Companies with highly effective internal communication programs are better placed to keep employees engaged and retain key talent, according to a new Watson Wyatt survey of companies around the world.

The survey finds that 61 percent of companies that are highly effective communicators report that their managers are effective at dealing openly with resistance to change, compared with only 18 percent of low-effectiveness communicators. Similarly, 64 percent of highly effective communicators report that their managers are effective at addressing the needs and concerns of their current employees, compared with only 22 percent of companies that are low-effectiveness communicators, Watson Wyatt says.

The research identified the best practices of companies that are highly effective communicators, which include: communicating how employees will be affected as the business changes; trusting and training leaders to talk about change; and following up with measurements and metrics to document the communication strategy.

View the complete Watson Wyatt report here.