Internal Comms Measurement Gap: Action vs. Decision Research
New research reveals a significant gap in internal communications measurement, where employee action is key but rarely linked to business decisions or data. Discover how to bridge the divide.
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MANCHESTER, United Kingdom and NEW YORK, Sept. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New research from Interact and Ragan Communications finds that 62% of communicators say meaningful engagement includes employees taking a desired action, but only 8% connect internal communications data to employee behaviors or actions. The result is a measurement gap that makes it harder for internal communications teams to show what changed after communication and bring that evidence into decisions about investment.
From Engagement to Impact: The New Employee Experience Mandate, based on a survey of up to 188 communications professionals, defines this disconnect as the “action-to-decision gap”: the gap between the employee outcomes internal communications teams want to influence and the outcomes their current data can prove.
The research also finds that just 2% connect communications data to business outcomes such as productivity or retention, while only 6% regularly use IC metrics to support budget, staffing or technology investment decisions.
Why the action-to-decision gap matters
Communicators are clear about what would help make the case for greater investment. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said a clearer connection to business outcomes would make senior leaders more likely to invest in internal communications.
But the measurement systems needed to make that connection are still developing. Only 9% say their organization has a strong measurement system that helps prove business impact. Thirty-six percent mostly report activity metrics such as opens, clicks and pageviews, while another 33% do not consistently use internal communications data at all.
“Open and click rates still have their place, but they can’t tell us whether communication actually changed anything,” said Simon Dance, CEO of Interact. “The next step is connecting what employees saw with what they understood, trusted and did next. That gives communications teams stronger evidence to bring into decisions about investment, change and the employee experience.”
Allison Carter, editorial director, Ragan Communications:
“Communicators know their work matters, but sometimes it takes a little extra work to help leadership see its impacts on retention, morale, change management and more. Levelling up measurement is what will truly help communications move from being order takers into true strategic partners who positively contribute to the bottom line.”
Internal communications enters its “proof era”
The findings do not suggest communicators should stop tracking reach or engagement. Instead, the report argues that those measures become more valuable when teams can connect them with what happened next: whether employees understood the message, trusted the information, took the intended action or contributed to a wider business outcome.
That matters because communicators already recognize action as a meaningful measure of engagement. Employees taking a desired action was the most commonly selected definition of meaningful engagement at 62%, followed by employees feeling connected to the organization at 54% and understanding key messages at 53%.
The report describes internal communications as entering its “proof era,” where teams increasingly need to show not only that messages were created, sent and received, but that communication made a difference.
AI creates another measurement challenge
The same measurement gap is already emerging around AI. Almost half of respondents, 49%, said their organization is using AI but not measuring its impact.
Among the AI outcomes organizations are measuring or planning to measure, the most commonly selected were time saved at 34% and faster content creation at 29%. Employee-facing outcomes included better search or knowledge retrieval at 27% and improved employee self-service at 24%.
The report argues that efficiency metrics tell only part of the story. Communications teams can also look at whether AI helps employees find information more easily, reduces repetitive questions, improves consistency or makes self-service more effective.
How communicators can move from activity to impact
From Engagement to Impact sets out practical ways communicators can strengthen measurement without abandoning the metrics they already use. Recommendations include starting with the business outcome employees need to support, combining behavioral data with employee feedback and sentiment, and reporting what changed after communication took place rather than only what was published or distributed.
The goal is not simply to prove that communication reached employees. It is to understand whether it helped employees understand, trust or act, and give leaders better evidence for deciding what to change, where to invest and when to involve internal communications earlier.
Download From Engagement to Impact: The New Employee Experience Mandate
About the research
Interact and Ragan Communications surveyed up to 188 communications professionals between June 4 and June 30, 2026. Response bases vary by question. Some questions allowed multiple responses and percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
Of respondents who completed demographic questions, 73% worked in internal or corporate communications, 76% were manager level or above and 71% worked in organizations with at least 1,000 employees.
About Interact
Interact powers the world’s best workplaces. Organizations like Levi’s, Domino’s, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Subway trust Interact’s AI-driven, comprehensive employee experience platform to connect, engage, and inform their most important asset: their employees. To learn more, visit www.interactsoftware.com.
About Ragan Communications
Ragan Communications has delivered trusted news, training and intelligence to communicators, HR professionals and business leaders for more than 60 years. Its sites reach 600,000-plus communicators monthly, backed by the Communications Leadership Council, Ragan Training and Communications Week. Visit ragan.com.
Media contact
Emma Johnson
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