An investigation of internal communication within the New Zealand financial sector

Abstract

Internal communication in New Zealand is a relatively new field of research, particularly within the financial sector. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to investigate the internal communication of financial institutions. Three major themes were considered within the field of internal communication: internal communication management, the channels utilised within organisations for internal communication and whether measurement of the internal communication was evident.

The research followed a qualitative methodological approach where a semi-structured interview with a representative from each of the participating organisations was conducted, in order to gain the management perspective of internal communication. The findings of the interviews were then transcribed and discussed in accordance with the current academic literature.

The findings indicate that internal communication is a large area of research that differs between organisations with content, structure and management. Additionally, a range of communication channels were used in all of the participant organisations with intranet and emails the most predominant channels, while face-to-face communication was an often underutilised channel. One finding that was not anticipated was the lack of formal measurement undertaken by most of the participants. While informal channels were well accounted for, formal measurement was surprisingly minimal thereby contradicting the advisement of the academic literature.