Last week the British Association of Communicators in Business (CiB) formally became the Institute of Internal Communication (IoIC). The organisation says it aims to champion better communication between employers and employees and wants to “improve business success and profitability through enhanced communication within organisations.”
I think it’s a smart move to have a dedicated association, particularly with the words ‘internal communication’ in its name and welcome the change. I’ve been reading the comments on the IoIC LinkedIn group and there seems to be a desire from members to make the move more than merely a name change, with calls for “new dynamism and new focus.”
The new website, Twitter ID and LinkedIn group are underway and I think there are exciting times ahead. What’s your feeling about the change?
I’ll let IoIC chairman Dominic Walters have the last word in this post, with quotes from their press release: “Increased awareness by many organisations of the pivotal role of internal communication is one of the reasons why the time is right for the launch of the new Institute. However, we must also remember that many organisations still do not fully understand internal communication or how to go about achieving employee engagement – that is staff who are content in their work, understand their organisation’s goals and are committed to making their contribution towards achieving them.
“We aim to ‘spread the word’ to all types of organisations – public and private sector, large and small – as internal communication is important to everyone. One of the key factors for us in improving standards across the board is ensuring that communication professionals are up to the job, understand business objectives and inspire confidence in senior management – hence the IoIC’s focus on professional development and thought leadership.
“With the increased complexity of internal communication practice, and the range of tools at practitioners’ disposal, it is now very important that communication professionals have their own institute to provide dedicated support.’’
