Week 2 Lecture:

Internal Communication
in the 21 Century
st

Workplace
• Organisational Communications
• MDIA 5022
• Week 2 T3-2023
• Dr Dan Andrew
This week’s lecture
• Internal communication
& the 21st century
workplace

• Organisational culture

• Organisational change
communication
Key Takeaways 1)The 'empowered status' of
employees as active co-creators of
organisational reality can help
(rather than hinder) internal
communication strategies. In
particular, we pay attention to
informal communication as well as
formal (management)
communication.

2)Our understanding of
organisational culture shapes and
has implications for
communication practices.
Definition What is internal
Communication 'inside' an
organisation to "promote commitment communication
to the organisation, a sense of
belonging to it, awareness of its
changing environment and
understanding of its evolving aims" .

(Welch & Jackson, 2007, p. 193)

Internal
Communication
Officer
Six main communication activities: Internal
1. Legal obligations to talk to communication
employees
2. Supporting major change
activities
3. Promoting collaboration and
community
4. Promoting external advocacy
5. Encouraging good employees to
stay
6. Ensuring employees know what is
expected of them and know how to
achieve it
(Yeomans & FitzPatrick, 2017)
 Continuum of 'telling and selling’ to
Strategic 'engage and consult’

approaches to
Trends or themes:
internal § Propaganda
communication § Employee voice

§ Professionalism

(Yaxley & Ruck, 2013)

Debate continues over whether an Internal/External
internal/external divide is necessary or
even possible. Divide
§ Communication is not 'contained'
within an organisation

§ Externally directed messages reach

internal audiences and vice versa

(Cheney, Christensen & Dailey, 2014).

 Distinction between external and
Evolving Practices internal communication functions.

§ Practices continue to evolve

(Frandsen 2018)

§ External communication
§ e.g., from writing media releases
to a focus on 'stakeholders'
§ Internal communication
§ e.g., from employee newsletter to
a concern for organisational
culture.
Some features include: The 21st century
Increasing profits, decreasing costs
workplace
§ Outsourcing and poor working
conditions
§ Gig economy = unstable employment,
fewer benefits, e.g., Sick leave

Greater focus on flexibility

§ Trust and autonomy, highly skilled
§ Casualisation
§ Flexible working/Telework
 Risk of downplaying employees as active
Challenges for contributors
§ Knowledgeable
internal § Critical
communication § Informed (i.e. not just an organisation's
internal communication)

Risks of failing to interact with employees

§ There is a need for a mix of univocality and
multivocality in communication strategies
(Huang, Baptista & Newell, 2015)
Organisational
Culture
 How we think about organisations

Culture: A § Strong culture

Metaphor § Connection to goals and values

§ Not in need of direct supervision

i.e., managed by freewill (e.g.,
burnout through overworking)
Definition: Organisational Culture Dictionary of
Focus is on 'corporate culture' i.e. The Business
values, customs, rituals and norms
shared by members of an organization,
& Management
which have to be learnt and accepted
by new members.

Preference for a 'well integrated and

uniform' culture. Benefits include unity,
predictability, clarity.
Dictionary of Definition: Organisational Culture

Organisational § Culture is learned behaviour that is

acquired through socialisation.
Behaviour
§ One layer has 'visible artefacts'
e.g., mission statements and
vision, values, approach to hiring
etc.
Definition: Organisational Culture Dictionary of
§ The values, norms and patterns of Sociology
action that characterise social
relationships within a formal
organization.

§ In short, this is an extensive and

curiously influential concept and
literature, given that it seems to be
just so much rediscovering of some
commonplace sociological wheels.
Power and Control Organisational culture

Control vs. cooperation

§ Culture is considered a 'soft form

of power’.

Cultural approach to studying

organisational life provided new
insights

1. Shaped (pro-managerial bias)

2. Root metaphor
Key Takeaways: Organisational
§ Planned change is an organisational Change
process that is co-produced and so it
is important to pay attention to the Communications
human dimensions of change.

§ Informal communication is an
important input to internal
communication strategies.

§ Simonsson & Heide (2020, p.155) say

it's "just as important and interesting
as formal communication from
managers to employees"
Types of change: Uncontrolled or unexpected

Unplanned § Restrictions or interventions

§ Government's COVID
change restrictions
§ Regulator intervention

§ Disasters and emergencies

§ Bushfires
§ Organisational failures
§ Emerging situation e.g. labour
shortages
§ Broader economic issues
§ Ethical business practices
Purposeful change Types of change:
Planned change
§ Merger or acquisition
§ Corporate Strategy
§ Cultural change
§ Leadership change
§ New products
§ New practices
The Task of Strategic change to remain

Managing Change competitive

§ Adapt to pressures
§ Risk of failing to do so
§ Linear process

Downsides of change
§ Don't get the desired result
§ Change fatigue
The cost of change and Change ‘failure rate’
transformation

Do 70% of all transformations fail?

§ "an impressive story" (Kantola,
2016)
Change "The vast majority of internal
communication is about change in
communication one form or another"
(FitzPatrick & Valskov, 2014)

Role of the internal communications

practitioner
§ Skilled in managing change within
a communications context
§ Leading change management
communication strategies
Communication is expected to drive an Agenda for Change
openness to change

§ Transparent communication is
appreciated and links with
employee organisational trust but
DOES NOT link to openness to
change

(Johansson & Heide, 2008)

Case Study: Luxottica is a leader in the optical
retail business.
Luxottica § World's largest supplier of
eyewear, with net sales of over €9
billion in 2017
§ 'parent' company for OPSM brand:
Australia and New Zealand
§ Purchased in 2003
§ Largest optical shop chain
with 322 stores in Australia
and 48 in New Zealand - 2,400
employees (2022).
§ Celebrated 90 year anniversary
last year
"In the last eighteen months OPSM has Planned change:
experienced a phase of re-birth. Behind
it all are results achieved in terms of OPSM
sustained quarterly growth,
attributable to the implementation of
some important strategic choices,
starting with the centralized
management of the ranges and the
policy of price harmonization at an
international level.”

(circa 2018)
Unplanned In 2020, the company responded to
COVID lock downs and other
Change: OPSM business disruptions for its 650
stores.
§ Office-based workers began
'working at home'
§ Voluntary return
A common approach to communicating Recipe for Change
change focuses on messaging
(Christensen, 2014):
Communication
§ Tools include communication audit
(current state)
§ Improve quality, i.e. better
communication
§ Avoid “lack of information”
§ Achieve "the right amount of
information given at the right time"
Resilience & Organisations usually focus on the
technical, financial and operational
Adaptability aspects of change rather than the
psychological insecurity about
change (Christensen, 2014)

§ Worrying about whether you have

a job
§ Not sure what will happen

You need to adapt. You need to be

flexible. Otherwise, you will go around
and feel really bad all the time having
an ache in your tummy and your head.
(Cristina) – (Weiland, 2020)
Resilience as a trait or set of traits Resilience as a Trait
individuals possess that enable
resilience
§ can be taught

Benefits include:
§ Wellbeing
§ Experience
(De Smet et al, 2020)
Resilience Resilience as a communicative
process that comes about through
Through interaction
§ importance of relationship-focused
Interaction change communication

They have been here. They have been

visible. .. just coming into my office
and saying "Hello. How are you
today? How is life? How are things
going?" It's not necessary to have a
long talk, just to show that I'm here
and I care like that. Just to be here, to
be visible, to be generous. (Weiland,
2020)
References
Christensen, M. 2014). Communication as a Strategic Tool in Chance Processes.
International Journal of Business Communication, 51, 359-385
De Snet, A., Tegelberg, L., Theunissen, R., & Vogel, T. (2020, November 25) Overcomine
pandemic fatigue: How to reenergize organisations for the long run.
FitzPatrick, L, & Valskov, K. (2014). Internal communications : a manual for practitioners.
Johansson, C. & Heide, M. (2008). Speaking of change: Three communication approaches
in studies of organizational change. Corporate Communications: An International Journal,
13, 288-305
Kantola, A. (2016). Cleaning rotten politics, selling exclusive liaisons: Public relations
consultants as stortelling professionals between markets and politics. Public Relations
Inquiry, 5(1), 33-52
Mitra, R. & McDonald, J. (2019). Movements in Organizational Communication Research:
Current Issues and Future Directions.
Simonsson, C, & Heide, M. (2020). Change Communication: Developing the Perspective of
Sensemaking and the Perspective of Coworkers. The Handbook of Public sector
communication, 153-166.
Wieland, S. M. B. (2020). Constituting Resilience at Work: Maintaining Dialectics and
Cultivating Dignity throughout a Worksite Closure. Management Communication Quarterly,
34(4), 463-494

Casestudy from: https://www.sefiani.com.au/luxottica/