Bringing strategy to life: how I connect people across the faculty
Life Sciences & Medicine is the biggest faculty at King’s, and we have more than 2,000 staff – academic, researchers and professional services – spread across six schools and four different campuses. I work closely with the Executive Dean and the Faculty leadership team on all aspects of strategic internal communications and staff engagement.
Essentially my role is about connecting people, not just to strategic priorities within the Faculty but also helping them understand how these priorities (and their work) align with the wider direction of the University and contribute to building our reputation externally. I bring people across the Faculty together in different ways, whether that be through online forums, town halls, conferences and events or our annual staff awards.
However, my team also works closely with the central corporate communications team, to highlight great research stories for national and international media, and to manage any potential reputational risks and issues, so although my main focus is internal, I always need one eye on the external bigger picture.
That’s where I think membership of the IoIC has really helped – resources such as the monthly trend reports and the IC Index have been invaluable in getting a sense of emerging trends and drivers. They have provided relevant data and evidence that helps when making the case to senior colleagues for a particular approach.
What motivated me to pursue a career in internal communication and what I most enjoy about it.
To be honest, I didn’t set out to pursue a career in internal communications, it was more by exploring different things that I ultimately found my way to it! I started out working in business development at PwC writing pitch documents, and then after having my children, spent eight years in more generalist communications roles in the NHS, working for both a community and mental health trust and then for a large acute hospital trust. Having turned my hand to everything from public health promotion to external communications, crisis management and public engagement as well as events and internal communications, I realised it was the internal communications and staff engagement elements I enjoyed the most and where I felt most at home.
I love meeting people and finding out about their work and what makes them tick, but I also like making the link to strategy and helping people appreciate why and how their contribution matters. I also really enjoy the fact that you get to be across all different aspects of the organisation and make connections between different areas, approaches and ideas.
How has IoIC membership contributed to my professional development and career growth.
IoIC membership has helped me in so many ways! I have used the profession map to identify personal development objectives and gaps in knowledge and experience, I have joined meetings of the IoIC London network to meet other internal comms professionals and hear interesting talks, I have done various IoIC training courses as well as joining webinars and reading articles, thought leadership pieces and guides. However, I think the highlight for me has been attending the annual IoIC Festival which I’ve done for the last couple of years. I always come away feeling inspired, uplifted and full of ideas.
Bringing people together: a conference I’m proud to have built
In 2023 we decided to run a one-day conference to bring professional services colleagues from across the Faculty together to learn from each other, network and start to feel part of one big team. It was quite an undertaking to pull together all the various speakers and panellists across multiple breakout and plenary sessions and create an event experience that exceeded expectations and also felt cohesive and relevant to a very diverse audience. Since then, we’ve gone from strength to strength, and have introduced smaller half-day events for this community as well. It’s something I feel particularly proud of because of the great feedback the events have had. This is a group of staff who can feel undervalued at times and having something targeted for them has had a really positive impact. People have shared how, as a result of attending, they have built the confidence to take a leap in their careers and gone on to new roles within and beyond the Faculty.
My advice to someone just starting out in the internal communication profession
Get out and meet and talk to as many people across the organisation as you can, to help you start to understand what makes them tick and equally what frustrates them. It will make the work you do feel authentic and you will quickly see how and where you can add the most value.
Secondly, I would advise joining the IoIC! It’s a great way to build your network but also appreciate that we are all facing very similar challenges. Learning from what others are doing is a great starting point for planning your own approaches.
A fun fact about me!
As a (rather earnest) eight-year-old Brownie guide, I once received a certificate for being the ‘tea making champion of West Suffolk’. To this day, I firmly believe that there aren’t many tricky situations that won’t be made a whole lot better with a good cuppa!