How to measure employee engagement

Recent studies show that over 60% of internal communicators are still not measuring internal communications. (Survey engagement report).

As an internal communicator, you know it is important to measure the impact of your communication and prove your function’s business value. Yet most internal communicators are not measuring internal communications, which includes measuring employee engagement.

How to measure employee engagement! If you do not measure, you do not matter

Why are 60% of communicators not measuring internal communications? Most likely it is a combination of not being sure where to start, not aware that it is imperative to prove the business value, and not aware of the technology that enables internal communication measurement. Below are some tips to help you jump-start access to internal communications metrics which will support measuring employee engagement.

Use up-to-date technology
Conduct a channel audit. Identify where you need to update your channel technology (such as email and intranet) to software that delivers the real-time metrics and analytics you need.

Set goals
Why are you sending your communications? What are you looking to achieve? What behavior do you want to change? When answering these key questions, make sure the goals are aligned with your organization’s business strategy.

Identify KPIs
Select the key performance indicators that will allow you to accurately take an employee engagement measurement, based on your goals.

Select from these three internal communications metrics groups

You should look at internal communications metrics from three different angles:

Granular
Opens and clicks are indicators, but they do not provide the insight you need.
Drill down on the types of clicks, such as content and section popularity, downloads, and event registrations, etc.

Organizational
Use data to break out metrics by employee groups. This will allow you to measure employee engagement across the organization. These fields could include departments, pay grades, offices, regions, or countries.

Benchmarks and trends
While industry benchmarks are interesting, it is more important to create your own unique benchmarks tied to your goals. Review trends over months, quarters, and the financial year to get a truly accurate view of peaks and troughs in employee activity.

Maximizing internal communication measurement metrics and statistics

Include metrics from your multichannel activities
If you use a multichannel strategy to drive your communications strategy, make sure you include metrics from your other channels. For example, use email to drive the adoption and use of your intranet or social networks. Fold in metrics from your email communications such as destination traffic links (links in the email that drive employees to your intranet, multimedia consumption, social sites and event registrations, etc.)

Act on your insight
You now can make informed decisions about your communication activities. Review post-communications analysis so you can make improvements going forward.

Share with stakeholders
The more you actively communicate with senior stakeholders and offer them the resulting business insights, the greater your chances of increasing your own (and your department’s) visibility as vital contributors to the organization’s success.

Towers Watson reports that companies highly effective at Internal Communication are 1.7 times as likely to outperform their peers. Your function is a valuable asset to your business. Taking the time to measure employee engagement as part of a wider internal communications strategy will demonstrate your value, the value of your team Can you demonstrate the value of your work and get noticed in your organization? Download your copy of the How to guide now.