Aligning Internal Comms Metrics with Business Goals: A Practical Guide

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Proving the value of your internal comms can feel like an uphill battle. Your email open rates might be solid, and your latest post may have got good engagement. But how do you explain leadership whether these numbers affect profitability, operational efficiency, or retention?

Daren Jennings, Speakap's CCO, and I had an interesting conversation about bridging this gap and proving the value of your internal comms efforts. We discussed the need to align internal comms metrics with business goals, and Jennings shared a refreshingly practical perspective on getting closer to the real picture. Let's dive in shall we?

5 steps to aligning internal comms metrics with business goals

Step 1: Zoom out into the bigger picture

Start by getting a bird' s-eye view of your internal comms situation. Ask the right questions to assess how aligned your communication strategy is with your business goals.

 “Your campaigns need to ladder up to the organization’s goals,” says Daren.

Are you aiming for profitability, better efficiency, or higher retention?

 Some questions you can ask yourself include: 

  • What’s the desired business outcome of this comms campaign?
  • How will this campaign contribute to broader organizational priorities?
  • What happens if I don’t communicate this message at all?

When you think through these answers, you’ll better understand how you’re performing in aligning your campaigns to organizational goals. You can then step back and focus (or refocus) on initiatives that deliver real value. This will ensure that every comms effort directly supports your company’s objectives.

Step 2: Map IC campaigns to business outcomes

Once you have clarity on the direction, the next step is correctly mapping campaigns to desired outcomes. This is when you need to remember that engaging employees isn’t your end goal, but delivering measurable, impactful results is.  

“Suppose your safety team introduces a new digital form for reporting incidents,” Daren explained. “IC’s role is to ensure employees adopt it. But the impact doesn’t stop there.”

In this situation, your role would be to communicate the change effectively so employees understand and adopt the new system.The business outcome you should be going after could be faster reporting to reduce time to action, lower incidence of accidents, reduced costs.

To assess this, some internal comms metrics you could track may include adoption rate, number of reports submitted, and incident response time improvements.

Step 3: Treat data as a feedback loop, not a finish line

The next step is ensuring you’re consistent in measuring the metrics you’ve established. Take it as a rule of thumb that once-and-done reports are always a no. You need an ongoing feedback loop to analyze trends, and continuously refine and improve your strategy. Daren advises, “That’s how you stay aligned with long-term goals.” Here are some practical steps you can follow for creating a data loop:

  • Establish baseline metrics: Start with benchmarks like employee activation, current engagement levels, or incident reporting times.
  • Track trends: Monitor metrics throughout the campaign to identify what’s working (and what’s not). For instance, you could measure content interactions or task completions to see which messages resonate.
  • Iterate and improve: Use mid-campaign insights to adjust messaging, timing, or strategy for better results.

Using platforms with advanced workforce analytics can make measurement and iteration more accessible.

Step 4: Communicate results effectively

The next step is about communicating the results you’ve got. Numbers don’t sell themselves. If you want leadership to see the value of your hard work, you’ll need to tell a story demonstrating desired business outcomes. So, in this step, you’ve got to tie your metrics to tangible results like cost savings or retention improvements to prove the impact of your work.

Here’s an example of how you can use numbers to demonstrate a boost in retention through your comms concerning career development:

  • Campaign  Details: Highlighted training programs and internal career paths for frontline workers.
  • The results:
    • Engagement: 70% clicked through to training modules, with a 50% completion rate.
    • Impact: Turnover in participating teams dropped by 20% within six months.

Based on these results, a good story to present to leadership could be something like: Career growth messaging directly reduced frontline turnover, saving $75,000 in rehiring and training costs in just six months.

Step 5: Avoid metric fatigue

Last but not least, remember that less is often more when it comes to data. Tracking too many metrics can make things messy, and pinpointing what matters can become confusing. So, based on whatever you’ve  measured, shortlist and focus on three or four key indicators per campaign. You can decide based on metrics that most closely align with your goals. Here are some examples of focused metrics you can track:

  • Adoption Rates: How many employees are using the new tool or process? (This is important as research shows company-wide emails are only opened 21.33% of the time on average)
  • Engagement Trends: How actively are employees interacting with campaign materials?
  • Behavior Changes: Do employees act due to the communication (e.g., attending training or completing tasks)?

With this framework, you’ll be equipped to tell a great story and prove your mettle!

Free webinar recording: Measuring internal comms the right way

This exclusive webinar recording with myself and Daren Jennings dives deep into the strategies and tools you need to effectively measure the success of your internal communications and link them to meaningful outcomes. Check it out!

Remember: Internal comms metrics are about outcomes, not just numbers

Internal communication success isn’t just about open rates, clicks, or engagement. It’s about proving how your work drives the outcomes that matter to the business. “When IC aligns with business goals, it stops being ‘just comms,’” Daren concludes. “It becomes a critical driver of success.”

So, start with the big picture. Map your campaigns to organizational priorities. Use data to inform, not overwhelm. Most importantly, demonstrate the value of internal comms in achieving the goals that matter most.

Want help? Speakap’ Workforce Analytics transforms behavioral data into actionable insights. Use it to steer your strategy. Book a demo with a specialist to know more: Plan your free demo