experience of an employee, which can be affected positively or negatively by multiple factors, both personal and organizational.

In contrast, employee engagement arguably has a narrower focus on factors related to the organization itself.

Both employee experience and employee engagement are multidimensional concepts which can overlap and blur. This can make it difficult to see the practical implications for internal communicators who are trying to have an impact on improving engagement and experience.

What should they be focusing on to do that? With this in mind, we have taken some of the often-cited components for employee experience and mapped them into two categories: local-level experience and corporate-level experience.

Local-level experience includes components such as physical, emotional, and financial well-being; salary and rewards; role and career development; and the work environment. Line manager or supervisor communication can have the most influence over how employees experience these components.

In contrast, corporate-level experience is linked to how employees experience purpose, values and strategy, leadership, technology, and change, and these components are more closely linked to senior leader and internal corporate communication.

Understanding these distinctions can help internal communicators to understand where to focus their efforts—on either line manager or leadership communication—to have the desired impact on the different components of employee experience as well as employee engagement.

Internal communication is, of course, just one of many factors that can influence engagement and experience. But it is an important aspect that is not always fully understood by leaders. In the final chapter of the book, we explore the expanding role of internal communication in depth.

This includes understanding the priorities and agendas of leaders and other organizational stakeholders (such as HR), and advising on effective communication strategies that are linked to them

About the Authors:

Kevin Ruck is a founding director of PR Academy, the largest CIPR qualifications centre for communication professionals. He specialises in employee communication and leads PR Academy’s CIPR Internal Communication Diploma.

Martin Flegg is a Chartered PR professional specialising in internal and change communication. The fifth edition of Exploring Internal Communication: Towards Dialogue in the Workplace is published by Routledge.