Our conversations with practitioners in Australia and Asia suggest that corporations have elevated the focus afforded to internal communications as a value-creator for their business. Looking ahead, it is possible that internal communications will surpass the priority afforded to marketing/consumer communications as a prominent focus in corporate management.

Developments during the economic downturn have cemented this shift. Economic malaise, organisation uncertainty, and in some entities, employee scepticism and nervousness, means that how an organisation calibrates and conducts its internal communications is core to strategy and internal and external stakeholder perception.

The possibilities of social media, as well as the reputation risks involved with their use, have brought additional attention to internal communications.

The spotlight on internal communications has led to an interest in best practice and benchmarking. Almost half of the Centre’s State of Public Affairs respondent companies were planning to benchmark their internal communications within 2010.