Euro comms, doldrums, 'retellability,' QQ
Insider Comms for internal comms
đ¸ Last chance to take Staffbaseâs internal comms salary survey. How do you stack up in the industry?
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Comms in Europe
A new 112-page report from European Communicator Monitor, surveying 1,672 comms professionals across Europe, zeroes in on where communicators stand on the topic of diversity, equality, and inclusion. Here are some highlights:
Diversity, equality, and inclusion are influencing organizational policies and communications worldwideâbut only every second communicator in Europe has closely followed global trends and discussions in this area
Most practitioners have experienced empathic traits from communication leaders; this has a significant positive impact on commitment, engagement, and mental health
To date, very few communication departments have established an advanced use of CommTech to digitalize internal workflows and communication activitiesâorganizational structures are identified as the main obstacle to rapid transformation
Quality of consulting in communications is difficult to achieve; three out of four respondents would like to see appropriate standards that cover either consultants, clients themselves, or both groups
Catch Up Quick
đş IABCâs World Conference replays are now availableâfor a fee (IABC)
đ¤ Comms Reboot: The Communications Unconference, taking place Oct 8 in Birmingham, England, is open for registration (Comms Rebel)
đ The Institute of Internal Communications (U.K.) announced the shortlist for their annual awards (IoIC)
đ¤ All Things IC interviews Joanna Parsons, head of Internal Communications and Culture at Teamwork (All Things IC)
đ The Switchboard interviews Leslie Letts, global director, Internal Communications & Community Engagement for Worldwide Operations at Amazon (phew!) (The Switchboard)
Escaping Communications Doldrums
IC pro Martin Flegg writes about how senior leaders who stick around after they have said they are leaving are a real headache for any internal communicator trying to establish a new strategic narrative.
When an organisational leader declares that they are leaving, but sticking around for a while, continuity stalls and the organisation can enter a period of âcommunication stagnationâ during a critical time of change. Decision making at the senior level becomes paralysed, business strategy unclear and no-one can give you a straight answer about what will happen next, about pretty much anything of strategic importance.
This is an impossible situation for the internal communicator trying to adapt the strategic narrative, or establish a new one.
Iâve witnessed this firsthand and itâs extremely frustrating. A senior leader spends enormous amounts of energy to create a narrative that takes time to get across to employees, only to leave the organization and leave the comms team hanging. How are communicators supposed to drive a narrative we know is now dead (and employees know it too)?
Thereâs little point in driving a narrative that has no leadership support, and yet there is no new vision to get behind.
This is the communications doldrumsâŚand it can take months to escape.
Itâs not internal commsâs job to create the vision for the business. So what can you do while you wait for new leaders to come aboard and begin to steer the ship?
Value storytelling could be a useful, creative, and interesting way to kill time. One way to increase and retain employee engagement with your comms work is to create content that touches on the âbigger ideasâ that affect the lives of employees outside of work.
That doesnât mean that every intranet story, podcast, or video needs to address the socio-political topic du jour.Â
It means that some stories should indirectly address hot-button issues by subtly weaving in your organizationâs values. (Assuming that your organizationâs values didnât walk out the door with the executive.)
Value storytelling runs on two complementary tracks:
D&I storytelling means engaging employee populations that are generally underrepresented in society and in the workplace. (I often speak with internal comms storytellers and time and again they talk about D&I as an extra dimension in their editorial assignments.)
Storytelling around corporate values means talking about what the company stands for.
Click here to learn more and to see examples from Apple, Levi Strauss, Match Group, Patagonia, and Spotify.
Request From The Switchboard
Julia Levy of The Switchboard asked me to let you know about her project, the Kindness at Work Honor Roll. In her words:
What: Kindness at Work Honor Roll aims to recognize employees who exemplify empathy for their colleagues. I started it because I feel we don't recognize this trait enough externally.
Who: This is open to anyone (18 years or older) with a story to share about kindness at work.
How: Complete our nomination form.Â
When: Submit by August 1 at 11:59 pm EST
Questions: FAQ are listed on our website.
Criteria
The story embodies the definition of kindness.Â
The moment took place in a work environment anytime from January 2020 to the present.
Agree to share publicly on The Switchboard and LinkedIn.
PowerPoint Is Like Tequila
Tim Pollard unpacks why and how most communication goes wrong and presents a helpful tool to design communications that get results.
PowerPoint, says Pollard, is like tequila. Itâs not inherently evil but it will make you do stupid things.
âRetellabilityâ is the most important word in comms, he argues.
Pollard is the author of The Compelling Communicator: Mastering the Art and Science of Exceptional Presentation Design.
Hiring
Delta Airlines - Senior Manager, Employee Comms, Flight Operations (Atlanta)
EY - Private Communications and Engagement Leader (London)
Gulfstream - Senior Specialist, Employee Comms (Savannah, Georgia)
Mariner Wealth Advisors - Senior Strategist, Internal Comms (hybrid, Kansas)
PitchBook - Director of Internal Comms (Seattle)
Stripe - Head of Internal Comms (Remote, U.S.A.; San Francisco)
University of Sydney - Internal Comms Specialist, Intranet (Sydney)
Several job postings across the U.K. are gathered here
Mini-Book!
Introducing Mister Editorialâs first mini-book: Innovation in Internal Communications: How Internal Comms Professionals Can Overcome the Innovatorâs Dilemma.
This mini-book examines seven principles in depth and their implications for internal communicators who are faced with doing what works or adopting disruptive means. Those seven principles are:
The pace of technological progress
Resource allocation
Matching audiences to technologies
The capabilities of most internal comms teams
Decision-making processes
Being a leader or a follower
Barriers to entry
Innovation in Internal Communications concludes by applying the principles and insights into a proposal for internal comms to adopt a truly cutting-edge, disruptive technology.
Click here to learn more and to purchase Kindle and PDF formats.
Quick Question
Thank you!
Connect with me on LinkedIn and Twitter | Mister Editorial archive | editorshaun@gmail.com
Thank you for including two links to The Switchboard! You're amazing and a beacon of kindness.