The internal communication of Spanish companies in a startegic key La comunicación interna de las empresas españolas en clave estratégica

Resumen El presente artículo se centra en conocer cuáles son los objetivos, las herramientas y los ejes estratégicos que plantean las empresas españolas en sus planes de comunicación interna (CI). Asimismo, se pretende conocer el contexto empresarial en el que se desenvuelven los departamentos encargados de la CI. Todo ello se analiza profundizando en la posible existencia de similitudes y/o diferencias entre las empresas según las características estructurales de los departamentos y empresas, y también a partir del grado de efectividad autopercibida por los profesionales participantes. Para ello se realiza un estudio cuantitativo sobre una muestra de 118 responsables de CI agrupados en la Asociación de Directivos de Comunicación (Dircom). Los principales resultados muestran que los departamentos de CI de las empresas en España suelen contar con el apoyo de la alta dirección. Sin embargo, pese a la importancia que le atribuyen a la estrategia, los departamentos invierten la mayor parte de sus recursos en aspectos tácticos y técnicos. Finalmente, también se advierte la falta de integración de la comunicación interna y externa, así como de la escasez de presupuesto destinado a CI.

In addition to being aligned with the organisation's strategy and vision (Apirian & Lepis, 2017), IC must ensure that the opinions of the interested parties (organisation and internal public) are integrated into the strategy. This approach requires dialogue to be maintained on strategic issues so that the organisation can constantly be corrected and aligned with its strategic intention and its environment (Hume & Leonard, 2014).
To be effective, IC must therefore be symmetrical (Grunig, Grunig & Dozier, 2006), but this implies an essential requirement: IC must have the involvement of the organisation's top management (Miquel- Another premise that must be met to be considered strategic is that the professional responsible for IC recognises the strategic function of internal communication and knows what role it should play in this regard (Volk,  Delving into the competencies that the professional responsible for IC must have, evaluation skills have become one of the main challenges to be overcome (Miquel-Segarra & Aced-Toledano, 2019b; ASCAI & FEIEA, 2018; VMAGroup, 2018; Zerfass Verhoeven , Moreno, Tench & Verčič, 2018; IC Kollectif, 2017), as the assessment and measurement stage is an inherent part of the strategy, allowing the effectiveness of the messages, the media it uses and, above all, the contributions carried out to achieve the strategic objectives of the company (Zerfass, Verčič & Volk, 2017) to be gauged. However, very few companies evaluate IC results, and even fewer do so in accordance with strategic business objectives ( Finally, the content of the IC must also focus on the strategic goal of the organisation. The purpose of internal communication processes should not be limited to the flow of information, they should also include improving its comprehension (Men & Stacks, 2014;Men, 2014;Ruck & Welch, 2012). Thus, communication should provide relevant information, but also opportunities to speak, become involved, be heard, and actively participate. IC must therefore use adequate tools so that communication flows in both directions (Puebla-Martínez & Farfán, 2018). It is essential to analyse audiences and adapt communications to their communication needs and expectations (Walden, et al., 2017). For this same reason "strategic IC requires a holistic infrastructure that identifies the appropriate communication tools to achieve a strategic alignment with the target audience" (Hume & Leonard, 2014: 10 This research is part of the latest study carried out by Dircom (2018) on IC to provide a snapshot of the situation of internal communication in Spain. It is a descriptive cross-sectional study that aims to assess the implementation of internal communication in organisations and corroborate its strategic and managerial role. Moreover, it is intended to help to understand the impact of digitisation on the tools and channels used in internal communication.
The results that emerge from this study are useful in two ways. On the one hand, in the scientific field, they represent an advance in internal communication research from a strategic and organisational point of view. On the other hand, at a professional level, they allow communication directors and internal communication managers to obtain important contextual information that will allow them to benchmark and identify areas for improvement in carrying out their duties, so they can create strategic departments within the organisation.

Objectives
The purpose of this research is to get to know the most relevant strategic keys posed by Spanish companies in their internal communication plans. To do this, it delves into four aspects that focus the orientation of the research questions: The following questions are also posed to complement the research questions.
-Are there similarities or differences depending on the types of company? -Are there similarities or differences based on the structural characteristics of the departments that manage internal communication?
-Are there similarities or differences depending on the degree of self-perceived effectiveness?

Process
Based on the research carried out by Nelli (2018), and taking as a reference the survey used for the fieldwork, an instrument was developed based on 37 questions, and structured in five blocks (positioning of the IC team; strategies, objectives and activities; evaluation processes; business context; priorities, problems and challenges they face).
The type of sampling of the study was non-probabilistic by self-selection (Couper, 2000). The link of the online questionnaire was sent via e-mail to the members of Dircom (1,022) for them to be completed by the professionals who have responsibilities in the management of the IC of their company. It was sent out in two waves and the data collection took place between 22 February, 2018 and March 22 of the same year. The time required for completion was around 25 minutes.

Participants
The sample is made up of 118 professionals responsible for IC management in their companies; 60.2% of them were women and 39.8% men. Regarding age, the majority (68.7%) are between 41 and 50, followed by 17% who are between 31 and 40 years old. Those over 60 represent 5.9% and those under 30, 5.9%.

Variables
Of the 37 questions contained in the questionnaire filled out by the participants in this research, the following were considered: a) Firstly, as dependent variables: • Business context. This includes the evaluation the participants have made on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (1 = totally disagree to 5 = totally agree) to the item "To what extent do you agree with the following statements about your company?" in which 12 statements about the company environment were presented. • Objectives of the IC. It includes the evaluation that the participants have made on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (1 = low to 5 = high) to the item "In your company, what level of involvement does IC have with the following objectives?" in which 17 possible objectives of the company's IC are proposed. • Key strategic elements and/or focal points of the IC. Collect the responses of the participants to the item "Which of the following words best represents the IC initiatives in your company?", in which they were presented with 16 terms and the participants had to indicate a maximum of five of them. • IC tools. On the one hand, it includes the evaluation that the participants have carried out on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (1 = not important to 5 = very important) to the item "How important are these tools to achieving your IC objectives?" in which 12 tools available to the company were presented. On the other hand, the participants were also asked to answer "Which of the following definitions best describes your current use of your company's internal communication tools?", in which they had to choose one of the four levels of implementation of the IC tools.
b) Secondly, as independent variables: • The structural characteristics of the companies. The following have been considered: the territorial establishment of the company (Spanish or multinational) and its size (microenterprise/small, medium and large).
• The structural characteristics of IC departments. The following has been considered: the existence of a specific IC department (yes/no), whether the IC department relies on external consultants (yes/no). • The self-perceived effectiveness of IC teams. This criterion has been defined from the item "How effective is your internal communication strategy in helping you achieve your business objectives?" which was evaluated in the questionnaire with a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (1 = not effective at all to 5 = Very effective). With the results, the participants' companies have been classified into two groups according to their level of self-perceived effectiveness: companies with highly effective IC teams (with values of 4 or 5) and companies with medium-low effectiveness IC teams (with values from 1 to 3). According to this criterion, 50% of the participants' companies are highly effective and the other 50% show medium-low effectiveness.

Data analysis
Firstly, to answer the research questions, a descriptive analysis of the characteristics of the companies and their business context has been carried out, together with the objectives, the key strategic elements and the tools used by the IC teams in the companies analysed.
Subsequently, and in order to delve deeper into the results, the data obtained has been worked on based on the structural characteristics and the effectiveness perceived by the teams. To study the differences between companies and departments depending on their structural characteristics in a cross-disciplinary way: the Student's t-test has been applied for independent samples, one-way ANOVAs or the chi-square test to the study variables depending on the type of measurement of the variable and the number of comparison groups. To analyse whether there are differences between the companies' IC teams depending on their level of effectiveness, the Student's t-test has been applied for independent samples and the chi-square test depending on the type of measurement of the variable.
The established significance value is <.05.
The data analysis was carried out with the SPSS statistical package, version 21.0.

Characteristics and business context of IC departments
The data reveal that 85.6% of the participating companies have a specific person or department dedicated to IC. In 62.7% of the companies, IC management is centralised (the central IC team defines corporate strategies and content and the local teams adapt them), in 25.4% coordinated (the central team acts as a reference for the local teams) and 11.9% decentralised (each local team has its own IC director who defines strategy and content).
Regarding membership of IC teams, 35.6% of the companies have one person, 42.4% have two to three and 22% have four or more. On the other hand, it is observed that in 39.0% of the cases the IC department is supported by external agencies and consultancy firms. It is also important to mention that 58.5% of the companies in the sample allocate their own budget to IC to manage its operation.
In 74.4% of cases, the determination of IC objectives in companies is a function assigned to a specific department and in 25.6% it is established between several of them. The department to which this duty is assigned is mostly, in 55.1% of cases, the corporate communication department. In 35.6% of the cases, the objectives are set by the general management and in 22.0% they depend on human resources. Specifically, 18.6% of the objectives are set by the internal communication departments, and only 6.8% of the objectives are set by the marketing department.
When analysing the business context in which the companies find themselves, the respondents show greater agreement and coincidence in affirming that IC is an important aspect in their companies. Despite this, the professionals believe that not enough is invested in this department (Table 1).
On the other hand, although the participants in the research agree that internal and external communication are perfectly integrated, this is the aspect where the responses are most widely dispersed (SD=1.28). In terms of self-perceived effectiveness, the assessment of the business context is higher in all aspects evaluated in companies with high IC departmental effectiveness (Table 2). **High effectiveness: companies whose assessment of the effectiveness of their IC strategy is between 4 and 5. Medium-low effectiveness: companies whose assessment of the effectiveness of their IC strategy is between 1 and 3.

Identifying the IC objectives that organisations set for themselves
The objectives most frequently addressed by IC departments are those related to the dissemination of company idiosyncrasies and employee involvement. The objectives with the lowest priority are the economic ones ( Figure 1).

Source: Own creation
Considering the structural characteristics of analysis, statistically significant differences have been detected depending on the territorial scope in which the company operates. Thus, multinational companies are more involved in "Promoting and disseminating company culture" (4.52 vs. We also found statistically significant differences by firm size: small firms are more involved in increasing customer satisfaction (3.77 vs. 2.94; p = .032) and sales (3.77 vs. 2.59; p = .032).
On the other hand, companies that work with external agencies are more involved than those that fully manage their IC in "Promoting and disseminating company culture" (4.50 vs. Companies with a specific IC person or department are more involved in the objectives of "Promoting and disseminating company culture" (4.43 vs.  The results in terms of self-perceived effectiveness indicate that IC departments that are more effective are more involved in all company objectives (Table 3). **High effectiveness: companies whose assessment of the effectiveness of their IC strategy is between 4 and 5. Medium-low effectiveness: companies whose assessment of the effectiveness of their IC strategy is between 1 and 3.

Key strategic elements on which the IC is focusing
In order to extract the values and concepts around which IC strategies are built, survey participants were asked to identify, from a list of 16 words, those (maximum five) that best represent the key strategic elements of the IC initiatives being developed in their companies. Of the terms proposed, 66.1% identified with five of them: "ownership", "information", "commitment", "motivation" and "credibility". On the other hand, the words with which they least identified the IC actions carried out in their companies are "integration", "authenticity", "technology" and "understanding" (Figure 2). On the other hand, companies working with external agencies were found to identify more with the word "Change" (43.5% vs. 18.1%) (χ2 (1, N = 118) = 9.005; p = .003; Phi = .276).
There is no difference in companies' identification with the terms depending on whether or not there is an IC department.

Most commonly used tools in IC
It can be seen that the teams mainly use e-mail and ICT tools (corporate intranet, internal social networks, etc.) as the main tools to achieve their internal communication objectives. However, the data indicate that they also use other traditional tools, with face-to-face events featuring prominently (Figure 3).

Source: Own creation
The integration of tools in companies as IC channels is being consolidated in most of them, although there are still some organisations that do not have any channels in place and do not plan to set them up ( Figure 4).

Source: Own creation
Based on structural characteristics, the data reveal that domestic firms use apps more for projects (2. On the other hand, the data indicate that large companies use the corporate intranet more (4.01 vs. 3.14; p = .003) and small companies use group project applications more (3.00 vs. 2.11; p = .006) and messaging tools (3.59 vs. 2.24; p < .001). Furthermore, in companies that have communication channels, differences were detected in the existence and use of these channels. While 63.2% of small companies have and use them and 82.3% of large companies have and use them, 70% of medium-sized companies have some channels and make little use of them (χ2 (2, N = 108) = 14.063; p = .001; VCramer = .361).
Looking at the structural characteristics of the department, it is observed that companies with an IC department make more use of online events (2.72 vs. As shown in table 4, in companies with high effectiveness, more importance is given to the tools available to achieve their goals (except for applications for group projects and instant messaging tools). It has also been detected in companies that have communication channels that when IC departments show high effectiveness it is more frequent to have more channels and employees make use of them (86% vs. 60.8%) (χ2 (1, N = 108) = 8.887; p = .003; Phi= -.287).  5.199 .000* *p < .05High **effectiveness: companies whose assessment of the effectiveness of their IC strategy is between 4 and 5. Medium-low effectiveness: companies whose assessment of the effectiveness of their IC strategy is between 1 and 3.

Discussion
This research corroborates the importance that companies attribute to internal communication (Adecec, 2019; Dircom, 2018; ASCAI & FEIEA, 2018), which they consider to be an important aspect for them. However, despite these figures, the study provides inconsistent results between these perceptions and the actions carried out by companies. The professionals participating in the survey consider the role of IC to be very important in their companies, although they believe that they do not invest enough (M= 2.41; SD= 1.13) and that internal and external communication are not always integrated (M= 3.81; SD= 1.28). On the other hand, the data also confirms that, despite being considered a priority, IC departments are very small and only 61% of the companies surveyed draw up a specific strategic plan for managing IC. Furthermore, it is more common for multinationals, larger companies, those that rely on external consultants and those that have a specific budget for this activity to have an IC strategic plan. The results also reveal that the main objectives that Spanish companies set for themselves in their IC plans are to transmit the company's idiosyncrasies and to encourage employee engagement. The main objectives do not include those directly aligned with business strategy, as European companies' IC plans do, with objectives including "promoting and sharing the company's culture and identity and communicating business strategy, objectives and performance" (ASCAI & FEIEA, 2018). Similar results are found in the case of the multinational companies analysed, in those that rely on consultancies and in those that have their own IC department. Nor is there a very high level of involvement of IC departments in collaborating in the digitisation of companies. In line with their objectives, the IC managers in this study mainly identify their key strategic elements with the terms "ownership", "information", "commitment", "motivation" and "credibility". The use of terms such as "technology" and "understanding" are the least used.
Another contribution of the study refers to the tools used by IC departments to achieve their objectives. As in the research carried out by Sánchez-Gómez (2016), the most frequently used tool is e-mail, considered to be a tool that, despite its two-way possibilities, is often used as a one-way channel that does not favour dialogue, thus failing to comply with the first condition of effective IC (Grunig, 1992;Grunig, et al., 2002). They also use ICT tools (corporate intranet, internal social networks, etc.) alongside traditional means such as face-to-face events. It should be noted that it is common for companies to have their own internal communication channels in place, but this is particularly true of the multinationals and large companies analysed.
Finally, it is observed that the departments that perceive themselves as more effective have a better assessment of all aspects of their business context and are more involved in all the company's objectives. Furthermore, it is more frequent for the most effective companies in the sample to have an IC department that defines its objectives together with the corporate communication department or general management, and to have defined a strategic plan for IC.
The main limitation of this study lies in the quantitative nature of the results, as they do not allow us to analyse the motivations or the specific context that led to strategic decisions. Therefore, for future research, it would be interesting to consider a qualitative analysis based on interviews or focus groups that would allow us to understand in greater detail aspects such as the linkage and alignment of IC objectives with corporate objectives, the justification for the choice of selected channels, the relationship of the departments with external consultants and agencies, or the main shortcomings detected by the professionals who work in the IC environment. On the other hand, in order to have a global and representative approximation of the situation in Spain, it would be advisable to extend the study to a broader sample that reflects the real situation of the business fabric and not limit the study to companies belonging to Dircom and/or which have a communication department.
Finally, it should be noted that this research was conducted before the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis. This health pandemic has had an impact on society at all levels, and has marked a before and after for internal communication (Costa-Sánchez & López-García, 2020). However, knowing the results of this pre-pandemic study is also important because it opens the door to making comparisons with the practice and approach of internal communication in a post-COVID context, in order to analyse its development from a strategic point of view.

Conclusions
The main conclusions provided by this research revolve around the differences between the professional positioning attributed to internal communication and the reality in companies. Despite the fact that the scientific literature and professional reports consider internal communication as a strategic element, globally, the Spanish companies taking part in the research do not always make strategic use of it.
At the Spanish companies analysed, internal and external communication are not integrated synergistically into strategic planning, and greater resources are devoted to communication with external stakeholders. Likewise, the internal communication departments and staff responsible for this area tend to prioritise tactical tasks. Curiously, the companies in the sample working with external consultants are those considering strategic planning to be most important and devoting the greatest efforts to it. This data shows the lack of personal resources at the organisations that have taken part in the study, at the same time as valuing the work carried out by the consultancy firms at a strategic level.
Furthermore, despite the importance and support that the surveyed professionals acknowledge having from senior management when setting objectives, the budgets and resources assigned to IC are insufficient and show a lack of real commitment from the organisations.
Another conclusion refers to the tools used by companies. Although it is true that there is evidence that digitisation has promoted the use of ICT tools, the organisations in the sample do not consider their use as a priority and continue to mostly use others (mail, brochures and events) are not characterised by the possibility of promoting dialogue and interaction. This data reveals the absence of objectives linked to active listening and the generation of dialogue between the members of the organisation.
Finally, it should be noted that there is a clear difference between the results obtained from the Spanish companies and the multinationals that have been part of the sample. The latter are self-assessed as more efficient and both their objectives and the tools or the context in which they are developed are clearly different. Spanish and/or smaller companies in the sample -representing a high percentage of companies in the business sector in Spain -prioritise the need to satisfy the customer. Likewise, they show a lack of integration of internal and external communication and are aware of the low budget assigned to IC.

Contributions Author
Research