Building the future of internal communication

How do you structure your comms team to ensure your organisation adapts and thrives in a constantly changing environment? How can you nurture two-way dialogue, and does social media have a role within your business?

These topics and many more will be addressed by the annual internal communication conference from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Inside @CIPRInside group.

It’s happening on Wednesday 25 September at the Kia Oval in south London and this year’s theme is ‘Building our future.’ It is focused on the rapidly evolving communications landscape and the impact that technology is having on the role of internal communicators. There’s an early bird rate for tickets that ends this week – more info at the foot of this article.

But before I share with you more detail on what’s coming in September, there’s an event from CIPR Inside that is only a few weeks away, and readers of my blog can benefit from a discounted rate. Read on to find out more.

Surveys, Sentiment and Strategy measurement summit

How does measurement drive strategy? How do you measure internal social media and its impact on communication strategy? How do you measure engagement and evaluate just how effective internal communication is?

MeasurementI know from the search terms comms pros use to reach my blog that these topics are hot ones at the moment and think the timing of the upcoming CIPR Inside measurement summit on 23 July is ideal, so thought I’d highlight it here.

It’s taking place at the CIPR headquarters in London and promises the answers to these questions and more. There’s an excellent panel of experts who have hands-on experience of taking measurement to the next level, linking surveys and sentiment to strategy. The focus is on measurement in practice with case studies and practical experience.

The CIPR Inside website states: “You’ll learn how the experts have used measurement to find out what is critical to successful employee engagement and understand how to link business performance back to employee engagement metrics. You’ll come away with a deeper understanding of how you can make measurement work in your organisations and know how to show the real value of your work in internal communication and employee engagement.” Sounds good to me! You’ll also earn five CPD points for attending.

Discount for my blog readers
The code you need to save £10 when you book your tickets for Surveys, Sentiment and Strategy measurement summit is: allthingsIC. Simply enter this when you register for tickets (choose the enter promotional code link) and the discount will be applied.

Thank you for being loyal readers and I hope you enjoy the summit. (Small print: The next 20 tickets to be booked using allthingsIC in the ‘enter promotional code’ box will save £10 on their ticket price).

If you go along, do let me know what you think of it. If you fancy writing a guest article on your thoughts from the event, just let me know by Tweeting me @AllthingsIC or commenting below.

If this is the first time you’ve read my blog, welcome, you may want to check out my new here page. If it is your first visit, you’re still welcome to use the code and pass it to your colleagues too.

As an added bonus, last year CIPR Inside published a measurement matrix. If you’ve not seen it before I recommend it and you can download it here for free.

Let’s look ahead to the annual IC conference I mentioned earlier…

Building the future of internal communication

This year, delegates will not only hear from expert speakers representing top UK and global brands, they will also be able to choose from a range of workshops and help them to find the answers to their questions.

Did you go last year? I presented on How Social Media Is Changing Internal Communication and thoroughly enjoyed the day and meeting lots of IC pros. You can see my slides below plus a Storify account and overview video. If you’ve seen me present, you’ll know I prefer largely image-based content, so the context will be missing for many of them, but you can the slides here:

The format has been freshened up for 2013 because this year delegates can take an active role in the debates and select what they want to learn from the day.

I’m on the CIPR Inside committee and can testify that they are working hard to make it the best one yet. They have been reviewing the feedback from last year to ensure the good ideas have been captured and acted on.

It’s a bumper line up – speakers include HSBC talking about Building a world-class IC function, Eurostar on Engaging remote workers, Comma Partners looking at Your career in your hands, Blind Veteran on Engaging your people to support their brand and Creating global employee engagement at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

Many of these topics came up at the big yak unconference I co-hosted a few weeks ago and I think they tap into what is important for IC pros at the moment.

What to expect

I am going to be chairing a session on sociable internal communication and putting questions from people in the room to the guest speakers from Coca-Cola Enterprises, Gatwick Airport and Glasgow Housing Association. They will be giving us a glimpse into some of the good work they are doing and the session will provide opportunities for IC pros to get some insight into what works well and hear hints and tips for their own workplace.

You can find out more about the CIPR Inside conference via the website and tickets are available here. The early bird rate for tickets ends on 12 July, so be quick!

For further information on the conference and for booking queries, contact the CIPR Events Team on 020 7631 6919 or email kirstiel@cipr.co.uk.

Social Summer on 18 July

Next Thursday I will be leading a Social Summer event for comms pros and the topic is employee engagement.

Organisations are increasingly placing importance on employee engagement and recognising the benefits of having an engaged workforce. The evidence is stacking up and movements like Engage for Success are helping to drive awareness of the benefits for people, businesses and the economy.

I’ll be looking at how to engage employees and whether social media has a role to play in helping organisations communicate with their colleagues and stakeholders. Plus I’ll be discussing how internal communication is changing because of social media and looking at ways to enhance engagement.

It’s on Thursday 18 July in the evening. You can see full info and book your ticket here.

Thank you as ever for stopping by, Rachel.

Post author: Rachel Miller

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