The Future of Internal Communication
Institute of Internal Communication
The Future of Internal Communication podcast is hosted by The Institute of Internal Communication – the only professional body solely dedicated to internal communication.
This podcast hosts a range of subject matter experts from within and outside internal communication, each sharing their insights on the future of internal communication. These thought-provoking discussions address the critical role of communication as a driver of workplace trust, connection, community, collaboration, innovation, engagement, culture, change, resilience and performance.
Organisations today face a rising tide of challenges, causing widespread disruption and demanding wholesale business transformation. How colleagues communicate both on- and off-line is the glue that holds organisations together. Communication cultivates goodwill and drives alignment around a shared purpose.
In a rapidly evolving world, Jennifer Sproul, Dominic Walters and Cat Barnard explore opportunity for internal communicators. As work becomes increasingly digital, data driven, distributed and on-demand, their conversations with thought-leaders examine the human side of work.
This series showcases the critical link between empathic communication and workplace trust, connection, community, collaboration, innovation, engagement, culture, change, resilience and performance.
This podcast hosts a range of subject matter experts from within and outside internal communication, each sharing their insights on the future of internal communication. These thought-provoking discussions address the critical role of communication as a driver of workplace trust, connection, community, collaboration, innovation, engagement, culture, change, resilience and performance.
Organisations today face a rising tide of challenges, causing widespread disruption and demanding wholesale business transformation. How colleagues communicate both on- and off-line is the glue that holds organisations together. Communication cultivates goodwill and drives alignment around a shared purpose.
In a rapidly evolving world, Jennifer Sproul, Dominic Walters and Cat Barnard explore opportunity for internal communicators. As work becomes increasingly digital, data driven, distributed and on-demand, their conversations with thought-leaders examine the human side of work.
This series showcases the critical link between empathic communication and workplace trust, connection, community, collaboration, innovation, engagement, culture, change, resilience and performance.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jul 19, 2023 • 39min
S7, E6: The evolution of internal communication with Katie Macaulay
Many of you will recognise this episode’s guest, Katie Macaulay. She’s the Managing Director of award-winning Internal Communication agency AB Communications and host of the The Internal Comms Podcast.
Katie chats with Jen, Dom and Cat to explain what she’s uncovered through her work with The Acid Test Audit, a tool that uncovers discrepancies in communication and flaws in strategic alignment.
With an expert view, she shares her views on the current challenges faced by Internal Communicators and the opportunities she believes lie ahead.
Jul 5, 2023 • 39min
S7, E5: The transformation opportunity for internal communicators with Kevin Green
When Jen Sproul met Kevin Green at a conference in late 2022, they immediately hit it off. With a long-standing career in HR, staffing and employment, Kevin has an expert view on how to accelerate inclusion, engagement and performance at work.
Today, Kevin is Chief People Officer of First Bus, one of the UK’s largest bus operators, with some 14,000 staff. As labour markets continue to perplex leaders across the board, it’s increasingly obvious that organisations must rethink the role people play in business sustainability and resilience.
Kevin is leading the way in this area. First Bus has initiated a transformational people strategy to place colleagues and customers at the heart of its commercial goals. In this episode, Jen, Cat, Dom and Kevin discuss the opportunities for internal communicators as we move into the future of work.
Jun 21, 2023 • 40min
S7, E4: The crucial role of communication in leadership with Jon Rennie
Spending months underwater will inevitably teach you a huge amount about the role of communication in effective teamwork. And this is what this episode’s guest learned during his military career serving as a US Navy Nuclear Submarine Officer.
Ever since, Jon Rennie has been fascinated by leadership communication. With various civilian leadership roles under his belt, today, in addition to his day-job as CEO of Peak Demand Inc, Jon enthusiastically writes, podcasts and keynotes about leadership and leadership communication.
We were keen to hear his ideas and hope you’ll agree this conversation is one of our most thought-provoking episodes yet.
Jun 5, 2023 • 38min
S7, E3: Can marketing change the planet, with Michelle Carvill and Gemma Butler
To mark World Environment Day, it’s a special treat to hear from co-authors of the best-selling book Sustainable Marketing, Michelle Carvill and Gemma Butler.
Since their book was published in early 2021, Michelle and Gemma have gone on to host the ‘Can Marketing Save the Planet’ podcast series. This has led to many fascinating conversations across the marketing domain.
When organisations have such a primary role to play in the race to net-zero, we were keen to hear Michelle and Gemma’s views on the evolution of responsible business and the opportunities for both marketing and internal communication as we push towards a carbon-neutral economy.
May 24, 2023 • 43min
S7, E2: Internal Communication priorities with Bill Quirke
Bill Quirke was our very first guest, when we launched this podcast back in 2021. As author of the celebrated book, ‘Making the Connections: Using Internal Communication to Turn Strategy Into Action’, he’s an influential figure within the IC field.
Given all that’s unfolded in the past two years, we wanted to catch up with Bill to hear his latest reflections on the risks and opportunities for the internal communication profession. With so much change and adaptation required by organisations today, what might internal communication look like five years from now?
Tune in to hear from our profession’s most seasoned expert.
May 17, 2023 • 47min
BONUS EPISODE – Internal Communication and Mental Health at Work with Georgie Mack
In 2017, Georgie Mack co-founded the mental health charity Minds @ Work. Her goal was to normalise long-overdue conversations around mental health in the workplace. She also wanted employers to examine how their workplaces were contributing to anxiety, stress and mental ill-health.
We’ve come a long way since then. Today workforce health and wellbeing are priority agenda items for any discerning internal communication and engagement team.
But a primary societal fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic is a marked rise in anxiety and low mood.
In this special episode, recorded to mark Mental Health Awareness Week, Jen, Dom and Cat chat with Georgie about what more employers should be doing to address mental health issues at work. And of course, the opportunity for internal communicators to add even more value in this vital area.
May 10, 2023 • 47min
S7, E1: The changing nature of employment with Neil Carberry
The 2023 UK labour market continues to perplex policy makers and frustrate employers. A perfect storm of a shrinking workforce and chronic skills shortages mean it’s harder than ever to recruit, and more crucially, retain, the staff needed to maintain organisational stability.
To better understand the trends and undercurrents, we were delighted to welcome the CEO of the UK’s Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), Neil Carberry.
Tune in to hear Neil’s thoughts about the current state of employment in the UK and the role internal communication has to play in improving hiring outcomes across the board.
May 3, 2023 • 45min
BONUS EPISODE – The history of Internal Communication
It’s hard to analyse the present and future of internal communication without some understanding of its past.
We’re thrilled the IoIC is partnering a new research project, funded by the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The Institutional History of Internal Communication has been awarded funding to explore the value internal communication has added to some of our most well-known organisations since the 1880s.
In this episode, Jen, Dom and Cat welcome Dr. Michael Heller, Professor Michael Rowlinson and Dr. Joe Chick. They learn more about the long history of internal communication project and what this research project hopes to achieve for both industry and internal communication professionals.
Mar 29, 2023 • 43min
S6, E6: All That We Are with Gabriella Braun
We love this conversation with Gabriella Braun. A skilled coach and facilitator, Gabriella works with leaders, teams and organisations to explore interpersonal relationships and help people understand more about human behaviour.
Her debut book, ‘All That We Are’ delves into the complexity of group dynamics. Through her work Gabriella has seen first-hand just how damaging the workplace can be to people’s mental health.
Tune in to this episode to hear what Gabriella has to say about team work and, more importantly, what this means for internal communicators.
Mar 15, 2023 • 37min
S6, E5: The stories we don’t tell at work with Alex Gapud
With a PhD in social anthropology, Dr. Alex Gapud turned our heads at the 2022 IoIC festival when he gave a fascinating talk about going beyond engagement survey data to understand the human stories behind the statistics. We were keen to hear more.
In this episode, Jen, Dom and Cat chat with Alex about the importance of hearing individual stories at work and the crucial part this plays in building relationship and strengthening team dynamics.
As we hurtle towards very different work futures, there’s a lot we can learn from the field of anthropology to become better internal communicators. Alex shares his insights about the expanding opportunity for the profession.
