Measuring integrated internal communication: A South African case study

Abstract

The multidisciplinary concept of communication as it manifests itself in organisations is becoming more and more important; hence, it is suggested that it should be measured to determine the satisfaction of employees with integrated internal communication (IIC). The purpose of this study was, therefore, to develop a measuring tool for IIC to address limitations in the existing instruments that are arguably outdated and no longer address current trends. A sequential exploratory mixed methods approach was used to explore existing communication audit instruments that were used as the basis for the development of a new integrated internal communication audit (IICA) that was tested to evaluate the communication strengths and weaknesses at the University of South Africa library. The findings revealed that the IICA tool was an adequate tool for measuring the library’s IIC systems, with a Cronbach’s alpha of .950, which is seen as excellent. The results indicated that employees preferred communication systems that provided them with timeous, transparent, and continuous communication. Employees’ preferred communication channels included email, face-toface meetings, info-web, and written communication like letters and memos. The IICA tool recognises the importance of organisational values, employment equity, customised service and ubuntu that are not evident in previous instruments; hence, the results make a unique contribution to the field of organisational communication.