Insight

How listening inside and out can transform employee communications

10th May 2025

If businesses want their employees’ attention, they must first earn their trust – by listening as well as speaking. Today’s workforce expects more than just messages; employees require real dialogue on the topics that matter most to them.

To meet this need, internal communication strategies are increasingly grounded in the analysis of internal data – such as survey responses, clicks, and open rates – to understand how communications perform on internal channels and gain valuable insights into employee habits and preferences. But focusing exclusively on internal communications data can leave blind spots, missing the concerns and conversations emerging beyond company-controlled channels.

To truly connect, companies need an expanded, holistic view of employee sentiment, which can be created by collecting, analysing, and synthesising insights from multiple sources, both inside and outside the organisation.

Why diverse data is key

Successful, employee-driven communication strategies rely on a comprehensive understanding of employee wants and needs – drawn from signals within internal channels, but also from the conversations unfolding beyond them, in the wider world.

And crucially, it’s not enough to gather these insights in isolation: the real breakthroughs come from combining and cross-pollinating the findings to reveal gaps and opportunities that neither source can show on its own.

This integrated approach is built on a simple, three-step method:

Step 1: Understanding the internal landscape

Begin by assessing the internal engagement data – both the numbers and the narratives.

Look at the quantitative metrics: which channels are reaching employees effectively, and where is engagement dropping off? For example, when do listeners typically stop tuning into the company podcast? Which types of emails generate the highest open rates, and what patterns emerge around intranet clicks?

Then, layer in the qualitative insights from surveys, focus groups, and other feedback forums to understand why employees are responding the way they are. Are there recurring themes in employee comments? Do the numbers align with the anecdotal feedback, or reveal disconnects? Together, these insights assess both reach and resonance, showing how internal messages are truly landing.

Step 2: Understanding the external landscape

Next, turn outward through social listening – the process of tracking and analysing conversations from anonymised employees on public platforms like Reddit, Facebook, X, Instagram, and industry forums.

The anonymity is key: it protects privacy, reduces reputational risk, and ensures that external forums remain a trusted space where employees can share their honest, unfiltered views.

This exercise helps uncover recurring themes, pain points, and emerging interests, creating a broad yet nuanced view of what matters most to employees, beyond what’s captured in internal channels.

Step 3: Aligning internal engagement with external insights

Once the internal and external pictures have been painted, it’s time to examine the extent to which the two are reflected in one another. This integration helps determine whether trending external topics are being adequately addressed within the company’s internal communications.

For instance, if employees are actively discussing their company’s sustainability policies online, assess internal communication efforts on the topic. Are environmental initiatives being communicated effectively? If internal content on sustainability is sparse, this signals a gap in communication and a need to address the online interest.

However, if sustainability is a frequent internal theme but engagement is low, it suggests a mismatch in messaging, and the communications may not be resonating. Perhaps employees are looking for large-scale policy commitments rather than small, everyday sustainability tips.

By analysing the tone and content of online conversations alongside internal engagement patterns, you can spot disconnects and discover actionable solutions for making messaging more relevant, resonant, and employee-driven.

The benefits of integrating social listening with internal communications:

This holistic approach transforms employee communication in several ways:

Fostering two-way dialogue: By listening to external employee conversations and addressing those concerns internally, companies can move beyond one-way broadcasts and create genuine dialogue, fostering a culture of openness and building trust.

Creating a clearer picture of employee sentiment: Internal metrics show engagement levels but are less equipped to capture sentiment. This is where social listening adds vital context. For example, an internal post about a new company policy might generate high engagement (e.g., impressions, open rates). On the surface, this suggests that the message was well-received. However, social listening might reveal widespread frustration, indicating that the high engagement reflects concern or anxiety, rather than approval. Combining these insights provides a deeper and more accurate view of employee sentiment, enabling more targeted follow-up communications.

Enhancing transparency and strengthening advocacy: When employees actively discuss a topic externally, but leadership remains silent internally, it can create a sense of secrecy and generate mistrust. Social listening highlights these communication blind spots, prompting organisations to address key issues transparently. This helps employees feel heard and aligned with company messaging, making them more likely to become enthusiastic brand ambassadors and strengthening the company’s reputation from the inside-out.

Building a responsive, data-driven communication strategy

By bridging the internal and external worlds, companies can create a more dynamic and responsive communication strategy – one that is data-driven, employee-informed, and results-oriented. Integrating social listening with internal engagement insights allows businesses to truly understand what employees want and need to hear from their employer, fostering stronger relationships between businesses and their people.