From primary school through to secondary and especially in sixth form I surrounded myself with people. I liked to have my voice heard and shout loud for those who weren't as confident. I would describe myself as an average student, with 10 GCSEs, my highest grades were in English, Business Studies and Graphic Design so I took these forward to A-level, I opted for English language over literature because the thought of reading loads of books didn't do it for me.
At the end of my two-years of studying I came out with two Bs and a C so when it came to choosing a degree, Business Studies and Human Resource Management took my fancy – I was a people person after all (and a little bit nosey) so it felt right.
I went on to study at Sheffield Hallam University on a four-year course with a one-year placement where I worked in HR for a well-known global logistics company.
When I graduated and started work in HR, I leaned towards writing and reviewing – from policies to training materials and if there was a need to share what the department was doing I was the go-to person for penning a little something for the employee magazine. I never thought anything of it until I started working closely with the communications team in one of my roles and the head of comms noticed something in me that he felt would work well with his team. Having never really heard of internal communications before, it sparked curiosity in me to find out more, and I am so glad I did.
Moving from HR to internal comms took a lot of courage, going from something I knew and had qualifications on to something I barely knew about. I had a lot of encouragement from my employer, they supported me through a 6-month Certificate in Internal Communications course as well as allowing me to attend a handful of day workshops in good grammar and proofreading, writing newsletters and magazines, and using plain English. Completing the training gave me more confidence in performing in my role, as well as giving me a boost that I knew what I was doing – it certainly came across when talking to senior managers on their communications requirements – this also increased my confidence to challenge and propose different communication tools and methods.
Since joining the profession it has changed significantly, having once been something that was a 'nice to have' or someone who produces posters, send emails and orders cake it has moved into an integral part of a business, especially now during a time of such twists and turns for businesses and their people. Great internal messaging can have such a positive impact not only to people and their employee experience but, done right, the bottom line.
Being in communication is a move I've never looked back on, the role gives you an amazing opportunity to get to know most, if not all, areas of the business, speak to so many people and make connections not only for you to get better results, but also connect other people who may be working on similar things where it would benefit them coming together.
It is safe to say internal communications is now a vital part of the employee experience.
My advice to anyone thinking about internal communications is to speak to people already in the profession, we are a hugely supportive bunch and love a good chat so strap yourself in, it could go on for a while!
