Best Practices For Communication Audits

How do you retain people? "Make few promises. Keep them all." That's the simplest rule I always recommend. How do you keep your promises when they're a WIP? You send comms to keep people updated. But... How do you know if they're landing? Enterprise orgs should track these metrics: 1) Did they even get it? Measure: Delivery rate or % of employees who got this message. If people never see the message, nothing else matters. You'd be surprised how many internal IT protocols actually end up blocking your internal comms. Happens more than you think. 2) Did they see it? Measure: views or video plays. It helps show you initial engagement which is a good start. It doesn't quite tell you comprehension yet but that comes later. P.S. I've seen open rates below 10% before at Fortune 100 companies who initially thought their comms were landing well until they started benchmarking open rate by cohort & department 3) Did they understand it? Measure: Quick poll: “Was this clear?” (Yes/No. Short quizzes help too btw) People may see the message but not understand what to do with the info. That's why I'm a big fan of the BLUF technique the Navy Seals used for comms. It stands for "Bottom Line Up Front" where the most important information is presented at the beginning of your message. 4) Did they act on it? Measure: Did employee complete the action in question. Ex: what's your completion rate on the actions you sent? THIS is your ultimate indicator that comms are working. 5) Did they feel heard? Measure: Weekly or monthly pulse surveys This gives you qualitative data that helps improve tone, clarity, and trust over time. What you say is one thing but the TONE that your frontline feel from it is what really matters from a culture perspective. Friendly reminder: All of these performance analytics SHOULD be segmentable by department, location, team and region to validate where your areas of high and low engagement are so that you can address this with operations and local leadership teams. P.S. What else would you add?

Internal comms keeps getting asked to prove its value... but maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong place this whole time? The new Valuing Internal Communication report from the inimitable Jenni Field and Dr Kevin Ruck introduces something I really like: the Value Ladder. Instead of just counting clicks and attendance (because nothing says “strategic” like a pie chart of open rates), it asks us to think in three layers: 📁 Planned value: What you intend to achieve (ie the stuff you put in your budget case) 📉 Slipped value: What was missed or underdelivered (risk and cost to the organisation) 📈 Realised value: What actually happened, and *what difference it made* It’s a deceptively simple idea (good ideas often are) but it encourages reflective practice, not just reporting. Because the real value isn’t in the outputs; it’s in what you learn from them. The ladder also bakes in listening as a core function. Not the “we did a survey once” kind, but real dialogue. Communication as relationship, not broadcast. By connecting communication to outcomes like trust, advocacy, well-being, and even societal health, it offers a more rounded and credible way to show how communication creates value. 📄 The whole report is thoughtful, research-led, and (whisper it) actually useful. If you’re looking for a practical lens to move beyond vanity metrics and towards genuine evaluation and learning, this one’s very much worth your coffee break. Link in first comment. --- Photo description: Screenshot of report cover. Text reads VALUING INTERNAL COMMUNICATION: How internal communication provides value to organisations, employees and society. Included here for attention tax.

How to measure the impact of Internal Communications? A practical guide below 👇 If you’re still reporting on opens, clicks and event attendance, you’re measuring activity. That is ok. But the IMPACT sits deeper. Here’s a simple 4-level structure you can use: 1️⃣ Reach & Response Did people see it? (opens, clicks, attendance, views) 2️⃣ Perception & Understanding Did trust, clarity or alignment shift? (pulse checks, sentiment, quick polls) 3️⃣ Behavior Change Are people doing something differently? (define the behavior → measure baseline → measure again) 4️⃣ Strategic Impact Did this influence retention, eNPS, productivity or performance indicators? (track the correlation) Internal Comms becomes strategic when communication connects to behavior and behavior connects to business metrics. Save this framework for your next campaign. Share it with someone who’s building IC as a system, not a content stream. #InternalComms #CorporateCulture #EmployeeEngagement #CommunicationStrategy #SageXP #Measurement #Communications

Imagine the energy and commitment you pour into your work, akin to rowing with all your might. Now picture this effort being diluted because the team's oars aren't hitting the water in harmony. The result? Despite the exertion, progress remains agonizingly out of reach. This misalignment isn't just frustrating; it's a significant bottleneck to innovation and efficiency. This scenario is avoidable! Effective internal communications serve as the glue that binds individual efforts into a cohesive force, ensuring that every stroke propels the entire team forward. Without this alignment, you might as well be rowing against the current. Performing a communication audit is the first step in uncovering how you can improve. This exercise is not just about pinpointing flaws; it's an opportunity to reaffirm what works well and to fortify the bridges of dialogue within your tech team. Set Clear Objectives Begin with a clear vision of what you aim to achieve through this audit. Is it to improve project turnaround times, enhance team cohesion, or maybe streamline decision-making processes? Setting clear objectives will not only provide direction but also help in measuring the audit's success. Conduct Surveys and Interviews Reach out to your team members through surveys or one-on-one interviews to gather firsthand insights into the communication dynamics. Ask about the clarity of roles and objectives, the effectiveness of current tools, and any barriers they face in communicating effectively. Remember, the goal is to listen and understand, not to judge or critique. Analyze the Data With your collected data in hand, start identifying patterns and anomalies. Are there recurring themes of confusion around certain types of communication? Do certain tools facilitate better clarity than others? This analysis will highlight both the strengths to build upon and the gaps needing attention. Compile Recommendations and Action Plan Based on your findings, draft a set of actionable recommendations aimed at enhancing communication. This might involve adopting new tools, revising communication protocols, or initiating training sessions. The key is to prioritize actions that align with your initial objectives and to propose solutions that resonate with your team’s culture and needs. If you could only choose 1 are to audit for your team, which would you pick and why? #techleadership #teamcommunication #topvocies

If you haven’t taken a good hard look at your internal comms practices in a while, never fear - here’s how you do it! Firstly, understand why you’re doing an audit - what do you want to know, understand, and achieve from the process? What’s triggered it, and why is that important? Then, you can get into the process itself, which usually involves: 1. Scope - determine how far and wide your audit will reach. 2. Measurement - looking at all your analytics from your channels and seeing where the trends are, what could be improved, what’s working. 3. Reflection - reflection on the work you’ve done in the previous 12 months, and what’s resulted in positive business impacts, and what you can learn from those experiences. 4. Survey - a brief but well-designed survey that helps you understand the employee’s perspective, and gives you useful insights for a plan forward. 5. Focus groups - with different audience segments, interrogating some of the key insights from the survey (diving deeper). 6. Recommendations - after analysing all the data, then you can develop recommendations - but make sure you test those ideas first before committing to them! It's a process absolutely worth doing, so you can make sure you're hitting the mark for employees, and helping to achieve business goals. [Image description: Red tile with blue and white text. The heading reads: 6 steps to conduct an internal comms audit. The six steps are then listed: Scope, measurement, reflections, survey, focus groups, and recommendations.] #InternalCommunication #tips #audit

🚨 Internal Comms Hack: If you’re still measuring clicks, you’re missing the point. Open rates and clicks? They’re vanity metrics. They tell you reach, not impact. The real question you need to be asking is: What happened next? ✅ Did people take action? ✅ Did behaviours change? ✅ Did it spark conversations? ✅ Did it drive better decisions? If you want to measure real impact (which you really do want to be doing by the way), here’s where to start: 🔍 Go beyond the numbers Pair your data with qualitative insights. Are there fewer questions because your comms were so clear? Are people talking about that new initiative you launched? 🎯 Track behaviour change What did people do because of your message? Did they sign up, take part or change a process? 🗣 Listen to feedback Pulse surveys, focus groups, and informal chats give you invaluable context on what’s landing well (and what’s not). 📊 Look at performance metrics Did your comms drive results tied to KPIs such as increased participation, fewer errors or faster project completion? 🌱 Spot behaviour adoption For culture or change comms, are people embracing new ways of working? Are they living your company’s values more visibly? 📈 Monitor trend changes If you’re communicating around things like wellbeing or retention, keep an eye on absenteeism rates, turnover or productivity to see if your comms are moving the needle. 🚀 Link to outcomes If your comms support a wider business goal, track the results. Did engagement increase? Did a project run more smoothly? Did retention improve? So, next time you share that update, don’t just ask “How many people read this?” ask “What difference did it make?” What would you add? How do you measure the impact of your comms?👇 ________ ✨ I'm Jo and I'm on a mission to make work not suck! ♻️ Share the love - comment and repost for your network. 📌 Follow Jo Coxhill for insights on #internalcommunication, #employeeexperience, #employeelistening and #organisationalculture and ring the 🔔 on my profile so you never miss a post.

Stop measuring internal comms in the dark. Here's your 5-level roadmap: 📈 Level 1 - Reach: Weekly newsletters? Track open rates and engagement to optimize timing and content. 🧠 Level 2 - Understanding: Town halls falling flat? Survey comprehension to ensure your key messages actually landed. 💭 Level 3 - Sentiment: Team morale declining? Monitor employee perception and confidence levels—you can't rebuild what you can't measure. 🔄 Level 4 - Behavior: Rolling out new processes? Track adoption rates. Are people actually using that new system, or just nodding along? 📊 Level 5 - Business Impact: Sales team missing targets? Track how internal product updates correlate with revenue performance. The game-changer: Match your measurement depth to your communication stakes. Routine updates and clarity = Level 1-2. Change initiatives and alignment = Level 3-4. Business-critical initiatives = Level 5. Your comms strategy is only as strong as your measurement strategy. Which level matches your biggest challenge right now?

🚀 The Role of Responsible GenAI and RAG in Transforming Risk & Audit Analytics In today's fast-paced business landscape, Risk Analytics and Audit Analytics are crucial for identifying risks and ensuring compliance. As data complexity grows, traditional methods fall short. Enter Responsible Generative AI (GenAI) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)—technologies that not only enhance risk management but also prioritize ethical use, transparency, and the integration of real-time data. Here’s why combining Responsible GenAI and RAG is a game-changer: 🔍 Enhanced Risk Detection with Real-Time Data: Responsible GenAI analyzes vast datasets, while RAG integrates up-to-date, external information, improving the detection of risks and emerging threats in real time. 💡 Predictive and Contextual Insights: Responsible GenAI's predictive capabilities are enhanced with RAG’s ability to pull in current external data, providing auditors and risk managers with context-aware insights. This transparency and real-time adaptation foster trust and accountability. 📊 Audit Efficiency and Knowledge Retrieval: RAG enhances GenAI’s ability to retrieve relevant knowledge from internal and external sources during audits, automating repetitive tasks like data extraction while adhering to ethical AI guidelines and ensuring efficient, context-rich reporting. Let’s take an example from Global Capability Centers (GCCs): GCCs manage sensitive operations across geographies, handling financial, operational, and compliance data. Traditionally, risk detection was manual and rule-based. By using Responsible GenAI and RAG, a GCC can ethically analyze large datasets while retrieving real-time regulatory updates, market trends, or internal reports. For instance, if new compliance regulations emerge, RAG can instantly incorporate this data into GenAI's risk detection models, flagging potential compliance risks as they arise. This combination ensures faster, more accurate audits, real-time adaptation to external changes, and ethical data governance. It allows organizations to stay compliant while maintaining accountability and transparency in AI decision-making. Responsible GenAI paired with RAG represents the future of risk and audit analytics—combining real-time insights, ethical AI, and automated efficiency for better business outcomes. #ResponsibleAI #RAG #GenAI #RiskManagement #AuditAnalytics #GCC #Compliance #EthicalAI #RealTimeData #DigitalTransformation #AITransparency #RiskAnalytics

Using technology in internal audit enhances efficiency and accuracy by automating routine tasks and analyzing large data sets quickly. Tools like data analytics software, artificial intelligence, and machine learning help auditors identify patterns and anomalies that may indicate risks or areas for improvement. This technological integration allows for more comprehensive audits, enabling auditors to focus on strategic activities rather than manual data entry and analysis. Furthermore, technology facilitates real-time monitoring and continuous auditing, providing timely insights into an organization’s financial and operational health. With advanced tools, auditors can access and review information remotely, ensuring audits are not limited by geographical constraints. This adaptability is crucial in today’s dynamic business environment, allowing internal audit functions to remain responsive and effective in mitigating risks and ensuring compliance.

I grew my client’s best email month by 148% from €525K to €1,3M. Here’s how I did it: When I first took on this client, I loved his vibe and product. But it was tricky… • They only sell 1 product • My client hates being salesy • They sell in multiple countries using native languages Step 1: Audit Every client I take on goes through a thorough list audit. I audited his list with my 66-point Klaviyo checklist to: • Identify what’s leaking revenue • Pinpoint what’s working to double down • Develop a strategy plan to increase his sales Once done and discussed, we got to work on: Step 2: Building and optimizing flows He had multiple flows set up but only his welcome flow was good. The rest was non-existent or only had 1-2 basic emails. So we redid his flows. When I was done, we instantly saw an increase in email revenue. The secret? I used founder-led content. The emails feel like a 1:1 convo, and most of my time went into the copy because… Design attracts but copy sells. The next step was… Step 3: Proper segmentation For a brand that sells one product, it’s easy to neglect the ones who’ve bought. (especially since it’s not a replenishable product) But my client is working on new products. Neglecting anyone would be a HUGE mistake - it always is. Here’s how I segmented: • Language • Engaged vs non-engaged • Customer vs non-customer All emails are properly targeted and personalized with the right intention. It makes people feel like we’re talking directly to them. But this wasn’t enough as… Step 4: Ramp up campaign volume They weren’t sending campaigns which meant a lot of revenue was left on the table. I started with re-engagement campaigns to identify the engaged segment. (if you don’t know this your deliverability will go down the drain) Then I split the engaged segment into: • Non-customers • Everyone That’s how I ensure we don’t send emails that aren’t relevant to the reader. The more campaigns you send, the more touch points and familiarity you create. Which leads to closer relationships and more sales. Many eCom founders are scared of being annoying if they send too many campaigns. If you only send: 1/ Sales and discounts 2/ Things that people don’t care about Then yeah you’re being annoying. But if you do email marketing the quiet way, people want to hear from you. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. This job was brutal. But our hard work paid off because we… ↳ Topped his best sales day in Oct ↳ Grew total revenue by 69% to 4.51M ↳ Beat his best email month by 148% to 1.30M ↳ Grew campaign revenue from 0 to 414k (in Oct) ↳ Involved his customers in his new product development process And the best part? I’ve only been working with them for 3 months. We’re just getting started. -- If you’re an eCom owner who wants to scale your revenue: I’m looking to work with 2 eCom brands to help them increase their email revenue in the next 60 days. DM me “email” and I’ll get you the details.