Your Custom Text Here
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
Read more
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
Read more
A few days on and I still have a lovely warm glow from the incredible 10th annual UnAwards.
by Darren Caveney
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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.
Read more
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
Read more
It's here. Almost 3 months after their launch, the shortlists in the 10th annual UnAwards are LIVE.
by Darren Caveney
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
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
Read more
Public sector comms isn’t just about pushing messages out, prettying up posters or sprinkling fairy dust on a report that no one understands.
by Dominic Ridley-Moy
Read more
The Unawards 2025 entries are open, and the spotlight is yours.
It's that time again. Not just fireworks and festive plans…
It's Unawards season, where the boldest, brightest, most human communications (and communicators) get their well-earned moment in the spotlight.
by Alan Oram
Read more
We’re doing something a bit special to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the UnAwards – and it’ll be music to your ears.
by Mark Gardner
Read more
When it comes to AI, there are no shortages of hot takes on what it all means for society - for better and for worse.
by Alex Waddington
Read more
Recently I have had two experiences that reminded me why we should be grateful for the NHS. One was moving. The other was painful and slightly scary.
by Russell Cartwright
Read more
Winning an UnAward is a very special thing.
But how can you win one?
Find out exactly how by getting the inside track from past winners and current judges in this all-new webinar.
by Darren Caveney
Read more
The 10th annual UnAwards launch TODAY. They're the most exciting and accessible industry awards around. Now is not a time to quietly sit back and hope your organisation recognises and appreciates your efforts. Instead try and get yourself shortlisted for an UnAward to really put your work on the organisational map on this, the very special 10th anniversary of the UnAwards.
by Darren Caveney
Read more
After leaving a role in February 2025, I didn’t dream that it would take four months to land my next gig. As time ground on, I realised I wasn’t alone - there’s a sea of unused, untapped and unemployed skills out there with folks battling an increasingly difficult recruitment market. Is this the new job searching ‘normal’?
by Neil Hopkins
Read more
