“The goal of internal communications is changing employee behavior”
- trinimaturana
- The Voices in English, Voces de la Industria
Índice
Kateryna Byelova’s vision on how internal comms must go beyond information to truly transform attitudes, perceptions and results
Kateryna Byelova has led internal communication roles across Europe and North America, and today she helps organizations in the Gulf build the function from scratch. Through her consulting practice at Sage XP, she designs end-to-end systems that move internal comms away from being reactive or purely informative, and toward becoming a strategic capability that drives organizational behavior change.
“The idea of internal comms is not just to inform employees about something. The idea of internal comms is changing employees’ behavior.”
This is how she defines the real purpose of the function: it’s not enough to inform. What matters is influencing, with intention, strategy and consistency, the decisions, conversations and everyday actions of people inside the company.
From tactical to transformational, a needed mindset shift
Kateryna has worked in complex multicultural environments and large corporations. And yet, she’s direct about it: internal comms is still underestimated.
“Yes, the awareness of the function is growing up. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean that they all understand the power of internal comms.”
It’s not visibility that’s missing, it’s strategic credibility. Knowing the function exists is not the same as recognizing it can shape perception, align cultures and influence business results. And to do that, it needs to be at the table early.
“The earlier we are in, the better we can help. Because we shape perception and attitude, and that influences behavior.”
Building systems, not just campaigns
One of the key lessons she learned from the corporate world was how hard it is to find providers that go beyond isolated campaigns. That’s why she founded her consultancy: to offer robust systems that integrate tools, processes, capabilities and metrics in a consistent architecture.
“I want to build a company that can build an effective system, communication and corporate culture system, that will deliver results for a long time.”
She doesn’t believe in short-term fixes. Her approach is grounded in sustainable design, full internal comms functions that connect with business strategy and live beyond campaigns or leadership cycles.
Measuring what matters, and starting with purpose
While many internal comms teams still report views or likes as key metrics, Kateryna proposes a purpose-driven approach. It starts with a simple question:
“If you know your goal, you know how to measure it.”
She outlines four levels of measurement:
- Communication and reach: open rates, event attendance, click-throughs
- Perception and understanding: quick pulse surveys or pre-post questions
- Behavior change: observing actions taken before and after a comms intervention
- Strategic impact: linking efforts to metrics like NPS, attrition or sales
“If we want to influence how our employees sell something, we measure how often they suggest the product before and after the campaign. That’s impact.”
AI as an ally, never a replacement
Kateryna has witnessed the digital evolution of the field first-hand. She remembers scanning news articles manually, tasks that now take seconds. So it’s no surprise that she fully embraces new tools:
“Of course I’m in the team with AI. It can help us target our communication, write better, be more productive.”
Still, she’s clear that judgment remains human. AI can support productivity and scale, but it can’t replace cultural sensitivity or ethical responsibility.
“AI is a tool. We are responsible for everything, for what we provide to our employees, what kind of information and how.”
A message for the next generation
For those entering the field, Kateryna encourages a more strategic mindset from the start:
“They need to treat the function as a measurable function, which influences results and behavior, not just a function that informs employees.”
She also highlights adaptability as a key capability to face technological, cultural and organizational shifts in the years ahead.
Final thoughts
The conversation with Kateryna Byelova is a masterclass on reclaiming strategic depth in internal communications. With a pragmatic, global lens, she reminds us that the goal isn’t to inform, it’s to transform.
And to get there, we need less tactical urgency and more system design. Fewer likes, more impact. Less doing, more changing.