The key components of a successful employee experience strategy There’s long been a debate around who exactly is responsible for employee experience within an organisation – with a tendency for it to be lumped in with all the other many and varied roles of internal communications. While there’s undoubtedly crossover between the two, and internal …
The essential elements for a successful employee experience strategy Read More »
If you work in the internal communications industry, the chances are you would probably describe yourselves as a “words person” rather than a “numbers person”. Yet capturing, interpreting and responding to data is an essential part of a communications team’s job, particularly when it comes to measuring employee experience and developing an effective strategy to …
Where’s your next dopamine hit coming from? Beating your friend at tennis? Smashing your PB on your next run? Or being praised on a good job by your boss? When used in the right way, dopamine can be a powerful motivator – both on the sports field and at work. But I’ve been wondering recently …
Gamification in employee experience: How gaming principles can enhance the experience Read More »
If we are to lead, we have to be accountable. Yet so many leaders still find it extremely hard. It’s a topic that comes up again and again in my work. When you’re in a senior role and dealing with a barrage of decisions that need to be made, and constantly changing goalposts, it can …
Why leaders struggle with accountability: Navigating challenges and solutions Read More »
Are you clear on your organisation’s purpose? Are you communicating it well? And are you embodying it with your actions and decisions? Chances are if you’re in an HR, PR, communications or marketing role the answer will be yes. But often as a leader it can become easy to make decisions that are not in …
How to lead a remote team effectively? So much has been written about remote working in the last four years, with organisations across the world adapting to new ways of working in the post-COVID era. But there’s one thing that I don’t think we, as leaders, acknowledge enough – leading a remote team is tough. …
You can’t create a high-performing organisation without creating a better experience for your employees. Yet, so often, this is something that’s only focused on at the start of someone’s journey. We know the importance of a good experience when it comes to recruitment and onboarding but if this doesn’t continue into their employment staff can …
Creating a better experience for your employees: how our model can help Read More »
There are lots of phrases and concepts linked to employees and their relationship with organisations so it’s worth defining each of these before we go into the specifics of an employer brand: Employer brand A set of attributes and qualities, often intangible, that makes an organisation distinctive, promises a particular kind of employment experience, and …
Disengagement is distrust. So, if your scores need some improvement, this is always where we start. Distrust is one of the five root causes of disengagement in any organisation. The other four are; line manager skills, employee experience and lifecycle misalignment, lack of strategic narrative, and inconsistent communication. To really improve those numbers, you need …
For most organisations a risk register exists to make sure everyone knows what could impact the organisation and how to mitigate them. One risk that can often be neglected is insider risk. An Insider is any person who has or previously had, authorised access to or knowledge of the organisation’s resources, including people, processes, information, …
In this week’s podcast episode of Redefining Communications with Jenni Field, we spoke to Sarah Black, a Redefining Communications collective partner, who works as a global communications consultant. We asked her to share her thoughts on the issues facing leaders of global teams and how to address them. This is what she had to say. …
Anyone involved in the recruitment process knows it takes a lot of time and effort to find the right candidates and onboard them effectively. Not so much thought is given to what happens when an employee leaves your company. The offboarding or separation stage includes actions such as handing over responsibilities, conducting exit interviews, and …
The employee lifecycle typically consists of six stages: attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development, retention, and separation. Each stage presents its own challenges and opportunities, so it’s important to focus on them individually rather than one big, long journey. The six stages of the employee lifecycle Attraction: getting the right people to join your company. You want …
I’ve previously talked about the issue of focusing on employee engagement and how this has been a distraction for leaders and communicators. The phrases “employee engagement” and “internal communications” are often used interchangeably and this also takes me into soapbox territory! I recently had a lightbulb moment about this topic while listening to Jacob Morgan’s …
Why employee engagement surveys are measuring the wrong thing Read More »
Flexible working has been on the rise for a while now, and with good reason. Allowing employees to tailor their work schedules to fit their personal needs can lead to increased productivity, lower stress levels, and higher job satisfaction. And as the recent four-day work week trial in the UK has shown, and as BBC …
In this article for IABC’s publication, Catalyst, our employee experience strategist, Lucy Kemp discusses why making internal communication the backbone of your employee experience journey is the only way to go. Lucy talks about how careers have changed, where internal communication fits in on the employee journey, and she also shares a real-life example that …
Making internal communication the backbone of your employee experience journey Read More »
In this Engagement Express podcast episode, Jenni talks to Kate Isichei about the difference between employee engagement, employee experience (EX) and internal communication (IC). The podcast is aimed at HR, engagement and communications professionals. “It’s about understanding what you love doing and what the organisation wants you to do and how those two match together. …
Engagement, employee experience, and internal communication – what’s the difference? Read More »
When people ask me what I do, the question that almost always follows is: “But what on earth is employee experience?!” Employee experience (or EX) has been defined as: “What people encounter and observe over the course of their tenure at an organization.” Culture Amp While others say it’s: “The way in which employees internalize …
In this article for Catalyst, the official publication of the IABC, Jenni Field talks about the three key elements of successful change: “When it comes to understanding change and how to really shift and transform organizations, we must focus on people, relationships and alignment.” Jenni believes that alignment is the most important factor in successful …
One of the most used phrases of 2021 and 2022 has been the Great Resignation. Despite some people thinking that this is a myth (myself included… a crisis will always escalate an existing trend), there is still a huge concern about the unmet need for talent. This has caused a big power shift inside organisations, …
The Great Resignation has put an even bigger emphasis on the importance of company culture in recruitment and retention. In this article published by Kogan Page on its Trending page, Jenni Field talks about the Great Resignation and how it really isn’t something to fear. “The global pandemic has changed a lot for many around the …
Checking in with your culture and why the Great Resignation isn’t all bad Read More »
We’ve been working with BAE Systems for four years as an extension of the communications team, supporting a wide range of activities. We were asked to work alongside the diversity and inclusion team on a campaign around its Inclusion Week, which coincides with the UK’s National Inclusion Week. For BAE Systems, this week is an …
There are lots of themes that come up time and again with our work with clients. When it comes to chaos in organisations, team friction is often a source. In my book, Influential Internal Communication, I talk about how to fix team friction and the common themes you need to explore as you diagnose the …
The perfect book pairing for fixing team friction in organisations Read More »
I’ve realised that I find inspiration in almost everything. From Chicago Fire on Netflix to the way products are packaged as gifts for Christmas. It reminds me of the film Love Actually. In the opening narration, Hugh Grant says: “Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate …
Inspiring Goodies – Chicago Fire, The Great Indoors and letting inspiration flow Read More »
In this episode of Don’t Shoot the Messenger, Vicki Marinker talks to Jenni about corporate culture, the challenges facing the physical workplace and how to future-proof your career in communication. The conversation covers the role of communicators in establishing a positive corporate culture, how to recruit for culture fit and build a diverse workforce, toxic …
How to build a cohesive and diverse culture that’s fit for purpose Read More »
I recently co-hosted a webinar with best-selling author of Remote Work, Chris Dyer, to explore the pitfalls and assumptions around hybrid working – one of the most talked-about terms of 2021. I discussed what we should be focusing on in organisations today and dispel five myths about hybrid working. The myths about hybrid working are: It’s …
In this article for HR Director, Jenni discusses hybrid working. All our focus and effort is being channelled into defining the hybrid workforce. But is hybrid the latest buzzword in a long line of corporate jargon that essentially stops us from moving forward? First published in theHRDIRECTOR, October, 2021. Reproduced with permission. “Hybrid working is …
In 2020 I read The Art of Resilience by Ross Edgley. In the book, Ross shares the story of his swim round the UK. There are many aspects to the story that have stayed with me and one, in particular, made me write a blog at the end of last year too about how easily …
Why employee engagement needs to be more than just campaigns and rewards Read More »
I’ve been writing and speaking a lot recently about culture and the return to the office. It’s becoming the topic for everyone in business as we navigate the changes in the workplace due to the COVID19 pandemic. For many, the conversation is around hybrid working, but you’ll know from my earlier blogs that I believe …
May is National Walking Month in the UK. When I was speaking at the Global Women in PR Inside Stories event recently, I talked about the rise of audio and how its popularity is due largely to the fact you can listen while you walk, drive, run or clean. During the hour session I shared …
How to beat Zoom fatigue and harness the power of audio Read More »
For an event organiser, “online” and “virtual” have been the industry buzzwords over the last year. Here Sarah Weston, who is part of the Redefining Communications collective, talks about what makes an online event a success. Hosting a virtual event requires the same thought and attention to detail as an in-person event. It is important …
Many people working in communications, marketing and PR will be familiar with Marlow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It is often one of the main models taught when studying the theory behind what we do. I revisited it recently in the book Art of Resilience, by Ross Edgley, and a story in that book made me think …
We attended the CIPD Future of Work conference last month and it sparked a number of ideas, the most timely being around the importance of a diverse and inclusive workplace. How can internal communications and HR work together to achieve that? The CIPD is the professional body for Human Resources (HR) and people development. Perhaps …
Since we all shifted to working from home I have been wondering; what will cities and offices look like in the future and what will our homes become if this becomes the ‘new normal’. I’m fascinated to see what will happen to the world of work when we are gradually allowed back outside and back …
When home-working isn’t always the future you think it is Read More »
Last week I took part in the Generation Digital ‘Connected Companies’ webinar to discuss communication in a crisis. One of the attendees asked a question around whether they should continue with their annual employee engagement survey with the current situation. I couldn’t answer straight away. I had a gut feeling but I wanted to chat …
Mental well-being is a topic that more and more people are talking about as our society continues to evolve at pace with pressures from all angles to keep up with expectations. For those in PR it is something that comes up more and more because of the endemic always on expectation, 24-7 media, and increasing …
Mental health – the topic we love to talk about but hate to deal with Read More »
Is employee engagement still on your agenda? A few weeks I blogged on AB thinks (for my client AB) about employee engagement and employee experience – here are my thoughts on how things have changed… Today commentators are using a new term – employee experience – described as the next competitive frontier for organisations. The …
Employee engagement isn’t about happiness, it’s about outcomes Read More »
Last week I attended my first Employee Engagement Awards Conference – hosted by Ruth Dance and organised by Matt Manners and the team behind the global employee engagement awards. I was excited to attend a conference dedicated to employee engagement as it’s been a while since I attended something that wasn’t focussed purely on communication. …
Four things I heard at the Employee Engagement Awards Conference Read More »
