The Effectiveness of the Development Academy of the Philippines’ Internal Corporate Communication Strategies: Perception of DAP Employees

Abstract

With the countless predicaments brought about by the information era, today’s organizations are in constant struggle. From the rapid technological advancements to the relentless changes in business styles, the 21st century organizations are challenged to incessantly keep up. Communication is now viewed as a central element in the driving process of the much needed change. This has prompted organizations to re-evaluate their communication strategies and take a second look on how they handle the important pieces of information that come their way. The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) is the national productivity organization that focuses on developmental change. It is a government-owned and controlled corporation that is mandated to assist the country’s development in two ways: as change catalyst and capacity builder. They share innovative ideas to their clients and help people and institutions to carry out their tasks effectively. In order to successfully undertake its main funtion, DAP as an organization should be unified and united in working for this common goal. Since the internal workforce is a crucial element in the paramount functioning of the organization, a coherent, effective and efficient internal corporate communication would work wonders for the company. In that view, the researcher chose to conduct a study on the effectiveness of the Development Academy of the Philippines’ internal corporate communications as perceived by its rank-and-file employees. Employing the systems approach in viewing organizations, this study’s main objective was to assess the over-all effectiveness of the internal corporate communication strategies of the Development Academy of the Philippines as perceived by its rank-and-file employees. As preliminary data, a brief background of DAP’s current internal corporate communication strategies, as well as other important issues, were acquired through an interview with DAP’s Corporate Communications Office (CorCom) Director, Ms. Surie Alip. Assessing DAP’s internal corporate communication strategies was accomplished by measuring the level of satisfaction DAP employees had for the aforesaid strategies. The researcher distributed survey-questionnaires to a sample size of 100 regular rank-and-file employees of DAP. This survey-questionnaire served as employee feedback for DAP. Respondents were determined through purposive convenience sampling. Utilizing a 4-point Likert scale, these respondents were asked to ascertain their level of agreement or disagreement with the statements categorized in accordance with the Asian Institute of Journalism’s criteria and indicators in evaluating communication patterns in an organization. The level of personal satisfaction was also considered. The researcher learned that DAP’s corporate communication objective was to ensure that the organization’s employees, clients and other stakeholders are acquainted with and understand DAP’s directions, policies and programs through an efficient and effective flow of both internal and external communication. This was mainly carried out by the Corporate Communications Office. Internally, DAP utilizes several tools and channels to fulfill their communication objectives such as: DAP website, DAP Intranet site, print materials (brochures, flyers, leaflets, memos) and face-to-face communication (general assemblies, communication alignment meetings, group meetings). They also utilize Bulletin Boards wherein they post important information and current news. DAP is also currently facing some issues affecting their internal corporate communication efforts. Their attempt to provide more corporate communication programs and activities are challenged due to insufficient budgetary allotment. Furthermore, CorCom is currently taking on additional responsibilities such as conference management and other projects focusing on external stakeholders. In effect, this holds implications towards their internal responsibilities. With regard to the survey-questionnaire, the researcher found that there were moderate levels of employee satisfaction on most areas, specifically communication structure, communication load, communication rates and message quality. There was a low level of employee satisfaction on the area of communication channels. On the contrary, the respondents found the area of message quality highly satisfying. Concerning the employees’ personal satisfaction, the findings showed that DAP employees had a moderate level satisfaction for the internal corporate communication strategies in general. Over-all, the results showed that DAP employees were moderately satisfied with the internal corporate communication strategies of the organization. The researcher then concluded that, with the results of this study as evidence and as entailed by the moderate level of employee satisfaction, the internal corporate communication strategies of the Development Academy of the Philippines’ was found to be effective according to its rank-and-file employees. Considering the results and the things learned on the course of this study, the researcher recommends that DAP should continue to enrich and enhance their internal corporate communication strategies, focusing more on the area found to have a low level of satisfaction: communication channels. They should identify which specific channels were found to be ineffective and what channels should be used. The researcher also suggests related topics for future studies: effectiveness of DAP’s corporate communication strategies taking into consideration the DAP offices outside Manila; effectiveness of DAP’s external corporate communication strategies; DAP’s organizational culture in relation with its current corporate communication; effectiveness of a private or non-government organization’s corporate communication strategies; effectiveness of specific corporate communication programs of organizations and; more specific aspects of corporate communications such as corporate image and corporate identity.