There was a time, not very long ago, when communications was thought of as a nice, but not that necessary, soft skill. Thankfully times have changed. We now know that strong internal communication improves employee engagement which is critical to commercial success. Conversely, poor internal comms can seriously damage your business. It's a cascading effect of annoying comms, poor morale, lower productivity, increased absenteeism leading to higher employee turnover, and finally, higher costs and shrinking profits. So what does great internal communications look and feel like? What is the role it must play and how do we think it will develop in the coming years? What about data, can you measure its success? And in our comms hierarchy of needs, wants and desires where today does internal communications sit?

We'd love to hear what you think. Get in touch on social media or email [email protected]

This edition of The Little Questions podcast is presented by Andrew Brown, Jenny Scott and Matt Young.

Apella partner Andrew Brown is a former Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Ageas Insurance. He has more than ten years' experience leading the corporate affairs functions for global firms across a range of regulated and unregulated sectors, developing considerable experience in issues, crisis and change management. Formerly Director of Communications at Drax Group plc and Group Corporate Affairs Director at Regus plc.

Apella founder partner Jenny Scott joins us again on The Little Questions podcast. Jenny has worked as Executive Director of Communications at the Bank of England and co-lead for Bank wide strategy. She was also Advisor to the Governor, and sat on the Bank's executive committee and risk committee. Formerly Economics and Politics Correspondent for the BBC and Presenter of the Daily Politics, she is now Trustee of Pro Bono Economics.

Matt Young is an Apella founder partner with 25 years of experience in corporate affairs. He was Corporate Affairs Director at Lloyds Banking Group, part of the senior team which rescued the bank and rebuilt its reputation following the financial crisis. Formerly communications director at Santander UK and board member of the BBA.

Find out more about Apella Advisors at www.apellaadvisors.com and you can get in touch by emailing [email protected]

This podcast was produced by the www.thepodcastcoach.co.uk