Are important corporate policies understood by employees? A tracking study of organizational information

Purpose – This paper aims to present the results of a study into the effectiveness of the communication of anti-sectarian legislation in four of the largest public and private sector organizations in Northern Ireland (NI). The study had two related central objectives. Firstly, to ascertain the level of employee understanding of anti-sectarian rules and regulations in NI workplaces, and, secondly, to evaluate the relevance of an Episodic Communication Channels in Organization (ECCO) approach to the investigation of this key aspect of organizational practice. Design/methodology/approach – An ECCO questionnaire was used to evaluate and track employee understanding of existing legislation, and chart the sources, channels, location and timing of information dissemination. Findings – A clear finding was that there was a paucity of employee understanding of existing policies and procedures with regard to sectarianism. Practical implications – The results are discussed in relation to the importance of effective information flow on key organizational issues. Originality/value – The efficacy of ECCO as a communication audit tool for charting information dissemination is evaluated.