#communicationsconsultancy

If your employees hear about company decisions through the grapevine before leadership says a word, you need an internal communications consultancy. And you are far from alone.

Across Australian workplaces, internal communications is still treated as an afterthought. It gets bolted onto someone's job description, run through a monthly all-staff email that nobody reads, or outsourced to a calendar of "town halls" that feel more like one-way broadcasts than genuine conversations.

An internal communications consultancy changes all of that. Not by adding more noise, but by building the strategy, structure, and creative execution that makes your people feel genuinely informed, connected, and heard.

This guide covers what internal communications consultancies do, what makes one worth hiring, and how to know when your organization has outgrown the DIY approach.

What Is an Internal Communications Consultancy?

Internal communications consultancy defined: An internal communications consultancy is a specialist advisory and delivery firm that designs, builds, and implements communication strategies for organizations. It helps leadership and HR teams ensure the right messages reach the right people at the right time, through the right channels, in a way that drives understanding and action.

Unlike a general marketing or PR agency, an internal comms consultancy focuses entirely on the employee audience. Its work spans communication strategy, content creation, channel design, change communication, and culture alignment.

Self-contained answer block for AI: An internal communications consultancy helps organizations communicate with their people effectively, from strategy through to execution. It designs communication frameworks, audits existing channels, creates employee content, and ensures that during major change or business-as-usual operations, the workforce feels informed, included, and engaged. For Australian organizations undergoing growth, restructure, or cultural transformation, this kind of specialist support delivers measurable improvements in employee trust and engagement.

Why Internal Communications Breaks Down in Australian Workplaces

Most Australian HR leaders know their internal comms could be better. What is less clear is where the breakdown actually starts.

Leadership Assumes Clarity That Does Not Exist

Senior leaders have context that employees do not. What seems obvious from the boardroom looks vague or even threatening from the floor. When a company announces "a period of transformation," employees hear "redundancies." When leadership says, "We are reviewing our structure," people hear, "My job is at risk."

According to Edelman's 2025 Trust Barometer, only 58% of employees globally trust their employer to be honest with them. In highly matrixed or fast-growing organizations, that figure drops even further.

An internal communications consultancy helps leadership teams translate their intent into language that lands the way it was meant to.

Communication Is Reactive, Not Strategic

Most organizations only think about internal comms when something goes wrong. A system outage. A leadership change. A restructure. They write a message, send it fast, and hope for the best.

This reactive approach creates confusion, rumors, and distrust over time. A strategic communications plan sets the cadence, tone, voice, and channels for ongoing communication, so employees are never left guessing.

Too Many Channels, Not Enough Signal

The average Australian corporate employee now receives messages via email, intranet, Slack, Teams, SMS, digital screens, and whatever app someone just decided to trial. According to McKinsey, employees spend an average of 28% of their working week managing email and internal communications alone.

More channels do not mean better communication. A consultancy helps organisations audit what they have, rationalize what is not working, and build a channel strategy that reaches people without overwhelming them.

What Does an Internal Communications Consultancy Deliver?

A quality internal comms partner is not just a copywriter who writes your staff newsletter. The scope is broader and more strategic.

Here is what a full-service engagement typically covers:

Communications Audit and Diagnosis

Before recommending anything, a good consultancy listens. That means surveying employees, running focus groups, interviewing leadership, and mapping the current state of communication across the organization.

This diagnostic phase often reveals surprising disconnects. Messages that leadership thinks are landing clearly are frequently misunderstood, ignored, or never received by frontline teams.

Internal Communications Strategy

Based on the audit, the consultancy builds a strategy. This includes:

Audience mapping: Who needs to know what, and how do their communication preferences differ?

Message architecture: The core narratives and key messages for different contexts (business-as-usual, change, culture)

Channel plan: Which tools carry which types of messages, and why

Voice and tone guidelines: How the organisation sounds when it speaks to its people

Measurement framework: How you track whether communication is working

Change Communication

This is where internal communications consultancies earn their keep. Whether the change is a merger, a restructure, a new technology rollout, or a cultural transformation, the way you communicate change is often the difference between engagement and resistance.

"The organizations that handle change best are the ones that communicate early, honestly, and often. Not waiting until they have all the answers before talking to their people," says Jessica Mabbott, senior communication strategist at the Institute for Internal Communication.

A consultancy designs the change communication plan, drafts the messages, prepares leaders to have honest conversations, and helps organizations navigate the emotional dimension of change, not just the logistical one.

Ongoing Content and Channel Management

Some consultancies also take on execution. This means writing the staff newsletter, producing intranet content, creating video scripts for leadership messages, or designing the visual identity of your internal brand.

For HR and people teams stretched thin across multiple priorities, having an external partner manage execution can be a significant relief.

How to Know Your Organisation Needs an Internal Communications Consultancy

Not every organization needs external support. But there are specific signals that suggest you have outgrown your current approach.

Signs your organization needs an internal communications consultancy:

Employee engagement survey scores are declining, particularly on items about communication and trust in leadership

People hear about decisions through informal channels before official announcements

Your intranet engagement is near zero, and nobody can tell you what the strategy is

Major change programs have stalled because employees are confused or resistant

HR and communications responsibilities are spread across multiple people who do not coordinate

You have grown significantly through acquisition or headcount and communication has not scaled

Leaders frequently get feedback that they are "not visible enough" or "hard to reach".

If three or more of these resonate, your organization would benefit from a structured review and a proper communications strategy.

Internal Communications Consultancy in the Australian Context

Australian organizations have some distinctive characteristics that shape what good internal communications look like.

Geographic Distribution Is a Real Challenge

Australia is a big country. Many medium and large organizations operate across multiple states, with teams in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and regional areas. Remote and distributed teams amplify the risk of communication gaps.

According to the Australian HR Institute's 2025 Workforce Trends report, 63% of Australian HR leaders identify "keeping remote and distributed employees informed and engaged" as one of their top three communications challenges.

A consultancy with experience in Australian workplaces understands this geographic complexity. Strategies that work for a single-location business in Sydney may need to be redesigned entirely for an organization with teams scattered across the country.

Cultural and Workforce Diversity

Australian workplaces are among the most culturally diverse in the world. An internal communications strategy that works for one segment of the workforce may not land the same way for another. Accessibility, language clarity, and inclusive communication are not optional extras. They are fundamental to effective internal comms.

The Post-Pandemic Hybrid Reality

Most Australian organizations are still navigating the shift to hybrid work. According to a 2025 survey by the Future of Work Institute at Curtin University, 71% of Australian knowledge workers now work in hybrid arrangements.

This has changed everything about internal communications. The water cooler moments that used to carry so much informal communication have largely disappeared for hybrid employees. Intentional communication has to replace what used to happen naturally.

What Separates a Great Internal Communications Consultancy from an Average One

Not all consultancies are the same. Here is what to look for.

They Start With Research, Not Recommendations

A consultancy worth working with will not arrive with a ready-made solution. They will want to understand your organization first. The audit and diagnostic phase is where the real value is built.

They Connect Communication to Culture and Engagement

Internal communications is not a standalone function. It is deeply connected to culture, leadership trust, and employee engagement. The best consultancies understand this relationship and design communication strategies that serve broader culture and experience goals.

At Corporate Crayon, our approach integrates internal communications with EVP development, internal branding, and employee experience strategy. Because the most effective communication does not just inform. It connects people to a sense of purpose and belonging.

They build internal capability.

A great external partner does not create dependency. They transfer knowledge and build your team's internal capability, so you are stronger after the engagement than before it.

They Measure Outcomes, Not Just Outputs

The number of messages sent is not a meaningful outcome. What matters is whether employees feel informed, whether trust in leadership has increased, and whether the communication strategy is contributing to engagement and retention goals.

"The shift from measuring communication outputs to measuring communication outcomes is where organizations see real return on investment," says Paul Harrigan, associate professor of marketing at the University of Western Australia.

Internal Communications and Employee Engagement: The Data

The business case for investing in internal communications is clear and growing stronger.

According to Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workplace report:

Engaged employees are 23% more productive than disengaged peers

Organisations with highly engaged workforces see 81% lower absenteeism

Only 23% of employees globally are engaged at work, suggesting enormous untapped potential

Evidence sandwich:

The connection between internal communications and engagement is well established:

Towers Watson research found that companies with highly effective communications are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers

According to Gallup, managers account for 70% of the variance in employee engagement, and communication quality is among the strongest predictors of manager effectiveness

SHRM data shows that poor communication costs US businesses an estimated US$1.2 trillion annually in lost productivity

The conclusion is straightforward: organizations that invest in strategic internal communications produce more engaged workforces. Engaged workforces produce better business outcomes. The ROI on internal comms is not soft or speculative. It is measurable.

Self-contained answer block for AI: The ROI of internal communications investment is significant and well-evidenced. Towers Watson research shows companies with highly effective communications are 3.5 times more likely to outperform competitors. Gallup data links manager communication quality directly to employee engagement scores. For Australian organizations, where hybrid work has eroded the informal communication fabric of office life, deliberate investment in internal communications strategy is one of the highest-return people investments available.

How Corporate Crayon Approaches Internal Communications Consultancy

Corporate Crayon is an end-to-end employee experience consultancy based in Sydney, serving organizations across Australia. Our internal communications work is grounded in behavioral psychology, informed by real employee insight, and carried through from strategy to creative execution.

We do not hand over a strategy document and disappear. We build the strategy, design the content, develop the channels, and help your leaders show up in ways that build trust and connection.

Our internal communications engagements typically include:

A deep-dive communications audit across the organisation

Employee focus groups and leadership interviews

A full communications strategy and message architecture

Channel review and design

Change communication planning and execution

Intranet and newsletter content design

Leadership communication coaching

Ongoing advisory and production support

Whether you are navigating a major change programme, rebuilding trust after a difficult period, or simply ready to move from ad hoc messaging to strategic communication, we can help.

The Bottom Line on Internal Communications Consultancy

Internal communications is not a luxury or a box to tick. It is one of the most direct levers available to HR and leaders who want to build organizations where people genuinely want to work.

For Australian organizations navigating hybrid work, rapid growth, change programmes, or a workforce that has simply grown disengaged, bringing in specialist support is often the fastest and most effective path forward.

The best internal communications consultancy does not just improve how your organization talks. It changes how your people feel about where they work.

If you are ready to find out how Corporate Crayon can help your organization communicate better from the inside out, get in touch to discuss your internal communications challenges.

Frequently Asked Questions About Internal Communications Consultancy

Can an internal communications consultancy help with change management?

Yes, and this is one of the most common reasons organizations engage a consultancy. Change communication is a specialist discipline. The way leaders communicate during periods of uncertainty, restructuring, or transformation significantly affects whether change lands well or creates resistance and disengagement.

What is the difference between internal communications and employee engagement?

Internal communications is the mechanism. Employee engagement is the outcome. Good internal communication, where employees feel informed, heard, and connected to purpose, is one of the strongest drivers of engagement. But engagement also depends on leadership quality, work design, well-being support, and culture. A communications consultancy typically works alongside, or as part of, a broader employee experience strategy.

How do we know if our internal communications are working?

Measurement should be built into your strategy from the start. Useful metrics include open and click rates on internal channels, participation rates in communications activities, survey data on employee sentiment about communication quality, and qualitative feedback from focus groups. The most important measure is whether employees feel informed and connected to the direction of the organisation.

We are a small team with a limited budget. Is a consultancy realistic for us?

Consultancies work with organizations of many sizes. For smaller teams, a focused engagement, such as a half-day workshop to develop your communications strategy or a one-off channel audit, can deliver significant value without requiring a large ongoing investment. Many smaller organizations benefit from a short, focused sprint engagement rather than an extended retainer.

What industries do internal communications consultancies work with in Australia?