The Internal Comms Podcast

In the latest episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay speaks with Martin Flegg, founder and co-owner of The IC Citizen internal communications consultancy.

With over 20 years in PR and internal communications, Martin has extensive experience in management and consultancy roles in UK central government, financial services, legal services and the higher education sectors. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR), and a course leader, tutor and assessor for PR Academy on various CIPR qualification courses, including the Specialist IC Certificate.

Martin’s knowledge and passion for all things internal comms come to the forefront in this fascinating discussion, from unlikely introductions into internal communication, to becoming a leader in the space.

Tune in to hear about everything from measuring success and unlocking the true value of internal communications, to the state of the internal comms job market, and how internal communicators can ask the right questions during interviews.

In a world dominated by social media, Martin encourages us to jump off the bandwagon, have an independent point of view, and release our inner sceptic.

In episode 63 of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay meets Mike Roe, who had a 28-year career in the police force and is now CEO of Tensense, a data insights company.

Tensense has built a diagnostic tool that generates business insights for leadership teams by asking their employees a few carefully crafted questions throughout the year. The result is a dashboard of organisational health, which moves organisations beyond customer or employee experience – what often gets called CX and EX – and instead gives a picture of OX – organisational experience.

In this expansive and insightful discussion, Mike talks about the essential components and challenges of truly authentic listening, and explains how he learned to ask powerful questions that help drive solutions. He suggests the strategies for communication in the police force, with suspects and criminals, isn’t vastly different from the way we communicate more generally with our colleagues and stakeholders. Then and now, preparation is important, purpose is key, listening is essential, but so is the power of silence – asking a question and letting silence do the heavy lifting.

Mike talks Katie through the ins and outs of Tensense, how it delivers intuitive insights to support business leaders by getting to the heart of employee thinking, and shares his advice for strategic decision-making.

In the latest episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay speaks with the duo who wrote the book on internal communications – literally.

Sue Dewhurst has worked in comms for more than 20 years and now trains thousands of professionals, with her frameworks used in organisations around the world, while Liam FitzPatrick is a change management expert and a lecturer in teams, research and planning.

In this broad-ranging and in-depth conversation, Sue and Liam explore the new insights shared in the freshly published second edition of their book, Successful Employee Communications: A Practitioner’s Guide to Tools, Models and Best Practice for Internal Communication.

They also discuss issues including goal-setting, outcomes versus outputs, running your own intelligence operation and knowing how your audience thinks. They emphasise the unmatched importance – and privilege – of listening to people, and reinforce that IC is just as much about what people need as the organisation’s overall goals.

Though Sue and Liam agree that the pandemic has proven the power of IC, they warn organisations not to get complacent. In a world where purpose has become the glue that holds a company and its employees together, it’s essential to avoid backsliding. After all, IC isn’t just about what we say, it’s about the actions and compassion of the organisation.

In this week’s episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay sits down with Victoria Dew, founder and CEO of Dewpoint Communications. Her firm is focused on helping people-powered companies communicate with their employees better every day.

In this episode, Victoria shares how a career in Hollywood led her to New Zealand, where she began her journey into communications. She discusses the global dilemma of employee retention and how companies can make their colleagues feel supported and respected in the workplace. She offers her predictions for the future, emphasising the significant role that ‘human-centric’ organisations will play.

Victoria draws comparison between the way we approach and communicate with our colleagues pre- and post-pandemic and the environment of artificial productivity we once reaped. In this new working environment, and with a new generation of workers on the horizon, what lies ahead?

In this week’s episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay sits down with Jackie Stavros and Cheri Torres, co-authors of Conversations Worth Having, Using Appreciative Inquiry to Fuel Productive and Meaningful Engagement.

Jackie and Cheri share their expertise in the context of conversation and the crucial role language plays in either valuing or devaluing those around you. We learn more about staying ‘above the line’ in conversations, allowing you to engage with people in ways that steer those around you in the direction you have chosen as well as ensuring people feel included and valued.

Listeners also learn about Appreciative Inquiry and how it can break the cycle of circular conversations that end up going nowhere, avoiding conversation that skirts round and round the problem, failing to actually address it. This episode is packed full of tips and tricks to refine your language and manage your internal conversations more effectively.

In this episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaluay looks into the dynamic between internal comms and strategy – at its best a symbiotic relationship that drives the business strategy forward, galvanises teams behind the organisation’s mission and enables transformation. This week’s guests, Canada Life UK’s Chief People Officer Nick Harding and Head of Communications and Engagement Alana Renner, are experts in how this partnership works in action.

Over the course of the conversation the pair unpick the integral partnership between the comms and strategy functions at the life assurance company, outlining the ways each function has been instrumental in its transformation over the past two years. After all, what is a strategy without its guiding voice?

Alana and Nick also reflect personally on their illustrious careers (including their respective early pop star credentials!), exploring the ways they work together and influence each other. They take a dive into the comms role as ‘influencer’ in the organisational strategy, and what the future of the workplace looks like, leaving us with some inspirational food for thought.

In episode 58 of The Internal Comms Podcast, we dissect the results of the latest State of the Sector report, the definitive global survey of the internal communication landscape, from Gallagher, who has been leading the internal communication conversation since 2008.

For more than a decade, this survey has given IC professionals the inside track on the evolution of internal communication, the key priorities, challenges, influences, and our day-to-day practices. Host, Katie Macaulay speaks to Gallagher’s Head of Communications and Change, Siobhan Hammond, to find out what this year’s results are telling us about the current state of our profession.

Siobhan has worked as a specialist in employee engagement, specifically focusing on the employee experience, organisational, people and culture change for over 20 years. Drawing on her expertise, she helps us unpick the latest stats and advises how IC teams can apply these findings to their work going forward post-pandemic and in a fully hybrid working world.

In episode 57 of The Internal Comms Podcast, listeners can take a peek inside the world of IC at IKEA, as host Katie Macaulay chats with a dynamic duo from the multinational furniture brand.

The infectious energy of CEO Communication Leader Daniela Rogosic and Global Head of Co-Worker Communication Guy Britt is apparent from the off. In this spirited episode, the pair shed light on their experiences working for an historic business with a unique culture and values, as well as the challenges of communicating to 170,000 colleagues in 32 countries – the majority of whom are ‘unplugged’.

Daniela and Guy outline how keeping comms strategies fresh and maintaining internal engagement from their CEO has led to increased employee engagement, as well as share insights from their hugely successful Flatpack TV – an IC-owned show watched by IKEA colleagues worldwide every fortnight.

In this first episode of season 7 of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay talks to Jim Shaffer, an internationally recognised business adviser, leadership coach, author and speaker.

Jim’s impressive career has seen him move from US politics to management consultancy, where he’s worked with numerous blue-chip organisations to fix business problems through better communication.

A Fellow of the International Association of Business Communicators, Jim now runs the Jim Shaffer Group – a leadership consulting practice that helps businesses to accelerate results through strategic execution.

Throughout this thought-provoking episode, Jim emphasises that world-class communication is always focused on creating results and adding value. For Jim, a communications lead should be a strategic adviser to the executive, which means getting close to the sharp end of the business.

Among many other useful insights, Jim identifies the four key requirements for successful employee engagement as well as how to make the switch from simply sending out content to delivering demonstrable results.

Get ready to tune in to our next season of The Internal Comms Podcast. While Season 7 promises an amazing array of guests, this special episode highlights some of the best moments from our last season to whet your appetite before it arrives.

Here, Katie selects some of her favourite snippets, which range from the academic perspective on what real engagement looks like, to the importance of driving intention behind internal comms.

Season 7 launches on 16 February, bringing you fascinating insights from the comms heads at IKEA, leadership development consultant Jim Shaffer, and many more exciting guests.