Internal Communication: Importance, Sub Functions, And Strategies For ABC Company (essay).

1. Identify different forms and theories of management communication

2. Apply skills to manage the writing process

3. Apply principles of academic integrity and academic literacy

4. Write clear and concise business documents

5. Apply effective communication skills, both individually and in diverse groups
 

Importance of Internal Communication

Every organisation need to ensure that a proper flow of communication takes place between the employees, employers and the customers. As stated by Quirke (2017) without proper communication it can be difficult for an organisation to develop strategies and at the same time convey important messages from one part of the establishment to another. It can also be difficult to convey or promote products and services to the customers. Hence, mastering the art of maintaining internal communication can be considered as an important aspect for the development of success of an organisation. The report focuses on the effectiveness of internal communication so that it can help in the development of an organisation. The organisation chosen for the report is ABC Company. 

Corporate communication function is an effective way to convey any type of information from one department to another. In the case of ABC Company, it has been seen that one of the biggest challenges that are faced by the company is that of the internal communication that exists between the employees and the employers. As stated by Mäkelä (2018) about 86% of chief executives of the organisations have reported that there has been an increase in effort to create reputation based on the past few years by following integrated communications. In this regard, the specific activities that are associated with the internal communications can be considered. 

As stated by Welch (2015) internal communication activities need to be taken into account for developing an effective system of conveying of messages from one department to another. In this regard, the activities that can be associated with the internal communication activities can be taken into account. The activities include:

Employee communication: The communication among employees is important as it helps in the development of bonding between the people working at similar level. It is also essential for the development of team activities as support to every team member can help in achieving organisational goals.

Corporate intranet: Development of a corporate intranet can be considered as a modern means of establishing communication. According to Malhotra and Ackfeldt (2016), it is necessary that every department of a organisation maintain collaboration as well as communication with one another by using chat boxes installed in the corporate intranet server. This can help in quick convey of messages and ensure that a regular record of the flow of communication is maintained for future use.

Leader communication training: Training in terms of communication need to be provided by the leaders so that they can convey messages to the employees. The leaders can conduct a session that helps in displaying the methods that are used for maintaining communication. At the same time, a demonstration of the hierarchy needs to be provided so that employees can understand the level that is to be followed while maintaining communication (Rauwers, Voorveld and Neijens 2016). 

Sub Functions for Effective Internal Communication

Identity defines the name of the company that customers usually use to appreciate or recognise a company. According to García-Carbonell, Martín-Alcázar and Sanchez-Gardey (2018), image denotes the characteristics that an organisation builds after years of practise in a society. This is different from the reputation in a way that reputation is all about bringing about self belief of the people so that they can trust the company. For example, brands can create an identity for themselves but the image is based on the characteristics that exist of an organisation.

Therefore, it can be said that for an organisation to succeed that is necessary that its logo as well as brand be developed in a proper manner. ABC Company needs to take into account the brands that it has and the development of internal communication so that it can build its reputation. Identity management is required so that ABC Company can maintain its reputation in the business and at the same time ensure that it helps in the development of its strategies. For ABC Company, reputation is important as it can help in the development of customer relationship as well as promote the activities of the organisation.

The reputation can be measured and managed based on the quality of services it provides. ABC Company needs to create strong reputation by ensuring that it maintains effective communication with the customers. In this case, the role of the employees is that it needs to work together so that the reputation of ABC Company can improve in the business market.

Corporate responsibility refers to the voluntary actions that business organisations take in order to build a reputation in the market (Marett, Marler and Marett 2018). In the case of ABC Company undertaking a corporate responsibility such as maintaining a green and sustainable environment can be considered as a way of gaining the trust of the target market. In the case of internal communication, corporate responsibility can be considered as a way of improving the social bond with groups of people working together for the betterment of the society.

In this regard, a model of corporate responsibility can be taken into consideration for understanding the impact of the process. Example of Carroll’s Pyramid of the corporate social responsibility model can be taken into account to understand the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic approaches of corporate social responsibility.

With the help of corporate responsibility, ABC Company can attract talented candidates, create a brand differentiation, and meet the expectations of the customers. One of the biggest characteristics of corporate responsibility is that it provides employees with a load of involvement. Therefore, communicating about the responsibility that is required for enhancing the reputation of the organisation can help ABC Company to mitigate its problems associated with internal communication. 

Strategies for Improved Internal Communication

In the modern world, media plays an important role in the promotion of company. As stated by Yildiz (2015) with the help of media, companies can build its reputation in the business market. For ABC Company, it is necessary that it uses the media relations to enhance any form of communication issues that it may face. With the help of the media, relevant information about target customers can be gained by ABC Company that can help in improving the internal communication of the company. The sharing of information from one place to another can help in the development of communication and with it ABC Company can maintain relationship with the stakeholder.

As stated by Ciobot? (2016) internal communication may not be influenced directly by media relations but it can help in the development of trust among the employees and delegate a sense of responsibility among them so that they can continue to develop within the organisation. ABC Company can use the media relations to monitor news and publish contents that can help in forming as well as assist in formulating a host of functions associated with the departments of the organisation. ABC Company can also produce newsworthy contents that can help it to promote the journalistic skills of the employees.

Crisis can occur in numerous ways and may have a negative impact on the development and progress of an organisation. As stated by Blumer (2016) crisis management is one of the most important activities that organisations need to take so that it can continue to develop its business in a proper manner. Some of the most common forms of crisis that may occur includes natural crisis in the form of natural calamities or economic failure along with human induced crisis like human error or negligence. In such cases usually companies remain at fault. In the case of ABC Company managing crisis can be a challenge as it fails to maintain proper internal communication.

ABC Company need to understand the characteristics involved with crisis such as elements of surprise, insufficient information, quick pace of events or intense security. ABC Company tends not to acknowledge the major crisis that may occur if it ignores such characteristics. Ignacio and Bonavia (2017) pointed out that in the modern world online form crisis may occur due to the hacking or bad reputation from the anti-brand communities.

For ABC Company lessons can be learned from the crisis about taking proper mitigation to curb the threats. For example, hacking and economic depression are two crisis that occurred in the last 25 years and it is important that ABC Company communicate internally via corporate intranet to negate the threat of the crisis.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that in order to maintain effective communication, ABC Company need to take into account both modern and traditional methods of maintaining the process. The reason for mastering the communication function can be attributed to the requirements of the organisation and the success it aims to undertake. In this regard, it is necessary to take into account the sub functions that are associated with the development of internal communication within the business. Hence, it can be said that ABC Company can identify the importance of internal communication for creating an identity for the organisation, engage in corporate responsibility, indulge in media report and manage crisis. 

Reference

Blumer, H., 2016. The Proposed Internal Communication Model. In Internal Communication in organisations (pp. 69-74). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.

Ciobot?, G., 2016. Internal Communication Marketing Role Within Organization. organization, 8(2), pp.59-62.

García-Carbonell, N., Martín-Alcázar, F. and Sanchez-Gardey, G., 2018. Determinants of building consistent human resources management systems: A focus on internal communication. International Journal of Manpower, 39(3), pp.354-377.

Ignacio Sanchis, P. and Bonavia, T., 2017. Internal Communication System Analysis in a Small Company. Working Papers on Operations Management, 8(1).

Mäkelä, K., 2018. Knowledge exploitation through knowledge management and internal communication.

Malhotra, N. and Ackfeldt, A.L., 2016. Internal communication and prosocial service behaviors of front-line employees: Investigating mediating mechanisms. Journal of Business Research, 69(10), pp.4132-4139.

Marett, E., Marler, L. and Marett, K., 2018. Socioemotional wealth importance within family firm internal communication. Journal of Family Business Management, 8(1), pp.22-37.

Quirke, B., 2017. Making the connections: using internal communication to turn strategy into action. Routledge.

Rauwers, F., Voorveld, H.A. and Neijens, P.C., 2016. The effects of the integration of external and internal communication features in digital magazines on consumers' magazine attitude. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, pp.454-462.

Ruesch, J., Bateson, G., Pinsker, E.C. and Combs, G., 2017. Communication: The social matrix of communication. Routledge.

Welch, M., 2015. Dimensions of internal communication and implications for employee engagement.

Yildiz, Ö., 2015. Internal communication function and hotel productivity–A comparative study.