Institute of Internal Communication

What makes an IoIC Awards Gold Winner? The Gold award is the highest accolade that the Institute can give. In a masterclass, held on the eve of the IoIC Conference, three organisations delivered presentations on how they delivered their award-winning communications.

Here is what delegates learned:

Best strategy – Transforming B&Q

Nicky Flook, Mandarin Kite, and Mike Hawes, from B&Q, outlined their strategy behind “Transforming B&Q”, the well-known DIY materials retailer.

The backdrop to the project was declining profits, poor engagement and a subdued share price.

The transformation project included a leadership conference and focus groups to look at pertinent questions about what needed to change in the organisation.

The end result was a new set of core values, voted upon by the staff themselves.

An eight-week cascade of the key messages was held in the 330 stores around the UK. The long timescale was due to the large number of people working in the stores, and the varied times that they worked over a seven-day period.

Two groups of 700 people from head office were also bussed to the local Odeon cinema for the launch of “Transforming B&Q”. They were able to watch a video about the new values for the company.

Cross functional teams were then sent off to discuss what they had seen, complete with a list of discussion points and facilitators.

Another HO event featured a barbecue, with the executives flipping the burgers and a live band made up of B&Q staff.

Other tools were a magazine, plus a new more people-centric blog.

And the results? B&Q now has “world-class” level of engagement, according to Gallup and profits are up 45%.

B&Q's Mike Hawes summed it up: “It exposes the myth that shop staff are not interested in corporate strategy.”

Best publication - WRVS Action magazine

Set up in 1938, the Women's Royal Voluntary Service, rebranded in 2004 and is now known simply as WRVS.

It is responsible for community work, running meals on wheels, hospital shops, voluntary work in prisons and much more.

With 45,000 volunteers and very few on email, a printed magazine offered the best vehicle for communication with members.

The twice-yearly magazine was produced by Think Publishing. MD Polly Arnold said that the approach was to put members in the spotlight – lots of people features, with good news stand values.

“We wanted to give people lots of practical help for people doing the job. We also wanted to capture people's imagination,” Polly said.

Excellent photography was also key – with a budget of around £4.5k per issue.

The publication has since changed to four issues a year, with the first four pages being regionalised.

Best digital media – International Power's IPR Connect

IPR Connect, launched in November 2009, is International Power's knowledge management system. The aim when it was launched was to put everything that people needed to do their job onto the system.

With 4,000 employees and 45 power stations in 21 countries, the system had to have secure access, with permissions at team, document and regional levels.

The system is built on MS Sharepoint and also features many collaborative tools.

The system is deemed so important that its use is now embedded into International Power's induction training.

Super users have been appointed and their role is to engage everyone, selling the benefits of the system to other users.

Download International Power's PowerPoint presentation (pptx).