IOIC Festival: Live blog – Day 1

11:02

57% say they are not getting relevant comms (IC Index 2026).

Carmen Trachenko: “Strategy is often lots of buzzwords from the top. But on the ground it can feel like a train wreck.

“It comes down to the layer inbetween senior leaders and managers: can you identify the good ones, train them up and get them to reinforce messages better than leadership and translate them to people?”

Dominic Walters asks, what are the characters of “the good ones”?

“Authenticity,” says Carmen. “A bit of humour, being human and acknowledging it’s hard and they don’t have all the answers. They're going to  peppered with questions they don’t have the answer to. They need to be calm and personable in written and in-person comms.”

10:52

Becky Bushell takes some optimism from the IC Index findings – particularly that employees have said they want to hear more good stories.

“Invest time in that. There is an opportunity there. The majority of my time is spent trying to unlock the complex and difficult messages around change, but we should plough more of our time into bringing good stories to life, and how we can be more innovative, especially as people are going home and dealing with the difficult external environment.”

10:43

Carmen Trachenko from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP says the IC Index finding that most stood out was the decline in trust in leaders.

“When there is a lack of trust, organisations put in layers of bureaucracy that creates barriers to innovation and trying new things. If we show more trust in our employees, and leaders extend that hand, efficiencies can improve. But trust is earned. One email does not trust make. Over time you have to show you are listening.”

10:37

IOIC president Dominic Walters is leading a panel on the latest IC Index findings.

Joe Salmon, from Iron Mountain (and IOIC Board member) says transformation and uncertainty is ongoing for businesses and IC, but for the people impacted, it doesn’t feel like BAU. "In Iron Mountain, we try to tell the complete story, Recognise the wins, connect people to the values and give people the reasons for change – the need to grow. Engagement drops when people don’t understand the reasons for change."

Becky Bushell from Tridos Bank says the current environment has huge implications for organisations like Tridos Bank. "When sustainability’s at your core, and support for society is being scrapped, it puts pressure on organisations that have a mission to promote a healthy planet and healthy people. It’s a deliberate choice to work at our bank. People expect us to be a shining light in a difficult environment. And it’s a constant challenge to balance being profitable, being innovative and having a competitive edge, but also to be the organisation people have chosen to be a part of.”

10:05

Susanna Holten, Ipsos Karian and Box: “We have to be talking with leaders about the things we can control and things we can’t.

“Decipher how people actually receive IC – what time and what channels – and it needs to feel hyper relevant. Have the courage to be bolder.

“For us, the job is about understanding humans and human behaviour. We know what people respond to, what lands, what doesn’t, how they are feeling. That’s our job.”

And a note for your diaries – the full IC Index is out on 20th May...
 

10:02

Brace yourself. In the 2023 IC Index, employees said they have 15 minutes to read, view or listen to internal comms.

Now? 2026? Most people have TEN minutes or less – and 21% said they have “none – hardly any time” to engage in IC.

09:56

Susanna Holten from Ipsos Karian and Box shares a sneak peak of the IC Index 2026. In her own words, she’s going to ”bring the mood down a bit”.

UK confidence is at its lowest level (only six per cent of the public thinks the economy is going to get better). Shorter CEO tenures than ever before. UK productivity  lagging behind other markets. 21% of employers planned redundancies in Q1.

So we need a reality check.

“We’ve been waiting for things to get back to normal so we can get back to doing things the way we’ve always done them, but things need to change. For us as a profession, it’s about challenging influencing and responding to the new reality.”

There’s a 12pt increase in employees saying their organisation has made redundancies in the last year vs 2024, and 58% do not agree their organisation is good at helping employees adapt to change. About half (49%) say their organisations are not clearly communicating why things are changing.

There is a very steep drop off in trust in leadership and CEOs. “It is IC’s job to hold up a mirror. If trust is low, it’s hard for IC to land the right messages as we are fighting that tension. Help leaders address the reality.”
 

09:39

Jennifer Sproul on why IOIC decided to refresh its brand: “We wanted to be clearer about what we believed and be bolder about saying it. IOIC needed to reflect how internal comms has changed. Our purpose is to champion IC – not quietly, not apologetically and with conviction.

“The context we are working in is tough. Our organisations are under pressure – but so are we. There are no efficiency gains, strategic goals met and no risk understood met or mitigated without internal communication.

“We are the internal intelligence of an organisation. We can advise on what will succeed or stall before it is too late to change course. We need to show our offer more confidently than we have been. Perceptions need to change.”
 

09:31

The Inspire Zone is looking pretty full. It's show time. Chief executive Jennifer Sproul is about to take to the stage to welcome everyone.

07:55

Ah, the IOIC Festival. We meet again.

It's now in its sixth year – and I've been to them all (a Festival OG) – and at a new location. We find ourselves in Warbrook House in Eversley, which is stunning. It's basically like a Downton Abbey full of internal comms professionals (we literally have the whole venue to ourselves).

I got here last night and, aside from the great venue and grounds (very green, very peaceful, lots of cows), the most striking thing is how brilliant the IOIC branding looks. The blue and yellow boards are everywhere – crisp, clear, fresh. It looks the part. And now we're getting ready for some unmissable content.

I'll be live-blogging here throughout the day, so stop by every now and again for updates. (I'll be back tomorrow too)