Company lead media: Printed employee news and intranet
Surprisingly, around 62 percent of Swiss companies still publish printed employee news. Nevertheless, the intranet is far ahead, as a recently completed survey of the hundred largest companies - in terms of employees in Switzerland - conducted by Perikom underscores.
For the first time, the Perikom fact check gives an accurate picture of the situation of internal communication in large Swiss companies. For the survey, 150 companies were approached. Only four among the largest hundred did not want to provide any information at all.
Which channels are most important?
Perikom asked a deliberately open question about the "lead medium" in internal communication. The range of answers was broad: 60 companies stated "intranet" without a precise specification, while a few added and specified "e-mails to employees," "online magazine," "info screens," or "webcasts. Only four companies stated that they were working with apps or had already brought the intranet to their employees' smartphones. However, when asked, many companies have plans to do so.
The employee newspaper was named as the sole lead medium in 20 percent of cases. If double mentions are included, the printed employee newspaper is still regarded as the lead medium by 40 percent. The category of offline media also includes the classic bulletin board, which was named as a lead medium by five companies.
Communicate and talk
The fourth channel of internal communication, face-to-face or direct interpersonal communication, was mentioned in only five cases (employee information events). Alarming. Is the function of the person responsible for internal communication disappearing?
The survey also asked how many full-time positions in communications departments are devoted to internal communications. One trend became clear: a clear allocation of tasks according to stakeholders is becoming increasingly rare.
Semi-structured full-time positions
Mixed editorial teams are becoming more common, where the tasks for internal communications are taken on by different team members depending on the subject area (keyword newsroom). When asked about the number of full-time equivalents (FTEs), only eleven large companies report an expenditure of more than five percent for internal communications. The majority spend one to two employee positions on this.
The current, complete study is made available to existing Perikom members free of charge. Interested parties should contact Andreas Jäggi, Managing Director Perikom, info@perikom.ch.
