Внутренние коммуникации в организации: история и современность.

Internal communications (IC) is the function responsible for effective communications among participants within an organization. The scope of the function varies by organization and practitioner, from producing and delivering messages and campaigns on behalf of management, to facilitating two way dialogue and developing the communication skills of the organization's participants. Internal communication is meant by a group of processes that are responsible for effective
information circulation and collaboration between the participants in an organization. Modern understanding of internal communications is a field of its own and draws on the theory and practice of related professions, not least journalism, knowledge management, public relations (e. g., media relations), marketing and human resources, as well as wider organizational studies, communication theory, social psychology, sociology and political science.

Large organizations have a long history of promoting pride and a sense of unity among the employees of the company, evidenced in the cultural productions of Victorian era soap manufacturers as far apart as the UK's Lever Brothers and the Larkin Soap Company of Buffalo, New York. Internal communications is fundamentally a management discipline, but as a discrete discipline of organizational theory it is relatively young. Stanford associate professor Alex Heron's Sharing Information with Employees (1943) is an outlier among texts which focus solely on the factors involved. During the 1970s the subject attracted more attention in academic circles but it is only since around 2000 that employee communications has really attracted attention to a significant degree among scholars. Writing in 2013, Ruck and Yaxley explore how the discipline evolved from the days of employee publications in the late 19th century. As organizations became more complex, the impetus to communicate with employees grew and led to the emergence of an increasingly specialised discipline. In the UK in 2023, Michael Heller and Joe Chick were undertaking an Economic and Social Research Council funded project, An Institutional History of Internal Communication in the UK. The project integrates historical research with organizational theory and involves 20 organizations, six involved in the practice of IC in the UK, and 14 which historically practiced internal communication.

The job of an IC manager or IC team will vary from place to place and will depend on the needs of the organization they serve. In one, the IC function may perform the role of 'internal marketing' (i. e., attempting to win participants over to the management vision of the organization); in another, it might perform a 'logistical' service as channel manager; in a third, it might act principally as strategic adviser. Kevin Ruck argues that the role may include acting as the ears of the organization and a conduit for employee voice. talks about the fact that communicating is intrinsic to the work of a manager especially so in an information society. Interpersonal communications in the workplace are explored by writers such as Phillip Clampitt and Hargie and Tourish. There are a number of reasons why organizations should be concerned with internal communication. Employees are the heart and soul of an organization, thus it is critical to pay attention to their needs. An engaged and committed employee work force increases and drives business results. Employee engagement encourages higher employee performance, results in lower turnover and offers competitive advantage. Even in a difficult economy, companies need to inspire and retain high performers. Research undertaken in the United States and the UK in 2008 revealed "the scale and impact on businesses" of 'employee misunderstanding', defined as "actions taken by employees who have misunderstood or misinterpreted (or were misinformed about or lack confidence in their understanding) of company policies, business processes and/or job function". Importantly, there is commonly a legal requirement for organizations to communicate with their workers. In large organizations in Europe, for example, the EU has made very specific provision about workers' rights to be informed and consulted with (Directive 94/45/EC on Works Councils). Effective internal communications is commonly understood by practitioners to improve employee engagement (see, for example, the UK government sponsored Macleod Report) and therefore to add significant value to organizations in terms of productivity, staff retention or external advocacy. As noted in Quirke (2008): "Traditionally, internal communications has focused on the announcement of management conclusions and the packaging of management thinking into messages for mass distribution to the 'troops. Research indicates a limit to the value of this 'broadcasting' model of IC. Without feedback loops and harnessing the active involvement and mediation skills of frontline supervisors or team leaders, broadcasting tends to be more effective at influencing senior and middle managers than frontline employees see, for example, Larkin and Larkin (1994). As the IC function matures within the organization, then, it may come to play a wider role in facilitating conversations "upwards", "downwards" and "across" the organization, per Stohl (1995). Organizations increasingly see IC as playing a role in external reputation management. Joep Cornelissen in his book Corporate Communications touches on the relationship between reputation and internal conversations. This trend reaches its full potential with the arrival of new 'norms' and customer expectations around social media, for example in the work of Scoble and Israel. Market researchers MORI have likewise highlighted the effects of employee advocacy on an organization's external reputation. IC managers help senior leaders think strategically about how their decisions will be perceived internally and externally. The value added by a strong IC capability is typically explained as making a contribution to positive employee engagement.

A typical large organization IC function will be concerned to monitor and limit the quantity of information flowing through each internal channel, prioritising according to the relevance of a given message to the audience implicated in that channel, as well as the urgency and impact of the message. Such organizations typically face a risk that channels (such as intranet news, or email) are over used for inappropriate, low value messages, causing vital audience groups to filter them out.

IC teams will often (but not always) hold responsibility for the administration and development of several of the organization's communications channels. The range of media available is wide and growing fast with new electronic media. Initially, IC tends to focus on the existing resources of the organization, typically an intranet, email distributions, and newsletters. One common element of channel development and administration involves managing supplier relationships agencies external to the organization typically specialise in one main channel area, such as audiovisual, or print production.

Social media is becoming increasingly discussed in the field of internal communication. However, there is little documented, academic evidence of where it is being used successfully as part of a planned campaign of employee communications, and it is often confused with digital media. There are case studies published on a number of commercial websites including www. simply communicate. com and www. melcrum. com (now defunct), and there is a useful chapter on the subject by Tracy Playle in Ruck's Exploring Internal Communication. and Quirke.

Organizations occasionally face unplanned reputational crises which can destroy brand value or even finish the organization. At such moments, the support of the internal constituency becomes especially valuable, as employees' friends and relatives seek their account of events, and as talented and motivated participants consider whether or not to remain with the organization. As with media relations and PR, the role IC plays in a crisis can be decisive for the success or failure of an organization, as it responds to a critical challenge. Organizations with a mature IC function may have contingency planning in place, ready to be tailored to the particulars of the situation. They are also more likely to have 'well flexed', well rehearsed line management communications capability, making crisis communications more effective. Less mature IC functions may find it difficult to bring senior leaders' attention to the internal audience, when critical stakeholders such as investors or customers appear more likely to desert the organization. Although unplanned and usually under resourced, the quality of an IC function's response in a crisis often has a decisive impact in the maturing of an IC function within an organization. Effective responses bring IC up the list of priorities for senior leaders, following the crisis.

In recent years the practice of internal communications has professionalised. In common with the Ulrich model for human resources practice, IC may be delivered via a 'business partnering' relationship, acting as adviser to a given function or unit on IC issues relevant to the delivery of their strategic plans and projects. As a representative of the audiences with a stake in the developments under discussion, this can be both an awkward and a privileged position to occupy, requiring skills of diplomacy and objectivity.

There is not yet a globally recognised internal communication qualification, though various training courses and formal qualifications have been established to create and maintain standards. In the UK, the accreditation bodies representing the profession offer competing qualifications. The UK's Chartered Institute of Public Relations offers training and qualifications in internal communications including Diploma and Certificate courses. There are also postgraduate Diploma or Masters programmes in Internal Communications Management at Kingston University in London. In Europe, related courses are available at the University of Lugano in Switzerland and Rotterdam School of Management in the Netherlands. In Asia, internal communications is still a very nascent field with few specialists in more developed economies such as Singapore and Hong Kong, some accredited by the Singapore Business Advisors and Consultants Council. Professional IC associations include the Institute of Internal Communication, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), and others. In 2013, IABC closed its Accredited Business Communicator qualification, but planned to launch a Certification Programme for Strategic Communicators in Autumn 2014.

IC may variously be referred to as: employee communications, employee engagement, employee relations, internal marketing, company communications, staff communication. Responsibility for IC may sit within various established functions, including marketing, corporate communications, transformation, HR and the CEO office. Internal communications functions can require several skills, e. g.: writing, marketing, event organization, web production, facilitation, advertising, stakeholder management, corporate social responsibility, branding and communications training.