VOICES: From Measuring Communication to Demonstrating Cultural Impact
- trinimaturana
- The Voices in English
Índice
Too often, Internal Comms is still measured in clicks, open rates, or engagement surveys. Easy to report, yes, but weak in showing what truly matters: trust, coherence, and the organization’s ability to mobilize people around a shared purpose.
The problem isn’t measurement. The problem is confusing measurement with impact.
That’s why I created VOICES: a framework designed to help Internal Comms teams transform cold data into strategic narratives that strengthen culture and earn legitimacy at the decision-making table.
The Origin of VOICES
VOICES was born out of a recurring tension: Internal Comms leaders trapped justifying their work with metrics that no one in the boardroom truly considers strategic.
It began as a personal frustration, but one I’ve heard echoed across peers in Latin America and Europe: too much reporting, too little visible impact.
The question always came back the same: “How do we prove that what we do moves culture and purpose, not just clicks?”
VOICES is my answer to that demand. A framework that turns numbers into arguments, data into stories, and reports into living culture.
The Framework Step by Step
V – Value (Identifying Value in the Data)
Guiding question: What decision does this data change?
Differentiate vanity metrics from those that have cultural impact.
Example: what matters is not how many attended a session, but how many dared to ask tough questions.
👉 AI can help uncover these hidden patterns through semantic analysis.
O – Observations (Recognizing Patterns and Context)
Guiding question: What happens if I cross this data with other sources?
Isolated data deceives; context reveals.
Example: low intranet activity, yet vibrant conversations in Teams groups → not disengagement, but migration of channels.
👉 AI can map informal communication networks.
I – Insights (Translating Data into Cultural Learnings)
Guiding question: What am I not seeing behind this number?
Example: it’s not “70% satisfaction,” it’s “people don’t understand how the new structure impacts their daily role.”
👉 Generative AI can summarize surveys and suggest insights, which IC validates and humanizes.
C – Connections (Linking with Purpose and Strategy)
Guiding question: How does this insight connect to our values and goals?
Example: lack of recognition → tied to the value “putting people at the center” → IC designed recognition rituals with leaders.
👉 AI can suggest connections, but only IC ensures cultural authenticity.
E – Emotions (Adding Humanity to the Story)
Guiding question: What emotions are behind this data?
Example: a low sense of belonging masked a fear of losing local identity. The narrative was rebuilt with frontline testimonials and a cultural symbol (#WeAreOne…).
👉 Sentiment analysis can help detect emotions, but they must be confirmed in real human conversations.
S – Stories (Designing Mobilizing Narratives)
Guiding question: How do I tell this data in a way that inspires action?
Example: from insights about local pride emerged the narrative “One company, multiple territories.”
👉 AI can assist in drafting, but always trained with the organizational voice.
VOICES in Action: A Fictional Case
Imagine a global company introducing a new hybrid work policy:
- Value: what matters is not how many download the policy, but how many leaders generate dialogue around it.
- Observations: the toughest questions don’t appear in town halls, but in Teams chat groups.
- Insights: behind concerns about flexible hours lies a fear of losing professional visibility.
- Connections: that fear ties back to the value “growing with confidence.”
- Emotions: the dominant feeling is not rejection, but anxiety.
- Stories: the narrative becomes “Flexibility is not invisibility: it’s trust measured by results.”
That is the power of VOICES: turning scattered data into strategic stories that move culture.
More Than Just an Acronym
What makes VOICES unique is not the sequence of letters, but its promise:
- Turning measurement into meaning.
- Transforming numbers into living culture.
- Allowing IC to speak the language of strategy without losing the human pulse.
In an ecosystem flooded with frameworks, VOICES stands apart because it integrates the human with the technological: data, emotions, purpose, and AI working together.
Conclusion
The future of Internal Comms will not be legitimized by open rates or dashboards. It will be legitimized by its ability to demonstrate cultural impact with evidence.
VOICES is my proposal for that future: a framework that gives voice back to data, connects with what truly matters, and secures IC’s rightful place at the strategic table.
Because at the end of the day, numbers inform, but stories mobilize culture.
The future of Internal Comms won’t belong to those who measure more, but to those who know how to narrate better.
It won’t be in Power BI, it will be in the ability to tell stories with purpose.