4,9/5 reviews
Improve internal communication by understanding what employees truly grasp
Good internal communication isn’t just about newsletters, intranet or Teams messages. It’s about whether employees understand what’s happening, why decisions are made and what is expected of them.
With Deepler’s Internal Communication module, you measure how clearly, timely and useful communication is experienced within your organization. You discover where information gets stuck, where noise arises and which teams feel insufficiently involved. This way you improve not only the communication channels, but especially the connection between strategy, leadership and daily practice.
- Measure whether important information actually reaches employees
- Discover where noise, confusion or information overload occurs
- Improve communication during change, growth and daily collaboration
Internal communication: what is it and how can you improve it?
Many organizations look for ways to improve internal communication, but often start with tools: an app, intranet, newsletter or narrowcasting. These tools can help, but don’t automatically solve the real problem.
The question isn’t just which channel you communicate through, but whether employees understand the message, trust it and can translate it to their work. That’s why research into internal communication helps make visible where information flows well and where misunderstandings, distance or noise occur.
In this article we explain:
- What internal communication means within an organization
- Why improving internal communication goes beyond additional tools
- Which signals indicate poor or unclear communication
- How you measure internal communication with employee feedback
- How Deepler helps improve communication structurally
Table of contents
What is internal communication?
Internal communication is all communication within an organization that helps employees do their work well, understand the organization’s direction and feel connected to what’s happening. This can include formal communication, such as management updates, HR messages, team meetings, intranet or internal communication apps.
But it also includes informal communication: what managers explain, what colleagues pass on and how clearly agreements are made in practice. Research into internal communication therefore looks not just at channels, but especially at the reach, clarity, timing, trustworthiness and usability of information.
More than a tool
A new tool can make internal communication clearer, but only if it’s clear what problem you’re solving with it. For example, employees might receive enough messages but still not know what’s a priority.
Or they understand the strategy but miss practical translation to their team. Short, targeted questions help show exactly where the communication chain breaks: at the sender, the channel, the timing, the manager or the follow-up.
Why is internal communication important?
Internal communication largely determines whether employees know where the organization is heading and what their role is. If communication is unclear, late or fragmented, noise arises.
People fill in what they think is meant, teams work differently than intended and changes meet with more resistance. Good internal communication creates calm, clarity and engagement. It makes decisions explainable, helps managers steer consistently and prevents employees from feeling informed only after decisions have been made.
Research into internal communication makes visible where information lands and where it doesn’t
Internal communication often seems fine as long as messages are being sent. But sending is something different from reaching.
With employee feedback you measure whether communication is understood, whether employees receive the right information on time and whether they know where to turn with questions. This way communication becomes not a gut feeling, but an improvable part of the organization.
1. You discover where information gets stuck
Sometimes the message is clear at management level, but disappears on the way to teams. By measuring internal communication, you see where information isn’t passed on sufficiently, is misinterpreted or arrives too late. This makes it easier to make targeted improvements instead of sending more messages.
2. You prevent noise and personal interpretations
When employees don’t understand why choices are made, they fill in the gaps themselves. This can lead to rumors, uncertainty, or cynicism. A survey shows which topics are insufficiently explained and where additional context is needed to maintain trust and clarity.
3. You strengthen communication during change
With growth, reorganization, new strategy, or digitalization, communication becomes even more important. Employees want to know what is changing, why it’s necessary, and what it concretely means for them. By measuring this, you discover whether communication during change actually helps or leaves questions unanswered.
4. You help managers communicate better
Managers play a key role in internal communication. They translate organizational news to their teams and address questions. Feedback reveals whether employees experience sufficient explanation, direction, and space to ask questions. This makes communication not just a task for marketing or HR, but for the entire line.
5. You make communication less sender-focused
Much internal communication is structured around what the organization wants to communicate. Employees primarily need information that is relevant, understandable, and applicable. Research helps design communication more from the receiver’s perspective: less broadcasting, better landing.
Measure your internal communication with Deepler’s software
With Deepler’s Internal Communication module, you measure how employees experience communication within your organization. You can examine whether information is shared on time, whether messages are clear, which channels work well and where employees feel insufficiently involved.
The results are displayed clearly in dashboards and one-pagers, so HR, communications, management and managers quickly see where improvement is needed. You can make differences between teams, locations or job groups visible without relying on loose opinions. This way Deepler helps make internal communication not just nicer, but more effective: more clarity, less noise and better conversations about what employees need.
Our satisfied customers
What are the benefits of improving internal communication?
Improving internal communication delivers more than better-informed employees. It results in fewer misunderstandings, greater trust in decisions, and better collaboration between teams.
The greatest benefit often comes not from more communication, but from communication that better matches employees’ information needs. By measuring where confusion arises, you can make more targeted choices about which channels, rhythms, and messages are needed.
A practical steering tool
Research into internal communication is not an assessment of a single message or channel. It is a practical steering tool to improve the communication flow in the organization.
You see which topics are well explained, where employees need more context, and which groups are less well reached. By measuring periodically, you can also track whether improvements are working.
For example, after introducing a new internal communication app, adjusting meeting rhythms, or launching a change program. This makes communication a continuous improvement process rather than a series of separate updates.
What are the benefits of improving internal communication?
Improving internal communication delivers more than better-informed employees. It results in fewer misunderstandings, greater trust in decisions, and better collaboration between teams.
The greatest benefit often comes not from more communication, but from communication that better matches employees’ information needs. By measuring where confusion arises, you can make more targeted choices about which channels, rhythms, and messages are needed.
Clarity in direction and expectations
Employees want to know where the organization is heading, but especially what that means for their work. Good internal communication translates strategy into concrete expectations. This prevents teams from working at cross-purposes or interpreting decisions differently. A survey shows whether employees experience sufficient clarity about goals, priorities, changes, and responsibilities. This allows you to improve more effectively:
- where strategic communication remains too abstract;
- where team communication needs more explanation;
- where information arrives too late or fragmented.
Better collaboration between teams
Poor internal communication often becomes visible in collaboration. Teams miss information, make duplicate arrangements, or point fingers at each other because expectations are unclear.
By measuring communication, you discover where coordination is stalling and what information employees need to collaborate better. This helps improve not just channels, but also meeting structures, role distribution, and decision-making. This is particularly important in organizations with multiple locations, departments, or hybrid teams.
More trust during change
Change requires communication that is honest, timely, and concrete. Employees won’t automatically accept every decision, but they do want to understand why something is happening.
When explanation is missing, resistance emerges more quickly. By measuring internal communication during change, you see whether employees feel included and whether they experience sufficient space to ask questions. This makes it easier to reduce uncertainty and build support.
Trusted by small and large organizations
Ervaringen van klanten die met ons het verschil maken.
-
Larren
Recruitment Lead,
De Selectie
“Recently, I used Deepler to arrive at an EVP. Great what they were able to achieve in a short time! In a period of two weeks, we collected information and were able to continue with our AMC plan. In any other situation, it takes weeks, if not months, to get this done. Contact is good, friendly and constructive. Very nice club to work with.”
-
Douwe
Recruiter,
Securitas
“Ideal tool and company to gain more and better insight into the organization and employees as an organization! And especially with speed! For us, it was also the need to get tools for the topics of retention, to prevent future absenteeism or turnover. I also have experience with other parties and I sincerely value the speed of switching, follow-up and personal contact with Deepler. Absolutely recommended.”
-
Jolanda
HR Business Partner,
Nedcargo
“Deepler is a great tool for continuously collecting feedback from our employees. This input is then centrally available for us as management, but also for managers who benefit from it.”
-
Jonathan
Manager,
UWV
“What makes Deepler special is that it doesn’t get stuck in numbers. It helps you immediately understand where it is and what teams need. For us, this ensured that employees themselves came up with areas for improvement and took responsibility for them. The insights were sharp and useful, but most importantly: the conversation that started afterwards made the difference. Thanks to Deepler, we didn’t get a paper plan, but change that was supported by the people themselves.”
-
Amadeus
COO,
OSRE
“The software has a positive impact on us as a rapidly growing organization. By better understanding what is going on in the workplace and what people offer as solutions for improvements, we can make more effective decisions. The platform helps us to gain real-time insight and to respond directly to it via the tool.”
Is research into internal communication mandatory?
Research into internal communication is usually not legally required. However, for many organizations it is an important part of good employment practices, change communication, and organizational development.
Especially when employees indicate that they are missing information, don’t understand decisions, or feel insufficiently involved, it is wise to investigate communication systematically. In major changes, internal communication can also influence support, trust, and work experience.
The works council or employee representative body can also play a role when the research is part of broader employee research or when findings are used for organizational policy. The most important thing is to clearly communicate in advance why you are measuring, what will be done with the results, and how employees will receive feedback.
Is research on internal communication anonymous?
Yes, anonymity is important in employee research on internal communication. Employees must be able to honestly indicate whether they are missing information, find decisions unclear, or experience insufficient communication from managers.
Especially on sensitive topics, such as reorganizations or trust in management communication, openness can be under pressure. That’s why results are preferably reported at group level and are not traceable to individual employees. This creates a safer picture of patterns in the organization.
What about GDPR and privacy in internal communication research?
When researching internal communication, you process feedback from employees. Therefore, you must handle privacy and personal data carefully. This means you communicate clearly in advance which data will be collected, why the research is being conducted, and who has access to the results. Practical starting points are:
- report results only at sufficient group size;
- use responses for improvement, not for individual evaluation;
- limit access to raw data;
- explain how long data will be retained;
- be transparent about segmentation, for example by team, location, or job group.
What is the role of HR, communication, and management?
Improving internal communication is not the task of one department. Communication or marketing can help with channels, formats, and message building. HR often sees the connection with employee experience, engagement, and culture. Management and leaders are needed to translate messages into practice. Good research helps divide these roles:
- communication sees which resources and messages can be improved;
- HR sees where communication impacts experience and engagement;
- leaders see where their teams need more explanation;
- management sees whether strategic messages land.
Why do many organizations still conduct research on internal communication?
Organizations conduct this research because internal communication often only becomes visible when things go wrong. Employees feel blindsided by decisions, changes land slowly, or teams turn out to have different pictures of the same priorities.
By measuring earlier, you can prevent communication problems from growing into resistance, frustration, or loss of trust. The research helps clarify where the organization sends too much, explains too little, or fails to listen enough.
How to get more out of your internal communication research
Don’t just ask about channels
A channel can be popular but still have little effect. So don’t just ask whether employees use intranet, Teams, or newsletters, but especially whether they find the information timely, clear, and relevant.
Measure around important moments
Internal communication is especially important during change, growth, reorganization, or new strategy. Don’t measure only annually, but also after moments when a lot of explanation and alignment is needed.
Link insights to ownership
Make it clear beforehand who will work with the results. Some improvements lie with communication, others with management, HR, or leaders. Without an owner, feedback remains too general.
Do’s of improving internal communication
A good study on internal communication only helps if the follow-up is concrete. Pay special attention to these points:
- Measure reach, clarity, timing, and trust separately from each other.
- Involve leaders, because they translate communication to teams.
- Use open answers to understand examples of noise.
- Share back what employees have indicated and what will be done about it.
- Improve not only tools, but also rhythm, message, and behavior.
Don’ts of improving internal communication
- Only choose a new tool without measuring the real problem.
- Send more messages while employees actually need clarity.
- Ask for feedback and then don’t follow up.
- Place internal communication entirely with one department.
- See criticism of communication as resistance, when it’s often about unclear messaging.
What do you do with the results of an internal communication survey?
You use the results of an internal communication survey to determine where information needs to flow better. Don’t immediately start replacing channels or adding extra updates. First, look at where the problem is.
Is information being shared too late? Is the message too abstract? Do employees trust the sender sufficiently?
Or is the main issue the lack of translation to teams? By reading the results this way, you can make targeted decisions. Sometimes a better meeting structure is needed, sometimes clearer management communication, sometimes more support for leaders. The value lies in connecting data to concrete communication agreements.
Turn insights into action
Now that you know where communication is breaking down, it’s time to take targeted action. The results provide you with a clear roadmap: which channels work, where delays occur, and how your employees actually experience your messages? This insight is valuable, but only worthwhile if you actually use it to sharpen your communication strategy.
A systematic approach ensures that you prioritize the right improvements and see results quickly. By gradually adapting your communication processes — from channel use to timing and wording — you build a culture of clarity and engagement. These are the six follow-up steps you can take:
Wil je nog meer tips over hoe je een medewerkerstevredenheidsonderzoek (MTO) effectief op kan volgen? Lees dan ons artikel:
MTO Effectief Opvolgen: Waarom Is Dat Belangrijk?
1. Analyze where communication breaks down
Look at each theme to see where employees score low: reach, clarity, timing, relevance, or trust. Compare teams, locations, or job groups where necessary to see if the problem is organization-wide or occurs locally.
2. Share key insights with stakeholders
Discuss the results not only with communication or HR, but also with management and leaders. They often determine whether messages are explained well and whether employees have room to ask questions.
3. Engage in conversation about noise
Use the results to retrieve examples. What information arrived too late? What change was not understood? Where did rumors originate? This makes the analysis more concrete than just a score.
4. Formulate improvement actions per communication problem
Link actions to the real problem. With too much information, prioritization helps. With unclear strategy, translation to teams helps. With little trust, more transparent explanation of choices helps.
5. Choose focus and prevent communication overload
Not every channel needs to improve at the same time. Choose a few improvement points that have significant impact, such as a fixed schedule for updates, better manager briefings or shorter, clearer messages.
6. Keep measuring after changes
Measure again after important communication interventions. This way you can see if employees feel better informed and whether new tools, agreements or schedules actually work.
Make communication discussable with insight into what lands and what doesn’t
The Deepler dashboard shows where internal communication is strong and where information loses meaning along the way. HR, communications, management and supervisors get a shared view of the most important improvement points. This means you don’t just discuss opinions or channel preferences, but what employees actually need to do their work well.
Organizational research without high costs
Stem je wensen af met ons Basic- of Plus-pakket. Wil je meerdere landen of organisaties vergelijken? Dan is het Enterprise-pakket de beste keuze.
Basic
€2.99
Per user/per month
The best for your team or smaller organizations that want to gain insights quickly.
- Maximum of 1 module
- Score segmentation
- In-depth analysis for Managers
- Unlimited number of languages
- Personal dashboard for employees
Plus
€3.49
Per user/per month
The best option if you want to survey multiple teams and SMEs.
- Everything from Basic
- 2 additional research modules
- Personal success manager
- Non-desk employees
- Custom questions
Most popular
Enterprise
On request
Per user/per month
The best for large organizations and custom modules.
- Everything from Plus
- Single Sign-On
- Custom modules
- Advanced Security
- Personal onboarding
Basic
€36
Per user/per year
The best for your team or smaller organizations that want to gain insights quickly.
- Maximum of 1 module
- Score segmentation
- In-depth analysis for Managers
- Unlimited number of languages
- Personal dashboard for employees
- Suitable for employees company email address
Plus
€42
Per user/per year
The best option if you want to survey multiple teams and SMEs.
- Basic
- 2 additional research modules
- Personal support from a Deepler expert
- Suitable for all employees
- Add your own questions
- Option to conduct surveys using QR codes
Most popular
Enterprise
On request
Per user/per year
The best for large organizations and custom modules.
- Plus
- Unlimited research modules
- Custom modules
- Unlimited number of languages
- Personal dashboard for employees
- Suitable for employees company email address
Frequently asked questions
What is internal communication?
Internal communication is all communication within an organization that helps employees understand what’s happening, where the organization is headed and what this means for their work. It includes channels such as intranet, Teams, newsletters and meetings, but also includes explanations from supervisors and informal information sharing between colleagues.
Why is internal communication important?
Internal communication is important because employees without clear information become uncertain more quickly, interpret decisions differently, or become less engaged in change. Good communication creates clarity, trust, and better collaboration. It helps employees understand why choices are made and how they can contribute to them.
How often should you measure internal communication?
That depends on the situation. In stable organizations, periodic measurement may be sufficient.
During change, growth, mergers, reorganizations, or new strategies, it’s wise to measure more frequently. Especially during such moments, you can see whether communication helps employees or raises additional questions.
Is a survey on internal communication anonymous?
Yes, anonymity is important when employees need to be able to honestly indicate that communication is unclear, late, or insufficiently reliable. By reporting results at group level, a safer picture of patterns emerges without individual responses being traceable.
What topics do you measure in internal communication?
You can measure, among other things, whether information is shared on time, whether messages are clear, whether employees know where to find information, whether managers provide sufficient explanation, which channels work well, and whether employees feel included in changes.
What is the difference between internal communication and employee engagement?
Internal communication is mainly about information, explanation, reach, and clarity within the organization. Employee engagement is broader and concerns motivation, connection, and willingness to contribute. Poor internal communication can reduce engagement, but they are not the same topics.
How many employees should participate in a communication survey?
The more employees participate, the more reliable the picture becomes. Especially when segmenting by team, location or job function, sufficient response is important. Deepler helps to show results only where groups are large enough, so that privacy and reliability are well maintained.
How long does an internal communication survey take?
An internal communication survey can often be conducted quickly. The turnaround time depends on the size of the organization, the number of target groups and the desired questionnaire. Many organizations opt for a short survey that employees can complete in a few minutes.
What do you do after an internal communication survey?
After the survey, you discuss where communication works well and where improvement is needed. Then you determine whether actions are needed in channels, messaging, timing, meeting structure or leadership communication. It is important that employees hear back what came out of the survey and what will be done with it.
What does an internal communication survey cost?
Costs depend on the package, the number of employees and the desired setup. With Deepler you can measure internal communication as a specific module or combine it with broader employee surveys. Check the prices or schedule a call to determine which approach fits.
What questions do you ask in an internal communication survey?
Example questions are: I receive information in time to do my work well. I understand why important decisions are made.
My manager explains changes clearly. I know where I can find relevant information. Internal communication helps me understand priorities.
How do you ensure good response to a communication survey?
Clearly explain why the survey is being conducted, how much time it takes, and what will be done with the results. Keep the questionnaire short and relevant. Share key insights after completion so employees see that their feedback is taken seriously.
How do you get honest answers about internal communication?
Honest answers arise through anonymity, clear communication, and trust in follow-up. Make it clear that the survey is intended to improve communication, not to hold departments or individuals accountable. Share results at group level and visibly communicate what changes as a result.
Schedule a consultation
Klaar om stappen te zetten? Laat van je horen, dan kijken we samen naar de beste aanpak. Of je nu een vraag hebt of gewoon even wilt sparren, we zijn er voor je.
- Een inkijkje in het dashboard van Deepler
- Persoonlijk advies en start met eerlijk inzicht
- Een vrijblijvend gesprek voor al jouw vragen
