Is this sustainable for me?

When you work in Comms, you know the mastery of editing. When you are vying for people's time and engagement, there is no room for waste. Being thrifty and economical with words so as not to turn people off or fail to get the message across. To condense, to purify is an artform and internal communication professionals are experts in it. But this co...

That the Gender Pay Gap has widened in favour of men was small surprise to anyone who has followed this anticlimax of a watershed policy. BBC figures last week showed that in the 12 months since large companies became mandated to publish their pay gap, almost half have seen a swing towards men; eight in ten still pay men more than women, and a quar...

In the mad rush to stay technologically relevant and to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, many organisations seem to have overlooked a very basic but critical organisational attribute: its company culture. Therefore it should come as no surprise when statistics point to the number of employees who have left or are thinking about leav...

In line with the launch of the IoIC's new long-term initiative #WeMatterAtWork – a campaign which aims to uncover the factors which make people feel valued in their workplace – this month's AskFutureNet call was an opportunity for members of the network to share the ways that they're already ensuring people feel that they matter as well as finding ...

STRESS. Stress to me is the start of a very slippery slope into full blown anxiety and its insidious partner, depression. I thrived in high stress environments for years and years. I worked well under pressure, was motivated by deadlines and a high workload. Loved a crisis, enjoyed the adrenaline rush it brought. That worked for me. I did well at m...

"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them" – words from Ernest Hemingway which ring truer than ever in 2019 Brexit-bound Britain. The trouble is, many of us in the UK are increasingly distrusting of people in power, with trust in our senior politicians falling to an all-time low. According to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barome...

Condensed highlights of a career in internal communications: In 1996 I was squabbling with engineers about technical jargon in an all-employee newsletter. In 2006 I led comms for significant change and restructure programmes. In 2016 I rebuilt a new internal comms team from two to four business partners plus a permanent channels manager. Writing th...

So here's a thing. I have 8,760 hours in a year (you probably do as well). I sleep for about seven and a half hours a night (assuming I'm not woken up by one of my children… which I frequently am… but let's say seven and a half). So that's 2,750 hours when I'm not conscious. Leaving me with 6,010 hours of time to actually do stuff. I spend about 10...

We hear a lot about a shift towards a "gig economy" and a world in which work is more fluid and working patterns more flexible. While a more elastic workforce brings advantages for both workers and employers, it also poses some challenges, not least when it comes to workplace communications. As the world of work changes, we must rethink the way we ...

Generation Z is growing up. This population is generally defined as people born between 1996 and 2010 with the oldest of the bunch now graduating high school and college, applying for jobs, and starting to assert themselves in the workforce. While Gen Z shares many common traits with their millennial counterparts , there are some significant differ...

One of the most daunting challenges faced by all businesses and organizations is fostering and maintaining clear communication across all departments and personnel. When substantial growth is occurring within the given entity, a lack of clear communication can become an even greater concern, allowing for failed projects, lost customers or benefacto...

You would be forgiven for thinking that artificial intelligence is simply a buzzword, void of any true meaning or application and used solely to intrigue hapless web surfers into viewing content. It seems everyone has an opinion on AI. Will it lead to mass unemployment? Is it going to revolutionise our everyday lives? Will the machines take over? I...

Ask any IC professional and they'll tell you. Selling the value of internal communications to senior management is difficult. Maybe it's easy to understand why. They're big-picture thinkers, future-focused, bewitched by the bottom line. So when you're outlining a new internal communication initiative, they're ready and willing to challenge it. To c...

For last month's AskFutureNet call, we were joined by Mark Burrett and Sara Tehrani from VMAGROUP as we discussed the skills and attributes that employers are looking for in their internal communication recruits.  We kicked off with Mark talking us through what he thinks are the top 3 skills that an internal communicator should have in their a...

Let's talk about Brexit. OK, we know, we're all fed up to the back teeth with Brexit, but come the 11th, we'll finally know whether Theresa's deal made it across the line or whether we are in for pre-Christmas chaos. Perhaps it's time to consider moving Christmas Day to the day before the vote. At least we'll be so hungover to actually care what ha...

Couldn't make our call in October? Find out what you missed What makes award-winning comms? That was the question we answered during October's #AskFutureNet call. We were joined by Sequel Group's Nigel Wood, Head of Digital Design, Jason Dowty, Editor, and Becky Leonard, Communications and Content Manager and FutureNet committee member, who answere...

Once upon a time, in the days before the internet, all organisational communication was contained, managed, and broadcast in a consistent, relevant and timely manner. …… In this digital age even the illusion that we can control organisational communication is truly a fairy story. It's out there in the ether, with an evolving life of its own. Our ro...

How many times have we heard that phrase? We bump into people in the corridor or at a Town Hall and the leader we meet (guy or gal!) just seems completely different in 'real-life' to what we've pictured, read or been led to believe exists?! This happens with celebs too. It is becoming less common, granted. But I genuinely believe we have a role as ...

Integrity, respect, customer, innovation, honesty, accountability, openness, professionalism…  Sounding familiar? Well, they are all strong and powerful characteristics that any company would be proud to call their values. A display of decency, there to make you feel proud, which in turn, drives a productive and happy workforce. But let's be h...

Crisis hurts. It's a harsh moment of truth for any organisation. It can happen at any time. It disrupts your ability to function. Usually, it's a sign that change of some kind is needed; a restructure, a new policy, a revision of your organisation's mission and message. It can be traumatic for leaders and employees as their company's reputation and...