‘The Inside Story’ is a comprehensive study of trust and internal communications in the Irish workplace and was published to coincide with the launch of ‘Inside’ the new, Internal Communications specialist team within PSG Plus, one of Ireland’s leading Corporate Communications and Reputation Management agencies, and part of the PSG Communications Group. The research was conducted by leading market research company Ignite and involved a nationally representative sample of Ireland’s workforce looking at the area of internal communication. The research underpinning ‘The Inside Story’ will be repeated each year to build a data set that can be used to help businesses identify key performance issues and gain competitive advantage through employee engagement.

1. The Inside Story
A new report on trust and communications in the Irish workplace.

2. About ‘The Inside Story’
The war for talent continues to rage as Ireland finally emerges from the worst recession in recent
memory. Yet employers continue to squander the most precious asset in their organisation – the trust of
their employees. This is the key finding from our inaugural ‘The Inside Story’ report. The report is based
on a nationally representative sample of the working population and weighted to reflect the business
landscape in terms of sector and scale of employer.
Whether in banking, food production, retail, professional services, or any other sector, the key to
sustainable competitive advantage rests in having an engaged workforce who are empowered to do their
best. Thinking about communications ‘inside the box’ will inevitably lead to success ‘outside the box’.
A shining light emerging from our research is the success of Ireland’s SME community. Across the board
the SME community outperforms larger companies with regard to trust in the workplace, sharing of
information and positive endorsements from employees about the organisation for which they work.
The solution to the problems unearthed in the research will sound easy. Like all great strategies, the
implementation is tough. Central to success is a consistent, clear and cohesive internal communication
strategy that shares simple, actionable and meaningful communication that will bring about measureable
change and quantifiable success.

3. The foundation of all relationships, be they in business or
our personal lives, is trust.
Trust is often cited as the single most important
ingredient for success but it appears to be getting lip
service in many workplaces.
When the trust gap is high, at best, it breeds employee
disinterest and disengagement. And, at worst, it can lead
to serious industrial relations and productivity issues.
The most effective tool for business managers to use when
building trust is regular, consistent communication and a
genuine focus on developing their employees to reach
their full potential.
I trust my employer to keep
me informed of change
Just 20% of employees fully trust that their employer keeps
them informed about changes in the company and how it will
affect their job.
Appendix – research base
72% Private sector participants / 28% public sector
Totally Agree
20%
Somewhat Agree
31%
Neither
Agree/Disagree
27%
Somewhat
Disagree
12%
Totally Disagree
10%

4. Communication is a key pillar of trust.
If one in three employees claim to hear company news
from the ‘grapevine’ and not official channels or sources,
it can breed a culture of mistrust and an appearance that
the employee population is not truly valued.
Simple communication failures can result in internal
unrest. The most successful companies remember that
employees are the foundation for sustainable success.
Organisations where employee engagement is high
typically generate higher productivity, have lower
absenteeism and fewer workplace accidents.
I get most of my information from
the grapevine NOT official sources
1/3 of employees hear important company news from the ‘grapevine’ first
and not directly from the company.
Appendix – research base
72% Private sector participants / 28% public sector
Totally Agree
12%
Somewhat Agree
22%
Neither
Agree/Disagree
31%
Somewhat Disagree
20%
Totally Disagree
15%

5. Opening up lines of communication at all levels of an
organisation helps to empower employees and encourage
engagement in their work.
Employees who feel empowered to contribute or critique,
irrespective of their job title, help to build a culture of
equality, responsibility, innovation and success in the
workplace.
Direct communication between a manager and their
frontline team is the most effective force in bringing about
change.
There is easy, open, trusted, two-way
communications at all company levels
More than half of participants do not believe there is easy, open and
trusted two-way communication at all levels of the company in which they
work.
Appendix – research base
72% Private sector participants / 28% public sector
Totally Agree
19%
Somewhat Agree
27%
Neither
Agree/Disagree
33%
Somewhat
Disagree
11%
Totally Disagree
10%

6. Totally Agree
23%
Somewhat Agree
29%
Neither
Agree/Disagree
33%
Somewhat
Disagree
10%
Totally Disagree
5%
In simple terms, if three quarters of your team do not
know where the goal is, then what chance is there for
winning?
Communication tasks like role reinforcement,
contextualising activities within business successes and
sharing both the good news and the bad can eradicate any
doubt among employees about their role and their overall
importance.
The communication model should be based on the
principles of being Simple, Actionable and Meaningful to
achieve cut-through.
Appendix – research base
72% Private sector participants / 28% public sector
Understanding the business
objectives and my role
Only 23% of employees fully agree that everyone understands the company
business objectives and their individual role in achieving them.

7. ‘The Inside Story’ – Topline Recommendations
The best business leaders know that their organisation’s greatest asset is their people, but ‘The Inside Story’ shows that a
majority of employees in Ireland believe they are in workplaces that suffer from poor trust and poor communication. This
results in very low levels of positive endorsement from employees and poor levels of engagement.
Workplaces with poor engagement levels, or worse active disengagement, typically deliver poorer business performance
when compared to companies with positive engagement and high levels of trust. Disengagement can have a direct cost to
business that can range from the thousands to the millions depending on the scale of your organisation.
Fixing the problem with simple, actionable and meaningful communications will have a measureable impact on your
workplace environment, and your bottom line. ‘Inside’ is a bespoke new service from PSG Plus, part of Ireland’s leading
communications group, PSG. The service from ‘Inside’ focuses on helping clients improve their internal communications to
drive behavioural and organisational change. Drawing on expertise from our international affiliate Ketchum and local
expertise in PSG we create bespoke communication strategies to support your business objectives.
For more details on the results for various company sizes, public and private sector, and male and female workers, among
other elements, ‘The Inside Story’ can be viewed with more insights by contacting info@psgcomms.ie.
The Inside Story brings you fresh research and insight from the Irish workplace. We hope you find it useful.

8. For help with your
‘Inside Story’
Contact the team at PSG Plus on:
E: info@psgcomms.ie
Tel. 01 661 4055
T: psg_plus