The Swear Jar Podcast: The Curtain Rises on Measurement Theatre
The Importance of Measuring the Impact of Employee Communications
Measuring the impact of employee communications is no longer an option. It is the key to demonstrating the importance of the Employee Communications function.
Proving the impact of your employee communications also sets you on a path to getting a place at the decision-making table. But, even if that’s not your ultimate goal showing the positive impact of your employee communication means you are more likely to keep, or increase, your budget.
Measurement Theatre: You’ve been there
But, for employee communications professionals this task is made far more difficult because so many organizations have raised the curtains on Measurement Theatre. That’s when:
1) More energy is spent being seen to gather, analyze, and report on important employee communications-related metrics than actually acting on it; and/or 2) The things being measured are not particularly useful in supporting organizational goals.
The Consequences of Measurement Theatre
Unfortunately, employee communications professionals’ effectiveness and overall impact are drastically hampered when they must contend with Measurement Theatre. The most common negative consequences for employee communications professionals include:
- Employees (and leaders) alike lose trust in the process of measuring employee communications
- Employee communications professionals (who manage and measure) lose credibility
- The communications used to encourage participation in any measurement initiative lose legitimacy
- Leaders in Communications, HR and across the organization are seen as less transparent and less trustworthy
What You Can Do
In The Swear Jar episode, The Curtain Rises on Measurement Theatre, we help employee communications professionals lower the curtain by addressing the following:
- How you can identify when the curtain is rising on Measurement Theatre in your organization
- Why Measurement Theatre takes place in organizations
- What you can do to avoid Measurement Theatre or bring the curtain down
ABC Resources Highlighted in this Episode
- !mpact Measurement (90-minute workshop)
- Worst Employer Ever: How to deal with Online Reviews (90-minute workshop)
Other Resources Highlighted in this Episode
- LinkedIn article on whether internal communications has cemented its place at the strategic table during COVID-19 (Mike Klein)
- Video of FBI negotiator speaking at a Tedx conference (Chris Voss)
