The triangle of internal communications, employee engagement and HR sees employees as whole persons, not just as numbers or functions. The aim is constantly to understand how individuals receive and deal with information and engage with the content being communicated.
Information needs to flow freely crossing professional boundaries within the organization, with engagement up, down and across the organizational structure.
The triangle of internal communications, employee engagement and HR needs to be effective across the organization, appealing to both the professional and personal aspects of individual employees. This triangle relationship will help to change the organization from being a place of people at work to a community of people working.
The principle to grasp is that all external communication is internal communication, and all internal communication is external communication.
This is because each individual in your organization is a communicator, and they communicate with each other and to the outside world. This communication is both formal and informal. Thus any external reports or events impacting your image also impact your employees internally. Good news can be energizing, while bad news can be demoralizing. We live in a new era of transparency and it is increasingly difficult to hide things from employees.
Much of internal communications in the 20th century was really communicating about what we do. However, in the 21st century things have changed. The world has changed, so why hasn't the way we communicate?
In the 21st century we have to communicate to engage, explaining why we are doing what we are doing, and extending our reach to connect with each other to create positive participation and change. This communication environment has changed greatly, and is more fluid and challenging. The outcome is that we will never be less transparent, have less information and be less connected than we are today.
Source:
David Cowan: Strategic Internal Communication: How to Build Employee Engagement and Performance
John Agno: Develop Leadership Skills: A Reference Guide