Free Resource

The 25-Point Internal Communications Audit Checklist

Evaluate your IC program in under an hour. Covers channels, content, cadence, feedback, and measurement — with a scoring guide to know exactly where to focus.

Channel inventory framework
Engagement benchmarks
Employee survey questions
90-day fix plan template

Get instant access — it's free

Enter your email and the full checklist appears on this page.

No spam. Unsubscribe any time.

Access granted

Your 25-Point IC Audit Checklist

Check off each item as you evaluate your program. Your score updates live below.

Score: 0 / 25
📡

1. Channels

5 questions
Do you have a documented list of every channel used for employee communications?
Without an inventory, channels multiply silently — teams create Slack channels, WhatsApp groups, and email lists with no oversight, leaving employees unsure where to look.
Is there a defined primary channel for company-wide announcements?
If every channel competes for attention equally, employees learn to tune them all out. One authoritative source forces clarity.
Does each channel have an explicitly documented purpose and audience?
Channel sprawl causes message duplication and confusion. Purpose documentation prevents "just post it everywhere" becoming the default.
Can employees in every location and role access all relevant channels on their primary device?
Frontline, remote, and non-desk workers are routinely excluded from channels designed for office workers. If they can't access it, it doesn't reach them.
Have you reviewed and retired any redundant or underused channels in the past 12 months?
Dead channels are noise. They dilute attention and make employees distrust the whole ecosystem — if nobody posts there anymore, why would I check?
✍️

2. Content

5 questions
Is there a documented editorial calendar for recurring communications (e.g., newsletters, town halls)?
Ad-hoc communications feel reactive and disorganized. An editorial calendar signals that comms is a planned business function, not a last-minute activity.
Does your content consistently reflect your company's stated values and tone of voice?
Employees notice when company communications feel misaligned with the culture they experience daily. Inconsistency erodes trust in leadership messaging.
Do communications include context (why this matters) rather than just information (what happened)?
Announcing a change without explaining the reasoning invites speculation and rumor. Employees who understand the "why" are 3× more likely to accept the change.
Are sensitive communications (layoffs, restructuring, policy changes) drafted and reviewed before publishing?
A single poorly-worded message about a sensitive topic can undo months of trust-building. Review processes exist precisely for the communications that matter most.
Is content readable by employees at all levels — avoiding jargon and assuming no prior context?
Leadership jargon ("synergies," "strategic pivots," "value-add") alienates frontline employees and gets tuned out. Plain language gets read and remembered.
🔁

3. Frequency

5 questions
Do employees receive at least one company-wide communication per week (excluding chat noise)?
Less than weekly means employees go into the news vacuum — filling it with rumor and assumption. Once a week is the minimum for maintaining organizational awareness.
Is the cadence of communications consistent — employees can predict when to expect news?
Predictable cadence builds habits. If the newsletter always lands Tuesday morning, employees open it. If it shows up randomly, they stop looking for it.
Do you have a documented policy for how quickly urgent communications are issued after a significant event?
Silence during crises (layoffs, product failures, major pivots) creates anxiety and speculation faster than a formal response. Speed of response is itself a signal of leadership confidence.
Have you surveyed employees in the past 12 months about whether communications feel too frequent, infrequent, or about right?
The right cadence is defined by employees, not by the comms team. What feels like "a lot" to the sender often feels like "barely anything" to the recipient buried in other priorities.
Are communications scheduled at times optimized for employee attention (not just sender convenience)?
Monday 8am competes with the week-start rush. Friday 4pm loses to pre-weekend wind-down. Send time optimization can improve open rates 10-25% with no content changes.
💬

4. Feedback

5 questions
Is there at least one anonymous channel through which employees can share feedback with leadership?
Without anonymity, employees self-censor. Research consistently shows anonymous channels surface problems 2-4 weeks before they escalate to resignations or public complaints.
Do you run a company-wide employee survey at least once per year with results shared back to employees?
Surveys without published results signal that leadership is gathering data, not acting on it. Sharing results — even unflattering ones — builds more trust than silence does.
Do communications explicitly invite responses, questions, or reactions from employees?
One-way broadcast culture creates disengagement. When employees feel like recipients of information rather than participants in a conversation, retention drops.
Is there a documented process for how employee feedback is reviewed and actioned by leadership?
Feedback that disappears into a void trains employees to stop giving it. The process of actioning feedback matters as much as collecting it — close the loop or don't open it.
Are managers trained on how to facilitate two-way communication with their teams rather than just cascading top-down messages?
Managers are the last mile of IC. If they don't know how to facilitate dialogue, the most carefully crafted company message dies in team meetings where nobody asks questions.
📊

5. Measurement

5 questions
Do you track open/read rates for at least your primary communication channel?
You cannot improve what you don't measure. A 15% email open rate and a 60% email open rate require completely different interventions — without data, you're guessing.
Are there defined benchmarks or targets for key IC metrics (e.g., target open rate, survey response rate)?
Metrics without targets are vanity. A 40% open rate means nothing unless you know whether 40% is good or bad for your industry, company size, and communication type.
Is IC performance (reach, engagement, feedback volume) reported to leadership on a regular cadence?
If IC metrics never reach leadership, they will never receive leadership investment. Budget follows visibility — and visibility requires reporting.
Do you track which types of content drive highest engagement, and use that data to inform future communications?
Most IC teams produce content based on what leadership wants to say, not what employees actually engage with. Engagement data shifts the conversation from opinion to evidence.
Have you connected IC health metrics (open rates, survey participation) to business outcomes (eNPS, retention, productivity data)?
IC that can prove business impact gets budget. IC that only reports open rates gets cut. Connecting comms effectiveness to retention or engagement scores moves IC from cost center to strategic function.
Your IC Audit Score
0 / 25
20–25
Healthy
Strong IC program — optimize and maintain
15–19
Needs Attention
Clear gaps — address within 90 days
< 15
Urgent Overhaul
Fundamental issues — prioritize immediately

Want Innercast to run this automatically?

Innercast generates and sends your employee newsletter on autopilot — channel optimization, engagement tracking, and feedback loops built in.

See how it works →