4.4.3 Internal communication

Principles
To achieve optimal organisational performance and support of Government goals, agencies must create a positive organisational climate where feelings of trust, awareness, openness, security, involvement and confidence predominate, particularly between managers and employees.

This means articulating the organisation’s vision and objectives, implementing upward communication and feedback mechanisms, and recognising and celebrating staff innovation, achievements and customer service excellence.

Properly engaged in the life of an organisation, employees can be valuable allies in external communications - helping to inform the public, professional colleagues and prospective employees about their department or agency.

Effective internal communication is a shared management responsibility. The Head of Agency must champion an agency’s commitment to open and collaborative internal communications with the support of the entire management team.

Policy requirements
To foster employee knowledge, awareness and understanding of agency and whole-of-government business, policies and activities, agencies must:

• have in place a system, process or mechanism for communicating with employees
• develop and implement strategies that encourage proactive and interactive communications throughout the organisation
• develop and implement mechanisms that recognise the contribution of staff (and volunteers) to service delivery and to meeting business objectives
• develop and implement communications strategies for the collection, dissemination and exchange of information and knowledge
• communicate with employees openly, frequently, and where possible before or at the same time as information is communicated to the public, or as soon as possible.

Information sharing within agencies contains some risks in terms of privacy and security. Confidential and sensitive information, including information or documents communicated electronically, must be handled according to the agency’s security arrangements, and the Personal Information Protection Act 2004.

See Internet and email use in the State Service: Ministerial Direction.

Internal communication activities and processes must be reviewed from time to time to evaluate results, to identify areas for improvement, and to make adjustments as needed.