Internal Communications VS Employee Engagement
It’s common for organisations to use internal communication and employee engagement interchangeably, but these are distinct concepts that should be managed differently.
Internal communication is about conveying information and aligning people, while employee engagement is about how invested and motivated people feel at work. Confusing the two can lead to misaligned strategies – for example, throwing technology at a morale problem – and can ultimately hurt productivity. This article clarifies the key differences between internal communication and employee engagement, and explains how effective communication fuels engagement as an outcome. We’ll also explore the risks of mixing them up and offer recommendations to balance both for maximum impact.
Defining Internal Communication
Internal communication refers to the exchange of information and messages within an organisation, aimed at creating a shared understanding among employees. It ensures that “employees know what they need to do to deliver the company strategy”. In practice, this involves channels like emails, intranets, team meetings, and leadership updates that keep everyone informed and aligned with the business’s goals. Great internal communication goes beyond just broadcasting news – it creates clarity, consistency, and connection. As one expert notes, internal comms should “help align employees around business goals, so they can work together to drive results”. In other words, it’s about information and alignment: making sure people understand the company’s values, policies, and objectives, and how their role contributes to the bigger picture.
A strong internal communication function can shape the employee experience in powerful ways. For example, internal communicators often work on initiatives ranging from fostering an inclusive culture (so employees feel they belong and have a voice) to sharing powerful storytelling so everyone understands – and cares about – the company’s ambitions (The wonderful world of employee engagement and internal communication IoIC, The Institute of Internal Communication). Through these efforts, internal communication builds trust and transparency. When done well, it creates an informed workforce that is connected to the organisation’s mission and prepared to execute the strategy.
Defining Employee Engagement
Employee engagement describes the level of commitment, enthusiasm, and emotional investment employees have in their work and company. Employee engagement is a workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.
In simpler terms, engaged employees genuinely care about their work and their company’s success – they’re willing to go above and beyond, and they find personal meaning in their jobs.
Engagement is an outcome – a result of various factors coming together. It’s influenced by internal communication, but also by leadership quality, managerial relationships, recognition, growth opportunities, work-life balance, and company culture. As communications expert Jenni Field emphasises in a Forbes piece from 2022, “Employee engagement can be one of many outcomes of internal communication, but there are many factors that contribute to it. This includes line manager relationships, whether people feel they are rewarded fairly, work/life balance, levels of trust in the leadership team and overall culture. In other words, an engaged workforce is not created by communications alone – it’s a product of the entire employee experience, from meaningful work and fair pay to supportive management and a positive environment.
The Unique Roles They Play
From these definitions, it’s clear their roles differ: Internal communication is a process or function – it’s something organizations do (sharing information, facilitating dialogue). Employee engagement is a state of being – it’s something organisations achieve (or fail to achieve) in their people. Internal communication is typically managed by a communications team or HR professionals who craft messages and run communication channels. Employee engagement, on the other hand, is often measured by HR through surveys and is the responsibility of everyone in leadership and management – because it’s driven by collective efforts in management, culture, and yes, communication.
How Internal Communication Fuels Employee Engagement
Even though they are different, internal communication and employee engagement are deeply interconnected. Think of internal communication as a driver or fuel for engagement. In fact, Employee engagement is an outcome of good internal communication. When you communicate effectively with employees – keeping them informed, heard, and aligned – you create conditions that make higher engagement possible.
For example, sharing a clear strategic narrative (the story of where the company is headed and why) can give employees a sense of purpose and direction, which is engaging. Encouraging employee voice through two-way communication (such as feedback channels, Q&As with leadership, or idea forums) makes people feel valued and heard, boosting their commitment. Notably, these two elements – strategic narrative and employee voice – are identified as key drivers of engagement in the landmark MacLeod and Clarke study, and internal communication plays a key role in both.
Research and expert opinions reinforce that while internal communication ≠ employee engagement, the two are strongly related. Internal comms is often described as an “essential ingredient of employee engagement, but you need the full recipe to get dinner on the table.” In other words, great communication is necessary to engage employees, but it’s not sufficient by itself. You also need the other “ingredients” (like good leadership, growth opportunities, and respect) to truly satisfy and engage your workforce. A positive, productive company culture and inspiring leadership must complement the communication efforts, simply installing a new intranet or sending more emails won’t automatically raise engagement if employees don’t trust management or find their work meaningful.
Case in point: Imagine a company with a large number of field-based or “deskless” workers (drivers, technicians, retail staff). These employees might be very dedicated to their jobs day-to-day, but if the company relies solely on office-centric communication tools, those workers can feel isolated. They may start missing updates or lose sight of the company’s bigger vision, employees can be completely engaged in their duties and perform well every day, but if internal-communication tactics don’t account for their limited access to traditional channels, that engagement could fade.
In this scenario, ineffective internal communication (not reaching people where they are) risks eroding even a naturally engaged employee’s connection to the company.
Conversely, when organisations tailor their internal comms to reach all audiences – for example, using mobile-friendly updates or QR codes for field staff – they help sustain and boost engagement across the board.
Comparing Their Functions and Scope
To clarify the distinction, let’s compare internal communication and employee engagement across a few dimensions:
- Core Purpose: Internal communication’s core purpose is to inform and align. It creates a shared understanding of “what’s going on” in the organisation – strategies, changes, successes, expectations – so employees can coordinate and act accordingly. Employee engagement’s purpose is about emotional and psychological investment – it reflects how employees feel about that information and their work environment, translating into discretionary effort and loyalty.
- Tactical vs. Strategic: Internal communication is tactical in that it involves specific actions (newsletters, meetings, social intranet posts, etc.). It is often a function or department with defined channels and deliverables. Employee engagement is more strategic and broad; it’s an ongoing outcome measured typically via surveys (e.g., engagement scores), turnover rates, productivity metrics, etc. It’s influenced by tactics (like communications campaigns) but is ultimately a holistic indicator of organisational health.
- Who “Owns” It: Internal communications are usually owned by internal comms specialists or corporate communications teams (sometimes sitting under HR or PR departments). They craft messaging and manage communication platforms. Employee engagement cannot be “owned” by any single team in the same way – it’s owned collectively by leadership and managers at all levels. Front-line managers, for instance, have a huge impact on engagement through their daily interactions. Communicators should not carry the burden of employee engagement, expecting the comms team alone to magically create engaged employees is unrealistic – engagement also hinges on HR policies, manager behaviors, and organisational culture.
• Key Activities: Internal communication activities include things like: writing internal news updates, organizing town halls, maintaining internal blogs or chat channels, crisis communications to staff, and facilitating feedback loops. The focus is on message delivery and dialogue facilitation. Employee engagement activities are broader: ensuring recognition and rewards, fostering team-building, career development programs, health and well-being initiatives, leadership training – essentially any intervention aimed at improving morale and commitment. Of course, there’s overlap; for example, an internal campaign celebrating employee achievements is a communication activity that can bolster engagement.
• Metrics of Success: How do we know if internal comms is working vs if engagement is high? Internal comms success might be measured by metrics like email open rates, attendance at all-hands meetings, intranet traffic, or qualitative feedback on whether staff feel informed. Employee engagement success is measured by outcomes like increased productivity, lower absenteeism, higher retention, better customer satisfaction, and direct survey results (e.g., percentage of employees who would recommend the company as a great place to work). One feeds into the other: for instance, improved communication might lead to more employees feeling valued and thus raise engagement survey scores over time
In essence, internal communication is a means, while employee engagement is an end (or result). Effective communications enable engagement but don’t replace the need for other engagement drivers. Likewise, all the engagement initiatives in the world will falter if communication is poor – people need to know the “why” and “what” of their work to fully engage.
The Danger of Confusing the Two
Many organisations fall into the trap of treating internal communication and employee engagement as the same thing – or expecting one to automatically solve the other. This confusion can have real consequences. If leaders pour all their effort into flashy communication tools under the assumption that it will “fix” low engagement, they may be disappointed. Technology alone can’t create engagement if underlying issues (like a toxic culture or unclear goals) are not addressed. Some leaders mistakenly think investing in a new communications app or platform means “their engagement issues are over” – but technology doesn’t provide all the answers.
Conversely, if an organisation treats “employee engagement” as a buzzword and assigns it to the internal comms team without defining it, the comms effort can become aimless. Jenni Field warns that “if we continue to confuse employee engagement and internal communication, there is risk to productivity and the bottom line”. When goals are unclear, communications might chase the wrong objectives. For example, a communications team might be told to “increase engagement,” and they launch more newsletters and surveys. But if the real engagement blockers were poor management practices or lack of career growth, those communications tactics won’t move the needle – and resources are wasted on the wrong solutions. As Field notes, if senior leadership isn’t clear on whether they want the comms team to align employees to strategy versus boost morale, “then any direction is possible” and efforts become scattered.
Productivity suffers when employees receive mixed messages or when communications don’t address their true concerns. Morale can also take a hit if, say, a company keeps pushing out peppy internal newsletters while employees are disengaged due to feeling underpaid or unheard – the disconnect may breed cynicism. In short, muddling the roles of internal comms and engagement can lead to misalignment: important engagement issues might go unaddressed (because everyone assumed “comms has it covered”), and communications campaigns might flop (because they were expected to achieve things outside their scope).
Balancing Both: Strategies for Effective Communication and Engagement
To maximise your organisation’s success, you should treat internal communication and employee engagement as separate but interconnected levers. Here are some actionable recommendations for balancing both effectively:
1. Clarify Ownership and Objectives: First, ensure everyone understands the difference. Define what internal communication means in your context (e.g. timely information sharing, facilitating dialogue) and what employee engagement encompasses (e.g. employees’ commitment, energy, and satisfaction levels).
Make it clear who is responsible for each. For instance, task the internal communications team with creating a shared understanding and alignment among employees – ask, does your current internal comms “create a shared sense of understanding… and alignment so that people can deliver on business goals?”. Simultaneously, task HR and managers with driving engagement through leadership, recognition, and support. Align the senior team on these definitions and responsibilities; as Joanna Parsons suggests, use conversations (and even blog posts like this one) to help stakeholders grasp that employee engagement is broader than communication.
2. Use Internal Comms to Drive, Not Replace, Engagement Efforts: Leverage your internal communication as a tool to support engagement initiatives. For example, if survey data shows employees crave more career development (engagement issue), the internal comms team can highlight training opportunities, share success stories of promotions, or create a forum for mentorship. Communication should act as a connector and amplifier for engagement programs. By all means, invest in good communication channels – but remember, putting “the best communication technology in front of your employees isn’t going to improve engagement on its own” without complementary cultural efforts. Always pair communications improvements with parallel actions (policy changes, management training, etc.) addressing other engagement drivers.
3. Tailor Communications to Employee Needs: Effective internal communication is not one-size-fits-all. Different segments of your workforce may have different communication needs – and meeting those needs boosts engagement. Start by identifying which audiences you struggle to reach. For instance, are your frontline or remote employees left out of the loop? Do some departments feel unheard? Asking these questions helps you adapt your strategy. You might introduce mobile-friendly apps for field workers, hold live Q&A sessions for night-shift teams, or translate key messages for non-native speakers. The goal is to ensure every employee feels informed and included, no matter their role or location. When people feel included, their engagement naturally increases because they know their contribution matters to the organisation’s story.
4. Foster Two-Way Communication (Employee Voice): Engagement thrives when employees have a voice and leaders actually listen. Create channels for feedback and dialogue – such as pulse surveys, suggestion boxes, internal social networks, or regular town hall meetings where employees can ask leadership questions. Then, crucially, act on the feedback. If employees see that their input leads to visible changes or at least serious consideration, trust and engagement will grow. Internal communication should not be a one-way broadcast; it should facilitate conversation. This not only helps resolve issues (because management learns what employees care about) but also makes employees feel valued and engaged in shaping their workplace. In practice, an internal comms team might publish a “You Said, We Did” update to show responsiveness – blending communication with engagement by recognizing employee input.
5. Equip and Align Managers: Managers are the bridge between top-level communications and ground-level engagement. Ensure managers are equipped to communicate effectively with their teams and to foster engagement daily. This could mean training line managers on how to discuss company goals in team meetings (reinforcing strategic narrative) and how to have meaningful one-on-ones (supporting individual employee needs). Remember Jenni Field’s point that engagement is influenced by line manager relationships and trust in leadership – so your internal communication strategy should include managers as key communicators. Give them talking points, toolkits, and forums to ask questions, so that they can confidently relay information and pulse-check their team’s engagement. When managers communicate well and demonstrate care, employees are more likely to feel engaged.
6. Measure Both and Iterate: Finally, treat internal communication and employee engagement as distinct metrics in your organizational dashboard. Measure internal communication effectiveness – for example, do employees understand the strategy? Can they recall core values? What percentage read the CEO’s updates? Separately, measure engagement levels – via engagement surveys, eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score), turnover rates, etc. By tracking both, you can spot correlations and gaps. Maybe you’ll find that teams with higher communication scores also have higher engagement – reinforcing that communication fuels engagement. Or you might find strong communication but low engagement in an area, signaling other issues (perhaps compensation or workload) need attention beyond comms. Use these insights to iterate: improve your communication tactics and address non-communication factors in the engagement equation. A balanced focus ensures neither aspect is neglected.
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Conclusion
Internal communication and employee engagement are two sides of the same coin – distinct in definition but intertwined in practice.
Internal communication is the lifeblood that keeps information flowing and people aligned; employee engagement is the resulting heartbeat of an organization, reflecting how people feel and perform when that lifeblood is strong (and faltering when it’s not). By understanding their unique roles, we can see that internal communication fuels engagement, but it takes more than communications to fully engage employees.
Organizations that appreciate this relationship can invest in comprehensive strategies: they build robust internal comms and cultivate the managerial, cultural, and structural elements that drive engagement. The payoff is significant – clear communication plus high engagement leads to a workforce that not only knows what to do, but wants to do it, going above and beyond in pursuit of the company’s success. Treat these as separate but connected priorities, and you’ll create an environment where employees are both well-informed and deeply inspired – a combination that is tough to beat.
References:
Internal research and expert commentary underscore these insights. For instance, Joanna Parsons notes that internal communication creates alignment and shared meaning, enabling employees to deliver on goals. The MacLeod report definition of engagement highlights commitment, motivation and well-being as engagement components. Jenni Field, via Forbes, reminds leaders that engagement should be seen as an outcome of various factors, including but not limited to communication, and warns that conflating the two can hurt the bottom line. Meanwhile, industry analyses emphasize that communication is a means to boost engagement – not a magic wand – and must be paired with the right culture and leadership practices (Employee Communications vs. Employee Engagement|Employee Communications vs. Employee Engagement).
By learning from these perspectives, organisations can avoid the pitfalls of confusion and harness the true power of both internal comms and employee engagement.
- Aker, A. (2025) Internal communication strategies for boosting employee engagement. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2025/03/03/internal-communication-strategies-for-boosting-employee-engagement/ (Accessed: 14 March 2025).
- Local Government Association (n.d.) Communication and engagement. Local Government Association. Available at: https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/our-improvement-offer/care-and-health-improvement/integration-and-better-care-fund/better-care-fund/integration-resource-library/communication-and-engagement (Accessed: 14 March 2025).
- Parsons, J. (2023) The struggle is real: defining internal communication and employee engagement. The Curious Route. Available at: https://www.thecuriousroute.com/post/the-struggle-is-real-defining-internal-communication-and-employee-engagement (Accessed: 14 March 2025).
- Robinson, J. (2021) The wonderful world of employee engagement and internal communication. Institute of Internal Communication. Available at: https://www.ioic.org.uk/resource/the-wonderful-world-of-employee-engagement-and-internal-communication.html (Accessed: 14 March 2025).
FAQ: Internal Communication vs Employee Engagement
1. What is the difference between internal communication and employee engagement?
Internal communication is the process of sharing information, aligning employees with company goals, and fostering dialogue within an organization. Employee engagement, on the other hand, is the emotional commitment and motivation employees feel toward their work and company. While internal communication supports engagement, engagement is influenced by multiple factors, including leadership, culture, and job satisfaction.
2. How does internal communication impact employee engagement?
Effective internal communication fuels employee engagement by ensuring employees are informed, aligned with company objectives, and feel heard. Clear messaging, two-way dialogue, and strategic storytelling help employees connect with the company’s vision and values, which can boost their overall engagement and motivation.
3. Can internal communication alone improve employee engagement?
No, internal communication is just one factor in employee engagement. While strong communication helps create alignment and trust, engagement also depends on leadership quality, career development opportunities, work-life balance, recognition, and company culture. A holistic approach is necessary to truly enhance engagement.
4. Why do companies often confuse internal communication with employee engagement?
Many organizations mistakenly believe that increasing internal communications—such as emails, newsletters, or meetings—will automatically boost employee engagement. However, engagement is more complex and requires a combination of effective communication, strong leadership, meaningful work, and positive workplace culture.
5. What are the risks of confusing internal communication with employee engagement?
If companies treat internal communication and employee engagement as the same thing, they may focus on the wrong solutions. For example, they might invest in new communication tools without addressing deeper engagement issues, such as lack of career growth or poor management. This can lead to wasted resources, employee dissatisfaction, and low productivity.
6. How can organizations balance internal communication and employee engagement effectively?
Organizations should:
- Clarify roles: Ensure internal communication focuses on alignment, while HR and leadership drive engagement initiatives.
- Use internal comms strategically: Support engagement efforts by improving transparency, storytelling, and two-way feedback.
- Empower managers: Equip leaders with communication skills to keep employees informed and engaged.
- Measure both separately: Track internal communication effectiveness (e.g., message reach, feedback levels) and engagement (e.g., survey scores, retention rates) to make data-driven improvements.
7. What are some best practices for internal communication to drive engagement?
- Create a strategic narrative: Share the company’s mission, vision, and goals in a way that resonates with employees.
- Encourage two-way communication: Use surveys, town halls, and forums to listen to employee feedback.
- Personalize communication: Tailor messages for different employee groups, such as remote workers or frontline staff.
- Recognize and celebrate employees: Highlight employee achievements to foster a sense of belonging and motivation.
8. What are some examples of strong internal communication strategies?
Successful companies use a mix of communication tools such as:
- Leadership updates: Regular video messages or blogs from the CEO to maintain transparency.
- Interactive platforms: Employee apps, intranets, and social collaboration tools for engagement.
- Employee storytelling: Sharing real stories of employees making an impact.
- Recognition programs: Public acknowledgment of employee contributions to reinforce engagement.
