Why Your Internal Comms Lacks Strategy (and how structure plays a part)

In a recent survey, we asked HR leaders where Internal Communication 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 sit within the organization. 

The most common answer?

🔷 𝗖-𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲 - reporting directly to the CEO, COO, or equivalent. 

That's not where it sits in most companies.

Internal communication is often buried:

 • Under HR

 • Under Marketing

HR leaders recognize:

➡️ Internal Communication is a strategic function

➡️ Internal Communication needs executive-level proximity to shape business strategy, culture, and performance

This issue is bigger than an org chart issue. 

It's a 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

Where internal communication sits determines:

 • When it's brought into decision-making

 • Who it advises and who it doesn't

 • Whether it's positioned to drive clarity, trust, and performance

But, here's the catch: 

In the same survey, while most leaders say internal communication is strategic...

👉 Their top mental association is still "keeping employees informed" - by a margin of nearly 32%

That disconnection matters.

If internal communication is expected to deliver strategic outcomes without the access or authority to influence, we're setting the function up to fail.