Happeo Unmuted, Episode 12: Metrics, Human Champions, and Decentralized Comms
Welcome to Happeo Unmuted, the podcast where we go beyond best practices to explore what really connects people at work. In this episode, Jesse Bourgeault-Trickey sits down with Janna Stam to unpack the realities of measuring internal comms, the emotional weight of the role, and why communication is far more than a “soft skill.”
Top 5 takeaways from Janna Stam on Happeo Unmuted:
1. There’s no universal metric for internal comms success
Internal communications remains a “black box” when it comes to measurement. There’s no industry-wide gold standard, only internal benchmarking. Whether it’s open rates, click-throughs, or engagement signals, progress is measured against your own historical data. Even a 2–5% lift can be meaningful. The real key is setting intentional goals and tracking movement over time, rather than chasing a mythical silver bullet metric.
2. “Can you send an email?” is the biggest misunderstanding of comms
The most common request Janna hears is: “I need an email to go out.” But internal comms is far more than message distribution. It’s governance, psychology, stakeholder alignment, and cultural translation. It’s about understanding influence networks, building trust with business partners, and identifying human champions who can make a message resonate in ways a single executive email never could.
3. Communication is infrastructure, not a soft skill
One of Janna’s boldest takes: communication is organizational infrastructure. It’s the framework that creates coherence between strategy, culture, and day-to-day work. When business objectives are clearly translated into department, team, and individual goals, employees feel part of something bigger. Without that connective tissue, organizations struggle with alignment.
4. AI is powerful, but human judgment is the differentiator
Janna sees AI as a creative and analytical accelerator, not a final decision-maker. Yes, it hallucinates. Yes, it can sound overly confident. But that’s precisely why the “human in the loop” matters. Tone, empathy, contextual awareness, and ethical judgment remain uniquely human strengths. AI can brainstorm, summarize, and spot patterns, but it can’t sense emotional risk or navigate cultural nuance on its own.
5. The emotional labor of comms is real (and rarely discussed)
Internal communicators sit between executive urgency and employee uncertainty. They absorb ambiguity, misalignment, and pressure, while projecting calm and clarity. As Janna puts it, it’s like a duck gliding smoothly on the surface while paddling frantically underneath. The role requires resilience, emotional intelligence, and the ability to translate complexity into meaning, often without recognition of the toll it takes.
Throughout the conversation, Jesse and Janna return to one core idea: tools, platforms, and AI matter, but people matter more. Whether it’s leveraging champions on platforms, personalizing “comms packs” across regions, or repeating foundational messages until they stick, sustainable communication is built on human trust and accountability.
If you’re an internal comms, digital workplace, or knowledge management expert and have something to share, we’d love to hear from you! Get in touch.
