Over the years, I’ve developed a strategy tool that I call measurement-based planning. It may sound counterintuitive to start your plan at the end, but starting with defining what you ultimately want to measure—and how you will measure it—creates a more focused and concrete communication plan, with more quantifiable results.This is a twist on the traditional planning process that focuses on goals and objectives. Yes, the things you ultimately want to measure are the objectives. However, analyzing those objectives through a measurement lens from the outset forces you to think much more concretely.

For instance, one of the responsibilities in your job description may be to manage employee communication and to educate and motivate the company’s workforce. Instead of plunking down “educate and motivate employees” as an objective, start by asking yourself, “How would I know if employees were educated and motivated? How would I measure that?”

Consider three types of outcome measures, which social media measurement expert Kami Huyse has summed up neatly as the three As: awareness, attitude and action. In other words, what will your audience know, what will they believe, and what will they do?

For more wisdom on measurement, see

Common Sense Communication Measurement .Purchase

Led by Kami Watson Huyse, APR, and Alice Brink, ABC, APR. 

Yahoo Answers recently asked people if they believed in Bigfoot. Bigfoot’s a hairy hulk that, legend says, wanders across mountains in the U.S. and Canada.

 Most said Bigfoot exists.

This wasn’t a statistically significant survey. Only 19 people responded, and some answers were clearly put-ons. (One person “believes” because the Easter Bunny told her so.) But, it shows that while no one’s proved that Bigfoot is real, lots of people believe it.

So why is it so hard to believe that we can measure communication? We’ve got a lot more proof than a few grainy pictures and a patch of fur. 

A couple years ago I surveyed communicators about measurement. Barely half said they did any measurement. Only 3 in 10 tried to link communication to business results.

Some might say we don’t measure because we focus on great tactics, not great results. I don’t buy that. I think we just need to figure how to measure. We don’t produce widgets. We manage stakeholder relationships. How do you measure something intangible?

It’s not impossible. Companies have measured intangibles for ages. Marketing departments measure brand value, sales departments measure customer loyalty and HR departments measure employee loyalty. A strong brand translates into more sales, bigger market share, and the ability to charge more than the competition. Loyal customers are repeat buyers, so companies spend less time and money for each sale. Loyal employees stay put, which means lower recruiting and training costs.

We need to think about how communication adds value. For starters, it raises awareness, and influence attitudes and behaviors. These are all things we can measure. We can also measure how communication-driven behavior changes affect bottom-line indicators like productivity, employee retention, quality and safety.

Here’s some fuel to get you thinking.

• In 1986, David Pincus found that an employee’s job satisfaction was directly related to how the employee felt about supervisor communication and the company’s communication climate.
• The 2005/2006 Watson Wyatt Communication ROI Study found that effective communication is a leading indicator of an organization’s financial performance. Companies with effective communication have higher shareholder returns, lower turnover rates and higher levels of employee engagement.
• Angela Jeffrey at VMS found that a company’s “share of discussion” is directly related to business success. The more good things that people say about your company in the media, compared to your competitors, the more your sales will increase.

Let’s get this discussion going. Are communication metrics as elusive as Bigfoot? What are your thoughts, experiences, hopes or fears? Do you have any advice or best practices to share? I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Laurel English

1. Four Steps to Demonstrating Communication ROI . CW World On-Line. by Jim Shaffer, IABC Fellow. I’ve never met a senior business leader who didn’t want to …

   

   JIMSHAFFERGROUP.COM

2. Communication Measurement-ROI: A survey of research, best practices and ideas

3. Angela Sinickas video on communication’s ROI

   SINICKASA

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   5 YEARS AGO

4. 2011 Towers Watson Change and Communication ROI

5. Communication ROI: how do organizations measure communication against corporate objectives? – Entrepreneur.com

   The tracking and measurement of any marketing program has always been difficult, time-consuming and limited at best. Metrics can be even more elusive for marketing communication, and, in many cases, measurement methods are even inadequate or misleading.

   

   ENTREPRENEUR.COM
6. A Business Case for Internal Communication

   

   SLIDESHARE.NET

Maybe all the talk about the need for more measurement and research in PR and corporate communication is having a measureable effect.  The most comprehensive research study of the field to date, the Generally Accepted Practices (GAP) study, suggests that more communicators are getting involved in the research and measurement of programs, which is taking on a more prominent role in the communication process.

Conducted by the Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, in cooperation with IABC and other industry partners, the study found budgets allocated by corporate PR departments to measurement and evaluation have more than doubled, from 4 percent of total budget reported in 2009 (and in prior years’ GAP studies) to 9 percent in 2011. GAP VII surveyed 620 senior communicators in the United States.

As reported in the September-October 2012 IABC Communication World, the cause of this increase is unclear. It could be an indication that communication is being viewed as more strategic than in years past, and therefore programs are being evaluated on actual results. Or it could reflect the increased availability and use of digital measurement tools and services, which have become more widely adopted over the past two to three years.

One head of communication measurement and evaluation of a Fortune 500 company speculated the steep increase may have also occurred for a very different reason. Maybe the budget boosts are needed simply because there is currently no single method or tool that fully meets the requirements of communicators. This causes communication departments to invest in multiple measurement tools and processes

For a unique opportunity to dig much deeper into the art and science of communication measurement? Plan now to join two of North America’s premier experts, Angela Sinickas, author of How to Measure Your Communication Programs, and Claire Watson, ABC, APR and a master communication strategist  for the Communitelligence webinar,Internal communications measurement: taking it to the next level.

Assessing the state of communication at your company means gathering SWOT data vital to improving communication. An overall communications assessment should be conducted, at minimum, on an annual basis. Smaller or shorter communication assessments, often referred to as pulse checks, may occur for specific projects or topics on an as needed basis.

Whether you are conducting an annual overall communications assessment or a pulse check, you are also increasing the visibility of- or internally marketing the internal communications function.

Assessment activities include:

1.  Review (structure, roles/responsibilities)
2.  Audit (engagement survey data, messages, channels)
3.  Observation (meetings, events, water cooler talk)
4.  Interviews (leadership and non-leadership)
5.  Focus Groups (functional, mgmt and non-mgmt)
6.  Surveys
7.  Research (benchmarking, industry data)

So, when is the last time you conducted an assessment?  Get in the game and benefit by:

1.  Developing a broader network and elevating the importance of the function.
2.  Gaining an understanding of the communication history and of the current environment or situation.
3.  Comparing your organization to others.
4.  Being able to conduct a gap analysis.
5.  Identifying improvements and/or areas where you are falling below standards.

Julie Baron, COMMUNICATION WORKS

Attend Julie’s webinar replay: How to Conduct a Complete Communications Assessment

I want to share another insight from my late friend and mentor, David Berlo.  He always emphasized the distinction between results and performance.  Results are the outcomes you produce, and performance is how you get there, he said.  From there, he asserted that being singularly results-driven in what you measure and reward eventually leads to the deterioration of both performance AND results.  Here’s why.

Outcomes vs. Inputs

First, we all know that people tend to repeat behaviors that are reinforced in some meaningful way.  Likewise, people tend NOT to repeat behaviors for which they receive negative response.  Next, it’s important to realize that no one has direct control over outcomes (results) – unless the game is fixed or there’s an unfair advantage.  People can only control inputs (performance).

Now, if bad performance always led to bad results, and good performance always led to good results, it wouldn’t matter which one you rewarded – results or performance. But that’s not always how things work out.  Sometimes you don’t get good results even when you give your best effort – other variables can come into play.  Other times, just the opposite is true.  You can give a marginal effort and come out smelling like a rose. 

That’s not how things usually happen, but look at what you get when they do.  If you fail to reward people for good performance because they had bad results, you discourage them from repeating the good behavior.  If you reward them for good results in spite of poor performance, you reinforce poor performance in the future.  The cumulative effect over time is inevitable.  Every time you focus on results in a way that either reinforces poor performance or discourages good performance, you also take a step backwards with long-term results.

Performance is the bottom line.

Of course, you have to add up the numbers on the bottom line eventually.  But even if winning in the world of business means producing results, lasting success still requires focusing on the drivers of those results, and rewarding effective execution – regardless of the outcomes in the short run.  Berlo summed it up this way: “Winning is the name of the game, but performance is the bottom line.”  Clearly, if effective execution isn’t producing the desired long-term results, you need to figure out where the disconnect is.  But it serves no purpose to penalize people for poor outcomes if they’re doing the right things in the right way. If that happens, you need to fix the systems, not the people.

So what does that mean for us in the people professions?  For HR people, it’s pretty obvious.  Some compensation and bonus programs are notorious for focusing solely on immediate, bottom line results without regard to how they’re produced – often leading to short-term “success” with negative long-term consequences. Those programs have to encourage performance that looks at the long haul. For communications people, we need to look at where the bulk of the ongoing organizational dialogue is focused.  Are we communicating effectively about the “steps to success” – or is everything employees read and hear about focused on the end game?  If it’s results we’re after, we’d better be talking a lot more about what it takes to produce them – because in the end, it’s how you get there that counts.

Les Landes, Landes & Associates

Buy Les’s webinar replay: Getting to the Heart of Employee Engagement

Measuring the value of communication has always been important. Today, it’s become something of an obsession, and it’s easy to understand why.  But instead of focusing on measuring the value of communications, communicators should concentrate on communicating about measures that people value.  Here’s an example of how a St. Louis-based winner of the Baldrige National Quality Award, Wainwright Industries, applied that principle.

Making data meaningful with “Mission Control.”
When they set their sites on the award, they knew they would have to collect a lot of data – and figure out how to share it throughout the organization.  The solution was inspired by NASA. The Wainwright team decided to post the data in a single room organized around priorities that came from input provided by employees. They called the room “Mission Control,” and it was designed to let all employees know how various aspects of the company’s performance are tracking at all times. Using color coded flags, the display provides instant awareness of emerging problem areas. What’s more, it activates a pre-set course of action if performance indicators fall below established benchmarks.

While it’s essentially a communication system, not many professional communicators would typically see it as part of their domain. Therein lies the proverbial rub – and the opportunity to be more relevant.

Measuring what matters to people.

When communicators measure their success in terms of functional indicators like media impressions, newsletter satisfaction ratings and similar measures, they’re not connecting with most employees who don’t care much about those measures.  Ultimately, the most vital function of organizational communications is to facilitate the exchange of data, information, and knowledge that support employees in doing their everyday jobs. That’s what most people care about – and that’s where communicators should focus much of their measurement efforts.

The first step is to ensure you’re focusing on relevant indicators.  Examples might be safety, employee learning and development, results of continuous improvement efforts, quality of products and services, defect and rework rates, results of employee opinion surveys, customer satisfaction, sales and margins, progress reports on employee profit-sharing and the like.

Sharing information so people see why it matters.

But all that data is useless without an effective system for sharing it.  In short, measurement needs to be supported with a communication system that spans the entire organization.  Communicators shouldn’t try to do it alone, though.  They should work closely with other key functions – human resources, organizational development, finance, quality, information technology, sales, marketing, customer service, etc.

The roles played by the people in this measurement and communication “orchestra” vary depending on numerous factors. Someone, though, has to take the lead and serve as the “conductor” who keeps the group operating in unison.  That role is ideally suited for communicators who can see their way out of their traditional boxes.

Regardless of who plays what role, several important elements have to be built into the design of an effective measurement and communication system:

• Leading and lagging indicators
• Frequent and timely
• Simple
• Visual
• Relevant
• Quantitative
• Benchmarked
• Action-based

Click here for a brief description of each of those elements.

It’s a big role to take on, but it’s worth it.  Beyond the merits of the system itself, communicators stand to be recognized more for the value of their work – and appreciated more for their contributions to the performance of the organization.

Les Landes, Landes & Associates

Buy Les’s webinar replay: Getting to the Heart of Employee Engagement

Unless you’ve been holed up in a cave for the past few years, you’ve probably had some kind of brush with a quirky company called Zappos. You may be one of the millions of fanatically loyal customers who buy shoes from them over and over again. Or you may be a salivating investor who’s watched the company skyrocket from zero to over $1 billion in sales in less than 10 years. Or you may be like me – one of the lucky few who’ve had the rare opportunity to visit the corporate headquarters in Las Vegas and witness their wacky and wildly successful culture.

A client recently asked me if I had a tool that would help her track and collect measurement data during the course of a project. “Have you got a tool for that?”

It made me realize that when it comes to measurement we really harp on the planning skills. Which is crucial. But the collection, tracking, analysis and reporting are equally important. How many of us have planned our measurement, but never carried through?

So, here are some tips that will get your measurement skills up to speed across the entire measurement lifeline.

1. Planning
   • Target metrics that connect to business goals and prove communication success
   • Find out what the organization is already collecting
   • Determine the frequency of collection, approach of collection (e.g., survey, interview, electronic) and owner for each metric
2. Collection and tracking
   • Identify due dates for all the collection activity
   • Determine all the collection logistics in advance so you don’t miss anything
   • Automate what you can (e.g., invitations, reminders, electronic data reports)
   • For longer-term efforts with multiple measurement points, document key data points and findings as they come in
3. Analysis
   • Identify the three most relevant findings
   • Identify the most surprising finding
   • Identify the findings that require additional follow up
   • Categorize, count and analyze open-ended comments
   • Consider the benefits of cross-tabulating some of your quantitative data
   • Assess what worked well in the data collection process and what did not
4. Reporting
   • Understand the expectations and interests of the stakeholders to whom you are reporting
   • Break out recommendations by short-term and long-term timing
   • Identify those findings that best connect to goals
   • Be realistic about how much you can present in the given time
   • Determine which visuals and which words will be most useful to incorporate
   • Identify the final call to action
   • Anticipate questions and prepare a response

If you approach items two through four with the same diligence communicators typically approach item one, you’ll be more apt to follow through. And follow through means having more and better data, and more and better data means proving our value.

Proving our value through great measurement is one ingredient in the recipe for becoming a trusted advisor. Thinking strategically throughout the measurement lifeline is another. And, yes, we have tools for every step of the way.

Stacy Wilson, ABC, is president of Eloquor Consulting, Inc., in Lakewood, Colorado

When Should We Measure Communications?

Annual in depth surveys. Engagement and satisfaction surveys are typically carried out annually and can carry additional questions to provide some insights into the effectiveness of communications.

Prior to a specific communications campaign. In order to best understand the impact of communications, it is necessary to measure (awareness, attitudes, knowledge etc) before a campaign.

After a significant communication or campaign. It is important to measure the effectiveness and impact of significant communications programs and initiatives. This allows you to tailor internal communications to make sure they are effective and delivering quantifiable business value.

At intervals to track attitudes. Regular measurement helps communicators to gauge the ever shifting feelings and attitudes within an organization and to tailor messages to make sure they are appropriate to their audiences.

Pulse checks and temperature checks during and after specific events provide an insight into the issues and challenges an organization faces and to gather feedback on specific issues.

At intervals to benchmark and track against KPI’s. Measuring regularly against benchmarks and tracking trends over time provide an early warning of issues that may go undetected until they have escalated further.

What to Measure?

Determining which aspects of communication to measure will depend on the organization’s specific business and communication objectives. A few examples of useful communications measurements include: