How to Measure the Impact of Your Employee Communications Strategy

Leveraging effective employee communication is essential for any organization to thrive. Not only does it shape company culture and support engagement, but it also creates alignment between leadership and employees. 

But how do you know if your communication strategy is actually working? Measuring its impact is a must if you want to optimize your approach and make data-driven improvements. Why does it matter? Companies with strong communication practices experience better retention rates and outperform competitors by 3.5 times. In this blog, we’ll take you through some steps that will help you make the most of your employee communications.

1. Define Clear Objectives

Before measuring success, you need to determine what success looks like. (Throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks is not exactly the best “strategy” when it comes to your comms.) Your communication strategy should have clear goals from the start, such as:

• Increasing employee engagement

• Improving information retention

• Enhancing alignment with company objectives

• Strengthening feedback loops

  
  

Aligning these objectives with key business outcomes will make it easier to evaluate the effectiveness of your communication strategy.

2. Track Engagement Metrics & Outcomes

Engagement metrics can provide direct insights into how well your messages are resonating with your team. Some key metrics to monitor include:

• Email Open and Click Rates – Are employees actually reading and engaging with internal emails? Pro Tip: The Open Rate can inform you of how compelling your subject line was, while the Click Rate can provide insights into the strength of the messaging – and its ability to drive engagement – within the email.

• Intranet and Portal Analytics – Are employees using internal communication platforms effectively? Better yet – are they even aware of them?

• Town Hall and Meeting Attendance – Are employees showing up for important company updates?

• Survey Participation Rates – Are employees actively providing feedback?

  
  

You can even take it a step further by tracking outcomes as well. Have you rolled out a new benefit? Or are you leveraging a new Human Resource Information System (HRIS)? It’s time to measure the utilization and adoption of the new benefit or platform to measure how successful the initiative was.

3. Gather Employee Feedback

Unfortunately, numbers alone don’t tell the full story. Regularly collecting qualitative feedback can provide deeper insights into how employees perceive the communications coming from leadership. Here’s how:

• Surveys – Quick, frequent check-ins on specific topics can provide the insights you need. The benefit of surveys is that they can be anonymous, which often leads to more honest responses.

• Focus Groups – Small discussions to gauge sentiment and gather suggestions. This can be done virtually if your team is scattered across locations.

• One-on-One Conversations – Personalized insights from key team members can be extremely informative – especially if they trust the manager they’re talking to. 

  
  

41% of employees have left a job because they felt they weren’t listened to or received little to no feedback. So if employees feel unheard, even the most well-crafted messages will fall flat.

4. Assess Message Retention and Understanding

Getting the message out isn’t enough. Did you know that 72% of employees lack a full understanding of their company's strategy, despite its communication efforts? That’s why it’s important to determine if employees are understanding and retaining key messages. Ways to measure this include:

• Knowledge Checks – Short quizzes to assess retention of key information.

• Manager Feedback – Are team leads able to reinforce and clarify messages effectively?

• Message Echo – Are employees naturally repeating and applying company messaging in their work?

  
  

5. Monitor Productivity and Performance Trends

Effective workplace communication can boost productivity by 20-25% – so your efforts should translate into tangible business results. If employees are well-informed, productivity and performance should reflect that. Track:

• Project Completion Rates – Poor communication causes 28% of project delays. Are teams working more efficiently?

• Error Reduction – Are mistakes due to miscommunication decreasing?

• Employee Turnover Rates – Are employees more satisfied and engaged?

  
  

6. Benchmark Against Industry Standards

Comparing your metrics to industry benchmarks can provide context for your performance. CARRY™ Consulting specializes in helping organizations benchmark against industry standards in areas like communication and employee engagement. Understanding best practices can help you determine if your strategy is on par with leading organizations.

7. Iterate and Improve

No communication strategy is ever truly complete. Regularly review your findings and adjust tactics accordingly. The best strategies are agile, evolving based on employee needs and business goals.

Let's Take the Next Step Together

An effective employee communication strategy isn’t just about sending messages — it’s about ensuring they’re received, understood, and acted upon. By implementing a structured approach, HR executives and company leaders can optimize their communication efforts and improve employee engagement, alignment with overarching company objectives, and business success.

Training leaders to build strong employee communication strategies – and measure their success – is the foundation of the CARRY™ Consulting process. Book a consultation with CARRY™ Consulting today to enhance your internal communications and start driving real change in your organization.