Introducing the Comms Minute show — your daily bite of employee comms expertise. In this premiere episode, Brad Whitworth shares his tricks to get leaders to speak like human beings.

Measuring employee communications has always been deemed IMPOSSIBLE. Not just clicks, likes & comments.. but actual BUSINESS IMPACT.

Until now.

Introducing Workforce Insights. The AI-powered analytics suite that helps enterprise communicators make data-driven decisions.

Learn more:

https://smarp.com/workforce-insights/

In this episode, Smarp's CMO Bruno Bin sits down with Heineken's Global Inclusion & Diversity Manager Maria Ljungbeck to talk about how to communicate with employees who don't sit in front of a computer all day.

In this episode of the Comms Shift, Smarp's Product Marketing Manager, Aleks, chats with employee communications guru Shel Holtz on a New Model for Employee Communication.

In this very special episode of The Comms Shift, we’re introducing not just one, but two new voices to the podcast!

Firstly, this marks the first episode hosted by me, Aleks, Product Marketing Manager at Smarp. For a long time now, our CMO Bruno has been hosting The Comms Shift. The two of us have so many conversations around Employee Communications (with each other as well as the amazing comms professionals we work with), that a transition to co-hosting the show just made sense.

Secondly, and more importantly, I’m more than excited to introduce Jill Christensen to our Comms Shift listeners!

A former Fortune 500 business executive with a Six Sigma Green Belt, Jill Christensen understands how organizations operate, and what they need to do differently to attract, retain, and engage employees. Her best-selling book, If Not You, Who?, outlines, among other things, the clear benefits linked to an open, honest and authentic communications culture.

Thanks to her status as a Top 101 Employee Engagement Influencer, Jill has worked in 20 industries, partnering with the best and brightest leaders around the world to improve productivity, retention, and revenue growth through re-engaging employees with effective, authentic communications.

In this episode, me and Jill chat about:

- Her decision to move from corporate executive to consultant and speaker.

- The benefits of communicating authentically… and the cost of not doing so.

- Examples of organizations and executives doing comms the right way.

- What to do to fix comms in an organization struggling with transparency in their comms.

- How comms pros can directly show their impact on bottom-line results.

- What we can ALL do to become a bit more authentic when communicating.

I know I had a lot of fun chatting with her, and I hope you’ll have just as much fun listening. There is a little something for everyone in this episode, so settle into your commute and have a listen!

For this episode of The Comms Shift, I’m delighted to introduce, straight from Canada, a country which I was lucky enough to call home for 10 years, the one and only, Priya Bates.

Priya Bates is probably one of the most qualified professional communicators you will ever meet. If you look her up on LinkedIn, she goes by Priya Bates, ABC, MC, SCMP, IABC Fellow. Let’s break those down.

Priya is an Accredited Business Communicator (that’s ABC) and one of the first Certified Strategic Communication Management Professionals in the world (that’s SCMP). In 2010, she received the Master Communicator designation (that’s MC), which is the highest honour you can possibly have as a communication professional from IABC Canada by the way. As if that wasn’t enough, about 4 years ago, Priya was recognized as an IABC Fellow, a global lifetime achievement award for her contribution to the profession.

She’s been doing this for 20+ years. She’s led communication for organizations including Loblaw Companies Limited, HP Canada, Compaq Canada, and The Ontario Nurses Association. These days, she’s the President and Owner of Inner Strength Communication where she works with organizations across a variety of sectors who are looking to build strategic internal communication expertise that drives business results.

In this episode, Priya and I dissect her 5 I’s framework for evolving internal comms into strategic thinking:

- What are the 5 I’s and how can you apply them at your work?

- How IC professionals can take a strategic vision of the tactical work they’re given

- Priya’s approach for understanding internal audiences at large corporations with a dispersed workforce

- How to combine relationships with knowledge of the organization to influence decisions

- The Yogurt story - A practical example of measurement in internal comms

Whether you’re new to internal comms or a seasoned veteran, I think you’ll enjoy this conversation. Grab a coffee and listen on!

For this episode of The Comms Shift podcast, I’m delighted to welcome one of the most renowned communications experts in the world, Brad Whitworth.

Brad is a Silicon Valley thought leader in communications, a past IABC International Chairman, an IABC Fellow, and an author of the IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication. In his 40 years in communications, Brad has led internal and external communication programs at Hewlett-Packard, Cisco, Oracle and Hitachi. His pioneering research while at HP quantitatively proved the link between managerial communication and job performance.

Brad and I chat about the importance of internal communication today and into the future, including topics such as:

- What to do in your first 3 months at a new internal communications role.

- As a CEO, what would you have IC report to you and why?

- Brad’s approach to crisis communications from planning to execution.

- How to get the CIO to understand the importance of comms infrastructure in making business continuity plans a reality.

- An overview of professional development and certifications available for IC professionals who want to stand out in the marketplace.

I learned a lot from this conversation and hope you’ll get valuable insights too. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy this 30-min chat with Brad Whitworth.

As part of my job as CMO at Smarp, I get to talk to a lot of smart internal communications, employee engagement and experience folks. Over time, I've become completely obsessed with the profession.

I'm lucky enough to be a part of a lot of insightful conversations and this one is no different.

Given the current reality we're all living in due to the COVID-19 outbreak, I invited my friend and IC expert, Mike Klein, to join the podcast for the second time and discuss the immediate, mid and long term implications of the current crisis on the IC profession.

Mike has been in internal comms for over 20 years. He’s held in-house roles at companies such as Shell, VEON and Cargill, he’s the author of ‘From Lincoln to LinkedIn’ and nowadays runs ‘Changing the Terms’ out of The Netherlands. I’m happy to say, Mike has also recently joined the Smarp Strategic Services team to develop and deliver innovative services for our enterprise platform customers.

If you’re currently working in this space and looking for insights on why this new found 'Remote IC' is here to stay, this one is for you.

Grab a coffee and enjoy this 20-min conversation with the one and only, Mike Klein.

Last September, we attended the ‘Internal Communications Conference’ in London. The event saw 400 plus delegates, 10 topic streams and roughly 30 presentations, one of which by Oli Howard.

Having worked in internal communications for over 15 years, holding positions in companies such as the Civil Aviation Authority, Scope and Royal Mail, Oli is a true industry veteran.

He’s currently Interim Head of Strategy Development at the CIPD, the professional body for human resources and people development and also a board member of the Institute of Internal Communications, which puts him in a very interesting position to talk about the complex relationship between internal communications and HR.

I was so impressed by his talk that immediately after the session, I approached Oli and tried my luck to see whether he would be willing to come on The Comms Shift podcast to go even further into the topic. Lucky for us, he said yes.

In this episode, Oli expands on:

- What it is about IC and HR that makes it so difficult for the functions to get along.

- The impact of the industrial revolution on the birth of large organizations and employment at scale.

- How EX redefines the relationship between IC and HR.

- Approaches IC and HR can use to work better together.

- Finding the middle ground between immediate pressures (all the tactical things IC is constantly asked to do) and long-term uncertainty (IC waiting for the heads up on strategic initiatives).

- His one piece of advice for IC folks looking to advance their careers.

I want to thank Oli again for coming on the show and sharing his knowledge with us.

Without further ado, here’s episode #5 of The Comms Shift Podcast with Oli Howard.

You don’t have to look far into the field of internal communications to come across Mike Klein. With 20 plus years of combined in-house and consultancy experience, a knack for research and a background as a political consultant, Mike is one of the most forward thinking IC pros today.

Over the years, Mike has practiced IC in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain and the US. He’s authored "From Lincoln to LinkedIn, the 55 Minute Guide to Social Communication," a manual for mobilizing peer-to-peer communication in communities and organisations, and he’s also the owner of "Changing The Terms", one of Europe's top PR and Communication blogs according to Communication Director Magazine.

Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity to meet Mike for a chat during my last visit to Amsterdam.

Among other things, we covered:

- Measuring the ROI of comms.

- The differences Mike has picked up from practicing IC in 5 different countries.

- The role of Enterprise search as a source of information.

- How to identify and engage key organisational influencers.

- What Mike has learned about comms from his visits to Iceland.

- How organisations can bring employees together earlier in an M&A scenario.

- What makes a great business partner for IC.

- The value of strategic services for IC teams.

If you’re deep in the world of internal communications, this one is for you. Grab a coffee and enjoy this in-depth 30-min conversation with the one and only, Mike Klein.