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The jobs market for communication professionals is tricky at the moment. If you talk to people who are recruiting, they will easily get over 100 applications for a mid-level role. If you’re in the public sector in the UK, a combination of NHS, police and local government reorganisations means job uncertainty and a possible increase in people looking for new roles.
by Liz Halliday
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Ethics in comms is nothing new, and most people understand why it matters. Ethics shapes how we communicate, who we work with, and how we are perceived. But trust is the part that’s changed.
by Helena Hornby
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Freelance comms pro and former Head of Comms, Anna Caig’s, debut novel, The Wise Witch of Orkney, will be published on 26 February. She offers practical advice to anyone wanting to pursue big life goals alongside a comms career.
by Anna Caig
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It’s the social media story of the week, and exhibit A in standing up online for what we believe it in.
by Ben Raza
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It’s back - the best free learning event in the comms calendar - the UnAwards Winners Masterclass.
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Last year a lithium battery caught fire in one of our refuse trucks. Within seconds all the rubbish inside it was ablaze and the entire contents had to be emptied in the road for the fire service to put out. We posted a film of the incident on social media which went viral with a million views.
by Andreas Christophorou
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Like most of the country, I’ve spent these long, dark January nights glued to The Traitors. A fan since the very first series, I usually find myself rooting for the faithfuls. But when a Head of Communications was selected as a traitor this season, I knew exactly who I was backing. (Warning - contains spoilers)
by Charlotte Parker
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The feeling as we open the laptop at the start of the new year is always a little daunting. Do I know my network password? Can I remember what I was working on? How much caffeine do I need to get through till lunch?
But this year feels a little more unusual. For the first time in more than a decade, I am working outside internal communications.
by Ian Curwen
Having worked in IC, in one role or another, for such a long time, it feels like a big change.
Here are my reflections on a decade focused on meeting our employee’s communications needs.
The importance of IC
As you can imagine, I am a passionate advocate for both the power and importance of internal communication. I think it’s the place where you earn your stripes. It’s the place where problem solving, creative thinking and the bullsh*t detector are the tools of the trade.
Your employees are your most important audience. And they’re the toughest to satisfy. It’s more difficult to engage an internal audience than it is the outside world.
If you’ve delivered a successful internal comms plan, then you can do anything.
The twelve years have been nothing if not diverse. While 2014 already feels a long time ago, when you recount some of the internal communications challenges we’ve wrestled with since then, it’s striking.
They include:
· Changes to our ownership
· Changes to our mission
· The Covid pandemic
· The increase in agile working
· Technological modernisation
· Travel and site access changes
That’s before you consider countless restructures and office moves that have accompanied the above. These shape people’s lives and experiences just as much as any of the above.
While working in internal communication, I’ve kept a few principles in mind. We never get everything right, but if you keep these in mind, you won’t be too far wrong.
Think clarity
The best internal communications are those which are easiest to understand. It really is that simple.
Don’t assume people will understand what you’re saying – make sure they do.
People have very little time to consume your communications (the IOIC say it’s 15 minutes a day, at the most) and the cost is significant (each minute costs about 95p per person).
Think people
The most successful change communications are those which are focused on the impact on people.
Again, this feels like it should be common sense, but it’s easy to forget.
People are an organisation’s greatest asset. Start by thinking of them and that they need from what you’re communicating.
When people are going through change, they are thinking about how it’ll impact them:
· If there is a restructure, who will their new manager be? Will they have to work differently?
· If they’re moving offices, will they be able to get a parking space? Will they have time to drop the children off before the commute?
Think ‘so what’
When people contact me about some communications they’d like produced, the key question is always, ‘so what?’
It’s not glib, it’s just the best way of getting to the heart of the issue – why you are communicating.
We’ve got to make sure people understand what they’re reading/watching/listening to, and what we want them to do as a result.
If you can’t answer the ‘so what?’ question, then the audience has got no chance.
And if you’re answer is that you want to raise awareness, be prepared for my next question to be, ‘why?’
So, what’s next?
My new role is as interim head of corporate communications. This team has both an internal and external lens – covering brand, external communications channels, digital and communications materials.
As the team is responsible for so much of what the external world sees of Sellafield, they work hard to ensure our communications are both creative and clear.
Much of what I’ve learned in internal communications will serve me well here. After all the basics of simplicity, clarity and audience focus apply just as much here.
But I also need to quickly get up to speed with what our external audiences want from our channels.
It’s a challenge, but one I’m excited for.
Ian Curwen is interim head of communications in the nuclear industry
The feeling as we open the laptop at the start of the new year is always a little daunting. Do I know my network password? Can I remember what I was working on? How much caffeine do I need to get through till lunch?
But this year feels a little more unusual. For the first time in more than a decade, I am working outside internal communications.
by Ian Curwen
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You’ve all be sent – and asked to share – social media toolkits and assets for national campaigns, or in support of your wider partners. Do they ever perform well, get good engagement, or add to your own social performance?
by Alex Waddington
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A few days on and I still have a lovely warm glow from the incredible 10th annual UnAwards.
by Darren Caveney
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When host with the most (velvety jacket) Darren Caveney announces the movie for attendees of the 2025 UnAwards to sit back and enjoy, he describes it with the adjective “feelgood”.
by Andrew Walker
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If you ever want to feel utterly inspired about the power of comms, judge the Best Creative Comms category at the UnAwards.
by Alan Oram and Team Alive With Ideas
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Dee Cowburn, who judged the crisis communications entries with Ruby Bhattal, and is no stranger to a crisis herself, tells how blown away she was by the breadth and depth of entries in her category.
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After a three-month build-up the UnAwards 2025 is almost here. Here’s your guide to the sold out big day…
by Darren Caveney
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It's here. Almost 3 months after their launch, the shortlists in the 10th annual UnAwards are LIVE.
by Darren Caveney
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Technology has transformed every profession — and communications is no exception. Artificial intelligence can now draft copy, summarise reports, and analyse sentiment faster than any of us could ever hope to. It’s impressive, and it’s useful. But as we enter this new era, we must be clear about one thing: technology cannot replace the humanity of communications.
by Nick Price-Thompson
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My email inbox went into meltdown under the weight of UnAwards entries as last night’s midnight deadline loomed.
It was the busiest day in the 10-year history of the UnAwards.
by Darren Caveney
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We all know that trust is the bedrock of what we do in the public sector. Without it, messages don’t land, communities don’t engage, and the best-intentioned campaigns fall flat. And we’ve all heard the news that ‘trust is at an all time low’. But here’s the thing: how do we really know that? While we talk about trust a lot (and believe me, at Orlo we talk about trust a LOT), how often do we stop to measure it? To really understand what it looks like from inside our own organisations?
That’s exactly what we want to change. We know this is ambitious, and that’s why we need you.
by Helena Hornby
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