If you’re tired of the ‘when will internal communication make it to the top table?’ debate, the first episode of Season 15 is for you.

Emma Bridger, a psychologist turned engagement specialist, has spent more than two decades helping organisations create more human workplaces. Lee Smith co-founded Gatehouse and launched the State of the Sector survey, now the largest global research study of internal communication.

They’ve written a new book, People-First Internal Communication: Improving Engagement and Retention in the Workforce, which moves beyond the long-running conversation about the influence of internal communicators and into an exciting new people-led era. They join host Katie Macaulay on the Internal Comms Podcast to discuss their big idea: thinking of employees not as an audience, but as actors.

They also explore why internal communication can sometimes feel stuck on repeat, how design thinking can transform the way we approach communication planning, AI, chaos and why the moments that matter most in the employee journey can be surprisingly small.

Tune in and share your thoughts – use #TheICPodcast