What are the most effective/proven/innovative current practices re
internal corporate communications in large organizations?
I'm developing an internal communications strategy and plan for a
healthcare client and I am interested in learning from successful
corporate communications practice around the world. While practice
among the world's larger health care facilities will be of relevance,
I'm also very interested in the principles and practices within the
broader service industry and the private sector. Like many others,
this organization continually struggles to find more effective ways to
ensure that its employees have a) the info to do their jobs and b) an
overall understanding of how their work ties in to/supports the
vision/values of the organization, plus c) the knowledge that equips
them to feel valued and to function as knowledgeable ambassadors for
the organization.

Internal Communication is a rapidly expanding area of business
practice, but one that is often quite hard to break into for those who
have just moved into it. For up to date strategies and practices, try
your local IABC chapter (http://www.iabc.com) or think about joining
Simply-Communicate (http://www.simply-communicate.com) or Melcrum,
both good sources of articles and information for members.

For example, "Developing a Communication Strategy" at
http://www.simply-communicate.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=60, and "Key
Communication Plans to Use" at
http://www.simply-communicate.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=64.
Simply-Communicate is a very indepth resource which will commission
articles on specific topics if they don't already have one, and
membership is cheaper than a day with an internal comms consultant!

There are very few free web resources which will give you an overview,
as most of them are from internal communication consulting companies.
However there are a lot of good books as well as blogs on specific
topics, such as http://www.corporateblogging.info/ on the use of blogs
in internal comms.