Welcome to our latest Candid Conversation guest Sophia Walker, Internal Communications Manager at Morgan Sindall Property Services based in the UK.
Sophia has worked in Communications since 2017, before specialising in internal communications.
If you’d like to share your internal comms stories and experiences for the All Things IC, complete our submission form, and one of the team will be in touch.
It doesn’t matter how long you’ve worked in comms or where you are in the world; we’d love to share your story.
Over to Sophia for her Candid Conversation…
How did you discover internal communication as a profession?
I originally started my career in publishing, and although I enjoyed it, I knew I wanted a role I could spend more time using my writing and creative skills. I stumbled upon internal communications while I was searching for my next role and read everything I could find on it, including All Things IC!
I quickly became hooked and started a CIPR qualification to begin my career change. I’ve worked solely in internal communication for over four years and absolutely love it.
What do you love most about working in the internal comms profession?
It sounds cliche, but every day is different. There is plenty of scope to be creative; writing news articles or drafting senior leadership communications as well as designing posters, flyers and videos.
You also have space to work strategically, around wider behaviour and culture change. I’m also hugely passionate about making organisations a happier place to work, so making an impact in that area is hugely rewarding.
Do you have a memorable moment to share about when an IC project didn’t quite go to plan?
In a previous role, we held monthly conferences for the whole company. One guest speaker, who was speaking remotely through Teams, had so many technical difficulties that at one point, we attempted to have them on a Google Hangout meeting, screenshared into the Teams Live event! Eventually, we had to admit defeat, which was disappointing, but at least I knew we’d done everything possible to make it happen.
What’s been a highlight of your internal comms career so far?
The highlight of my career has been launching a new channel for managers at my current organisation. I had feedback that employees felt they were receiving too many ad-hoc emails from functions such as Human Resources and IT, so I created a channel to combine all the important monthly updates in a magazine format to make it accessible and engaging. I’ve had some great feedback since, and it’s become one of our most trusted channels.
Another highlight has to be the colleagues I’ve met across my career. In my experience, internal communicators are some of the most passionate, kind and hardworking people I’ve met, and so many of my previous colleagues still constantly inspire me.
What do you feel has been the biggest change to our profession you’ve seen or experienced in your career?
Over my career so far, I’ve watched internal communications become a trusted and valued profession. The first two companies I worked at didn’t have internal comms departments, and now there are a plethora of roles available in IC.
The tools we use have also become so much more sophisticated and now align more with marketing teams, which is great to see as it means we can be really impactful and effective in our measurement and evaluation.
How would you define internal communication to someone who didn’t know about it?
To me, internal communications is making sure that employees have the information they need to know how to do their jobs well, to know what the company is working towards and how they belong, and to know how they are valued at the company and why they should want to remain working there.
Internal communicators can help create an environment where everyone feels involved in the mission of the company, and feel passionate about what they do.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting out in internal comms?
It can often feel daunting to get started in internal communications as there are lots of vocabulary, models and acronyms to learn. These can be useful and raise the quality of your internal communications, but getting started, I’d focus on just learning as much as possible about the company you are working for. Each audience of employees is different, and the best way to create brilliant internal comms is to really understand your audience and their environment.
What are your top tips when it comes to continued professional development to stay up to date on everything internal comms related?
I have completed two CIPR qualifications in internal communications which were absolutely brilliant and helped me so much with understanding the methodology of internal communications. They’ve given me the confidence to support my opinions to senior leaders with theory and research.
However, thanks to generous IC practitioners like Rachel Miller, there is a wealth of free information online of blogs and podcasts sharing best practices, case studies and schools of thought. Make as much use of that as you can, as well as following people that inspire you on LinkedIn and watch what they’re doing. There are some brilliant communicators out there really pushing the quality of internal comms higher and higher.
If you could go back in time and speak to yourself when you started your IC career, what advice would you give?
The best way to learn is from other people. Watch and learn as much as you can, but also ask all the questions you have. In my experience, people are very generous with their time and are always happy to help people starting their careers, or learning about internal communication.
Thank you Sophia for sharing your candid conversation with readers of the All Things IC blog.
You can connect with Sophia on LinkedIn.
Post author: Dan Holden
First published on the All Things IC blog 20 September 2023.
New series of 90-minute Masterclasses now available at global times
We’ve launched a new series of 90-minute Masterclasses as part of our experimental 10th birthday year, creating more training opportunities for everyone to access, regardless of your location.
Topics include change communication, measurement and how to be an effective internal communicator. We’re offering our latest 90-minute Masterclasses at two different times, allowing more Comms professionals outside of Europe to join.
You can book a start time of:
7am UK time (BST) which is 2pm in Singapore, 4pm in Sydney and 6pm in Auckland or 2pm UK time (BST) which is 5pm in Dubai, 8am in Chicago and 9am in Toronto.
All our 90-minute Masterclasses are delivered online via Microsoft Teams by an All Things IC Communication Consultant and your investment is £199 +VAT.
You can book a place on:
October 2023
- 10 Oct: Introduction to IC measurement (2pm UK)
- 12 Oct: Introduction to IC measurement (7am UK)
- 17 Oct: Using an IC measurement framework (2pm UK)
- 19 Oct: Using an IC measurement framework (7am UK)
- 24 Oct: Supporting leaders with change comms (4am UK) FULL
- 26 Oct: Creating an IC measurement report (7am UK)
November 2023
- 7 Nov: How to be an internal communicator (2pm UK)
- 8 Nov: Supporting leaders with change comms (2pm UK)
- 9 Nov: How to be an internal communicator (7am UK)
- 15 Nov: Creating an IC measurement report (2pm UK)
- 21 Nov: Effective internal communication channels (2pm UK)
- 23 Nov: Effective internal communication channels (7am UK)
- 28 Nov: How to plan internal communications (2pm UK)
- 30 Nov: How to plan internal communications (7am UK).
January / February 2024
- 16 Jan: Theory of change communication (2pm UK)
- 18 Jan: Theory of change communication (7am UK)
- 23 Jan: Supporting leaders with change comms (2pm UK)
- 25 Jan: Supporting leaders with change comms (7am UK)
- 30 Jan: Involving your internal audiences with change (2pm UK)
- 1 Feb: Involving your internal audiences with change (7am UK)
Use the code BIRTHDAYTREAT to save 10% off any 90-minute Masterclass until 31 December 2023.
If you’re based outside the United Kingdom, please contact us for a payment link and to book your place.
