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Persistent geopolitical and economic instability and the burgeoning climate crisis mean maintaining organisational alignment, cohesion and commitment to key objectives is harder than ever. It’s hard to craft hopeful narratives when the world seems so imperilled. Yet belief in a hopeful future is a primary requirement for humans to perform well at work.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, access to stable, secure work has become increasingly rare. Young people in particular struggle to find quality, full-time permanent work. But what defines good work and what role does internal communication play in creating workplaces that build careers?

Ongoing market uncertainty means many organisations are struggling to keep people aligned, focused and motivated. Global engagement is falling. Young people especially struggle to find purpose at work. What role does communication play in shaping culture and developing future leaders?

While the Internet hugely improves modern life, it also fuels misunderstanding, misinformation, comparison culture, disunity and ill-feeling. When human connection at work is vital for sustained performance, how do we foster inclusive debate and have difficult conversations about complex issues?

What if doing less was the answer? In a new episode of the Future of Internal Communication podcast, Dom, Jen and Cat are joined by author and TEDx speaker Chris Lovett to explore workplace minimalism and why simplifying work protects people and performance.

Since the arrival of the Internet in the 1990s, organisational intranets have become a staple – helping colleagues access vital knowledge and information and connect and collaborate with one another to achieve shared goals. Their impact on organisational productivity has been profound. As knowledge work becomes ever more digital, in this episode Cat explores the future of the intranet with Suzie Robinson, intranet and digital employee experience consultant at Clearbox Consulting.

As AI promises productivity transformation, many fear technology-driven job losses. For internal communicators, the challenge is twofold: navigating the threat AI poses to conventional IC practice while helping organisations adopt it responsibly. In this episode, Dom and Cat are joined by Frank Dias to explore how AI can transform IC workflows and deliver greater strategic value.

In this first episode of series 16, Jen, Dom and Cat chat with Mercy Abel, founder of It Is Who You Know, to uncover the value of mentoring to bridge intergenerational divides and superpower early years careers.

Despite the US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement in January 2025 and the perceived downgrading of decarbonisation as a boardroom priority, sustainability progress continues to be made.

For all that’s written about the impact of culture on business performance, it remains a nebulous concept that many find hard to define. It’s perhaps this lack of understanding that causes transformation programmes to fail.

Deteriorating international relations have dominated news headlines and fuelled global economic instability since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. War has many ramifications, impacting supply chains, share prices, migration and more generally, levels of societal optimism. But for many of us, the notion of war remains incomprehensible; we simply can’t imagine what living under threat of such danger actually feels like. Moreover, what does it feel like to strive to continue ‘business as usual’ when there are so many additional factors to consider?

As global economic uncertainty escalates, redundancy threat remains a cause of stress for many. This is compounded by high levels of consumer debt – data shows many lack adequate savings to buffer against unexpected job loss. Alongside, shifts in UK demographics and spending habits mean retirement is increasingly unaffordable and too few people feel they possess the acumen to confidently plan their financial futures. Employers can do a lot more to help educate colleagues on financial wellbeing and security.