The Internal Comms Podcast AB Comm

This week on The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay welcomes culture-chameleon Shane Hatton. Shane is many things – author, international speaker, trainer, leadership coach, podcast host… but he best describes his journey as “a long collision of marketing, leadership and psychology.”

Shane is the author of Lead the Room and Let’s Talk Culture, two fascinating books that get to the crux of how leaders can step up and lead ‘“in the conference room, the meeting room and the lunchroom,’” and the importance of this in building company culture.

Lead the Room originally began as three leadership programmes blended into one; there’s a thread that runs through this conversation of how many things come together to create magic. It’s jam-packed full of anecdotes that will make you rethink what culture really is and how (or if) it’s created and cultivated.

From one team culture built on the back of a story about failure at Olympic try-outs, to a story that begins “Hey Katie, would you mind just jumping in the car with me?” Shane’s unique way of approaching culture through storytelling is a real tonic. It’s not one to miss.

We hope you enjoy this latest episode. If you have any thoughts or comments on this episode, share them using the hashtag #TheICPodcast. For more exclusive IC insights, follow us on Twitter at @abthinks.

This week on The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay welcomes Nicholas Wardle. Nicholas is Head of Employee Experience at Brand Experiences, and co-author of ‘Monetising the Employee Experience’. So, it’ll come as no surprise that this conversation offers some deep insight into the many ways motivated colleagues can drive productivity and ultimately ROI.

Many have said (and we agree) that employees are an organisation’s greatest asset. They are one of the only assets that appreciate over time. But if that’s true, why is the employee experience so undervalued?

Katie and Nicholas get into the ways your organisation can uncover its colleagues’ ‘intrinsic motivators’, and what helps them bring their best, most productive self to work. They cover how each stage in the employee lifecycle contains ‘moments that matter’ and suggest how to leverage these for colleague engagement.

Ultimately, this conversation is about the human nature of business, and why employee engagement is best served by the people, for the people.

We hope you enjoy this latest episode. If you have any thoughts or comments on this episode, share them using the hashtag #TheICPodcast. For more exclusive IC insights, follow us on Twitter at @abthinks.

This week on The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay welcomes Sam Bleazard. Sam’s role as Employer Brand Content Producer takes him behind the scenes of ‘the world’s most famous corner shop’, Fortnum and Mason and, in the second episode of season nine, join Katie as she gets an exclusive behind-the-scenes peak at life at the King’s grocer.

Fortnum and Mason is an iconic British institution. It holds two Royal Warrants, meaning it provides groceries and tea to King Charles and, as Sam explains in the show, the company has a long, impressive history that’s intrinsically linked to the story of Britain.

But Sam’s made it his mission to find and tell the untold stories of Fortnum’s.

As a passionate storyteller, he believes in the power of authentic, human-centric stories to empower colleagues and get them to believe in themselves. These stories are also great adverts for attracting talent to the team and lift the curtain on the imposing façade of 181 Piccadilly.

And talking of royalty: if you’re a Prince fan, this episode has a treat for you.

We hope you enjoy this latest episode. If you have any thoughts or comments on this episode, share them using the hashtag #TheICPodcast. For more exclusive IC insights follow us on Twitter at @abthinks.

The Internal Comms Podcast is back for Season 9!

To kick off this season, we welcomed BizJuicer’s Andy Goram to the hot seat. Andy’s passion for building businesses ‘from the inside-out’ aligns rather nicely with our own ethos at AB, and makes him the perfect guest to help inspire and inform our listeners.

Andy’s formative working experiences were in hospitality, learning the power of relationship building for success in front-line service roles. He calls this “lifting the curtain on ‘have a nice day!’”, as behind the pleasantries was a real desire to connect with the customer in a genuine and authentic way. This thinking has followed him throughout his brilliant career, and guided him through the transformation of one of the UK’s biggest bingo businesses – where customers and colleagues are like family – Gala Bingo.

In this episode, Katie and Andy explore the power of being human and leading with care in the corporate world, but also the impact of constructive guidance on creating culture that goes the distance. Andy brings reams of experience to the mic, including some hilarious anecdotes from when he was finding his way in the working world, and when his ego needed checking.

We hope you enjoy this latest episode, and if you have any thoughts or comments on this episode, share them using the hashtag #TheICPodcast. And for more content like this, make sure you’re following us on Twitter at @abthinks.

With Season 9 of The Internal Comms Podcast right around the corner, host Katie Macaulay has taken the opportunity to reflect on the wisdom and insight shared over our latest season and complied some highlights we know you, the audience, will enjoy.

This bonus episode spotlights some of the standout moments from Season 8. From a surprise trip to the stars with ICology’s Kristin Hancock to actionable advice on how leaders can become better communicators with Adrian Cropley, this is a whistlestop tour of some of the most fascinating conversations of 2022.

With each season of The Internal Comms Podcast, one thing becomes increasingly clear: internal comms is rising up the corporate agenda. Leaders can no longer ignore the power of building an organisation from the inside out.

The season 8 finale features Jennifer Thomas, Head of Communications for the Data & Analytics branch of the London Stock Exchange Group.

Born in London to Guyanese parents, Jennifer was raised in Canada and studied in California. Being a black British girl in the early 80s meant being treated as an outsider, a formative experience which galvanised her to forge her own path. Google Jennifer today and you’ll find the word ‘trailblazer’ – but she’s so much more than that.

In this episode, Jennifer tells Katie how she was never afraid to stand out and create her own path. From her work as a ‘corporate translator’ in one of the world’s economic powerhouses to her championing of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, Jennifer has stuck to her ethos of treating today as a building block for tomorrow, and going after your dreams in your own way.

Thank you for tuning into Season 8 of The Internal Comms Podcast. If you have any thoughts or comments on this episode, share them using the hashtag #TheICPodcast. And make sure you’re following us @abthinks.

We’ll be back in 2023!