Engaging Internal Comms

In this episode, we explore the growing importance of social purpose within organisations. We explore how it manifests, its business benefits, and how to authentically embody it. This is of importance to employees of all generations, not just the younger ones, who are seeking to work for organisations with a strong social purpose. The episode aims to provide insights on how to build, communicate,...

Ever wondered how to build an effective internal communications team from scratch? Meet Emily Hecker, the author of "Me, Myself, and IC: A Guide to Building Internal Communications as a Team of One." Emily shares her expertise in building internal communications teams from scratch, offering tips on resourcefulness, credibility, and trust. The episode provides listeners with foundational tips on be...

We discuss workplace culture with Eric Stone and discuss his book about improving organisational culture. The interview explores misconceptions about workplace culture, and explores five factors to improve it. Eric introduces the hourglass model for translating and sharing strategy and culture within an organisation. Eric's insights are based on his extensive corporate experience. This episode is...

Sustainability is a topic that should not be approached solely from a compliance perspective. It's not just about ticking boxes or meeting the bare minimum requirements. Similar to health and safety, organisations should engage people on a human level when it comes to sustainability. In this episode, our guest emphasised the importance of connecting with people's values and aspirations when commun...

Intrinsic motivation is the drive that comes from within. It's about doing something because it's personally rewarding, rather than for some external reward. In today's knowledge economy, intrinsic motivation is more powerful than extrinsic motivation when it comes to influencing behaviour and performance. This episode explores intrinsic motivation and its measurement, with the goal of helping ind...

Psychological safety is a term that many organisations are familiar with, but few fully comprehend its depth and significance. It is more than just a buzzword; it is a crucial element that can make or break an organisation's culture. Our guest expert, with his extensive experience in the mergers and acquisitions industry, shed light on this concept, explaining how it plays a pivotal role in succes...

In this episode, we explore the findings of recent IoIC Index 2023 research with its authors. The research explores the relationship between internal communications and employee engagement and reveals what employees think about IC. The interview covers the background, findings, and how listeners can use the report in their organisations. The discussion contains valuable evidence practical advice f...

In this episode, we focus on the misalignment between strategy, culture, and customer experience within organisations. We emphasise the importance of addressing this disconnect and highlight the challenges it can cause. We find out that aligning these issues can provide the ultimate competitive edge by reshaping your strategy, transforming your culture and prioritising your customers and clients.

Our guest is a Formula One industry expert who discusses the challenges of internal communication and employee engagement in high performance teams. We explore how Formula One teams, despite employing thousands of people, face routine communication challenges like any other organisation. However, what sets them apart is their relentless focus on performance and ensuring that everyone understands t...

In this episode, we address the issue of burnout and its impact on turnover and recruitment. These are being driven by the challenges organisations face such as the aftermath of the pandemic, cost of living issues, energy shortages, and climate problems. We explore the importance of helping colleagues reconnect with their sense of identity, vocational calling, and finding joy and fulfilment in the...

This is a bonus episode of the podcast recorded at the "Unite 23" Employee Experience Conference in London on 13th and 14th September 2023 and hosted by Unily. The episode includes my reflections on the conference, some clips from the keynotes delivered by Stephen Fry and Steven Bartlett, and some brief conversations with other delegates and the hosts at the conference.

With our guests, we discuss the challenges organisations face in implementing sustainability practices and the importance of engagement and communication in driving behaviour change. We emphasise the need for employees to be motivated by conviction rather than just compliance with legislation. The episode aims to provide insights and strategies for organisations to effectively address sustainabili...

With our guest, we explore the concept of brand advocacy and its significance in marketing strategies. We emphasise the role of employees as brand advocates and how they can promote the brand through their social networks and interactions. The conversation raises the question of whether organisations should enable employees to talk about the brand in a coordinated manner without being manipulative...

In this podcast episode, I'm joined by Jen O'Ryan, an expert in diversity and inclusion. Together, we delve into the topic of diversity and inclusion from a human perspective, shedding light on the significance of language in fostering an inclusive working environment. They go beyond mere compliance and explore how organisations can genuinely embrace diversity and inclusion. The role of both inter...

As employee engagement and internal communicators, we already comprehend the significance of engagement. We know that engaged employees are healthier, happier, and more productive. However, here lies the challenge - how do we construct a compelling business case for it? How do we establish an employee engagement programme for those who do not have one, or strengthen existing programmes? That is pr...

Craig and his guest, Jim Gitney, discuss the importance of aligning organisational strategy and activities, as well as the challenges of communicating strategies throughout the organisation. They explore the concept of the most important goal and the need for clear communication. Jim introduces the Business Hierarchy of Needs, a framework for successful strategy implementation. They also discuss i...

In this episode, we explore six critical approaches to turning around underperforming or crisis-stricken organisations, all starting with the letter C. The episode focuses on the first two approaches, context and connection, and how they can be explained to employees to help them understand their role in contributing to the organisation's bigger picture. We emphasise the importance of improving bu...

A voice that we've rarely heard is that of early career internal communications employees. Often it's quite difficult to find people who are new to an internal comms role, who are willing to step forward and talk on a show like this. However, I was recently approached by today's guest who came forward who did want to talk about that their experiences, mostly positive, in fact, mainly positive in t...

In the 100th episode of the podcast, we discuss how internal communicators can become change makers within their organisations. The episode covers topics such as non-verbal communication, storytelling, and building deeper connections to drive meaningful change. The guest speaker shares insights on how to deliver internal communications with authenticity and purpose, and how to build a positive leg...

How do we help our people connect our overall mission, purpose, vision, and values, and the bottom line results that we deliver? There often seems to be two separate conversations going on in many organisations. Our purpose, our mission, our vision, our values should not be something that's abstract and distant. On a day to day basis, people are being driven by KPIs, scorecards and other metrics a...

In this episode of the Engaging Internal Comms podcast, host Craig Smith and guest Lena Scullard, an interactive keynote speaker and trainer, discuss the difference between responsive and reactive communications and how cognitive behavioural psychology can be used to create positive cultures and employee engagement within organisations. Lena shares her background in theatre arts and corporate trai...

In this episode, we look at the 'business case' for creating psychological safety, particularly when we look at it from a mental wellbeing perspective. Psychological safety has been very more openly talked about since the pandemic, but is there a business case increasing psychological safety in our organisations? We also look at the tools and techniques are available to us on an individual, team a...

Our guests in this episode are going to be telling us all about the science behind why we don't finish what we start. They will explain how this is related to much more fundamental issues within our organisations when it comes to employee engagement and our willingness to see things through both in our personal lives but also in our work. We're going to be finding out all about this phenomenon kno...

In this episode we explore frontline workers and how we communicate with them. These are employees who do not usually interact with technology in the way that we think they will. Sometimes this population is referred to as deskless workers. Globally, there are 2.7 billion deskless workers, and they span a number of sectors, including supply chains, manufacturing, health and education.

Sometimes stories are overlooked from the perspective of how we can use them to make meaning of our own experiences. This is important in order to be able to help people to learn from what we've learned and also to be able to get our points of view and ideas across more clearly. In this episode we look at using our own stories to teach, lead and inspire within our organisations.