What challenges do you face in your IC role? What skills do you need to stay current? What’s great about your job? What’s not? Who do you report to? How big is your team? What should your comms team look like?
The search for answers to these questions occupy the minds of communicators and readers of my blog.
Today I’ve got news of how you can share your realities of working in IC as part of a comprehensive study of the profession, so we can all benchmark.
A few days ago I met with the Internal Communications Practice team at the London office of VMA Group, who are specialists in Corporate and Marketing Communications recruitment.
They are calling for communicators to complete their survey to give a detailed understanding of working in internal comms.
The team (Andrew Harvey, Michelle Morgan and Luke Murdoch, pictured) has written a guest post for my blog to share what they are doing and invite you to take part.
I urge you to complete the survey. I’ve done it already, there are 77 questions and it’s worth investing the effort. I found it took me about 10 minutes to complete, so do grab a cup of tea and share your thoughts.
There are a couple of questions that particularly piqued my interest, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the conclusions are later this year. I will of course ask the team to keep us posted and share the results when they’re out.
So if you’re looking for evidence to inform discussions in your organisation, or want to know what other companies are doing when it come to all things internal communication related, this is your chance.
I’ll hand you over to the VMA Group team…
Tell us the state of IC today
In the first half of 2015, we at VMA Group have already met with over 1,000 internal communications specialists – both clients and candidates, and our industry contacts.
Every day we have valuable conversations about the current state of the internal communications discipline. Needless to say, some companies manage their internal communications incredibly well, and some definitely do not.
Our team is made up of an interesting blend of communicators and recruiters. We are unified by our passion for getting the right role for our candidates, ensuring that our clients meet with the best talent and of course, continuing to prove and promote the power of internal communications.
From global financial services to household names in the FMCG world, we work with clients spanning across all sectors and of all sizes. Our annual internal communications survey allows us to take a bird’s eye view of the market and assess the trends, issues and opportunities across the profession.
With the results, we will construct an in-depth report to answer all of the questions that are at the forefront of your minds:
- Is my team too big, too small, or just right?
- Does the structure of my team work?
- Do I report into the right person?
- Is my salary representative of what I do?
- What does digital look like in other companies?
- What skills do I need to stay current?
This year’s survey is our MOST extensive to date, and we’re counting on our network of contacts in internal communications to make this piece of research as comprehensive, and therefore as meaningful as possible.
In recent years, internal communications professionals have told us that they want their area to report into the Chief Executive and we’re starting to see this happen at a rapid pace.
What does your internal comms function look like? Who do you ultimately report to? How much influence do you and your IC function have? What’s great about your role and what’s not?
Please take ten minutes out of your day to complete the survey.
Have your say and help produce the go to industry report for internal comms professionals. (Tweet this)
We look forward to sharing the results with you later in the year.
Kind regards,
VMA Group’s Internal Communications Practice.
Thank you Andrew, Michelle and Luke. Some cracking questions in there, and I’m looking forward to reading the responses.
Rachel.
Further reading on the All Things IC blog
- Free stuff – your complete guide to getting ahead in internal comms
- Looking for a new job? See the All Things IC jobs page.
- Download the free All Things IC app or add your name to the mailing list.
Post author: Rachel Miller
First published on the All Things IC blog 30 July 2015.
I’d love for the survey to include the US. We share IC problems, too!