Episode 62 – Textbook IC: rewriting comms for a new era

In the latest episode of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay speaks with the duo who wrote the book on internal communications – literally. Sue Dewhurst has worked in comms for more than 20 years and now trains thousands of professionals, with her frameworks used in organisations around the world, while Liam FitzPatrick is a change management expert and a lecturer in teams, research and planning. In this broad-ranging and in-depth conversation, Sue and Liam explore the new insights shared in the freshly published second edition of their book, Successful Employee Communications: A Practitioner’s Guide to Tools, Models and Best Practice for Internal Communication. They also discuss issues including goal-setting, outcomes versus outputs, running your own intelligence operation and knowing how your audience thinks. They emphasise the unmatched importance – and privilege – of listening to people, and reinforce that IC is just as much about what people need as the organisation’s overall goals. Though Sue and Liam agree that the pandemic has proven the power of IC, they warn organisations not to get complacent. In a world where purpose has become the glue that holds a company and its employees together, it’s essential to avoid backsliding. After all, IC isn’t just about what we say, it’s about the actions and compassion of the organisation.