2017 Agenda

Social and digital

Establishing a team

The gender pay gap

How to deal with channel overload and decide what works best for your business

Panel session

So much emphasis is put on using social in internal comms, but is it actually worth investing in? This panel session will look at the pros and cons of using social channels, while looking at some of the factors that need to be considered before incorporating social channels into an already overloaded channel sphere.

Melissa Stewart, Head of Internal Communications, Save the Children
Katie Bunting, Internal Communications Manager, Ovo Energy
Claire Vivyan Roberts, Head of Employee Communications, Santander
Kathryn Kneller, Head of Internal Communications, Paysafe Jim Connor, Director of Communications, Lloyds Banking Group (Moderator)

How to set up a team

Case study and talk

If having an internal comms function is new to your organisation, how do you go about setting up a fully functioning team and ensure that all of the relevant bases are covered? During this session Robert Mayor, Director of Communications and Recruitment at the University of Greenwich and Danielle Chan, Head of Internal Communications at Community Integrated Care will explain how they approached this task and what challenges they faced along the way.

Robert Mayor, Director of Communications and Recruitment, University of Greenwich
Danielle Chan, Head of Internal Communications, Community Integrated Care

The gender pay gap: crisis or opportunity?

Talk and Q&A

When UK employers publish their gender pay gap next April, you can expect many employees to feel anger, confusion and concern. However, by effectively planning to address the pay gap and communicating it successfully, the story can be one of positive change and progress. In this session, Golin’s head of corporate comms, Nick Bishop, reveals the true scale of reputational risks involved and provides you with practical tools to tackle the challenges and ace your gender pay gap internal comms.

Nick Bishop, Head of Corporate Communications, Golin
Shona Inglis, Executive Director, Golin

Social and digital

Integrating creativity

Engagement and employer branding

Using social channels to communicate with a remote workforce

Case studies

Communicating to non-office based staff is not the easiest of tasks. This something that Macmillan Cancer Support and G4S know all too well; with a large proportion of their employees working on the front-line, both organisations are accustomed to being challenged to come up with new and innovative ways to engage their workforce. During this session, hear about exactly how they go about this with the aid of social channels, and find out what methods they have found to be most effective.

Emma Guise, Director of Communications, Macmillan Cancer Support
Sue Woodville, Group Head of Internal Communications, G4S

Storytelling and creating engaging content

Interactive workshop

In this interactive workshop we will dig down into how to use storytelling to make sure our messages resonate with staff. We will explore what makes stories 'sticky', what kinds of stories we can tell internally, and where great stories come from.

With examples from within the charity sector and drawing on the experience of the room, you will leave this session with some easy to remember rules on how to tell great stories in order to help the creativity flow when you get back to the office.

Aine Murphy, Internal Communications and Employee Engagement Manager, Scope

Creating a connected brand

Case study

This session will look at the importance of a strong employer brand in getting employees to connect with your brand mission and understand their place within it.

Laura Jameson, Senior Engagement Specialist, Instinctif Partners

Social and digital

Integrating creativity

Engagement and employer branding

How you can transform IC by creating amazing video... from your desk!

DIY Video Workshop

Everyone loves video – it makes communication more expressive, more memorable and more human. But creating video content can be daunting and expensive. This practical session will show you how to make broadcast-quality video without using a studio or professional editor; as well as easy-to-follow tips on how to make the content truly engaging. It will include case studies from some of the biggest global brands including Accenture, Unilever and Pfizer.

The session will also explore how to use the content once it’s been produced, and how to ensure optimum engagement. During this high-octane session attendees will have a chance to win a Smart Video production for their organisation. Places are limited, so please make sure you get to the session before it kicks off.

Paul Field , CEO EMEA, TouchCast

Dancing to the same beat

Case study

Keeping employees motivated and engaged can be challenging at the best of times. So how do you engage employees when your organisation is going through transformational change? Have them take part in a surprise musical flashmob! At least that is one thing Morrison & Foerster did as part of their employee engagement strategy last year.

During this session, Michelle Elstein, Morrison & Foerster’s Director of Market Development and Strategy, Europe, will explain how she incorporated elements of experiential comms into their wider engagement strategy and the role it played in helping them to achieve an engaged and happier workforce.

Michelle Elstein, Director of Market Development and Strategy, Europe, Morrison & Foerster

How to be creative on a shoestring budget

Case studies

A limited budget does not have to mean boring comms. Hear how London’s Air Ambulance and the Alzheimer’s Society are bringing creativity to their internal communications on small budgets.

Helen Schick, Head of Internal Communications and Engagement, Alzheimer's Society
Siobhra Murphy, Head of PR and Communications, London’s Air Ambulance

Mergers and acquisitions

Integrating creativity

Engagement and employer branding

Mergers and acquisitions – how internal comms can steady the business during uncertainty and change

Presentation

In the fourth largest deal in corporate history, beverage giant AB InBev acquired rival SABMiller last year, putting the world’s number one and two brewers together. The complexity of securing regulatory approvals meant that it took a year from SABMiller’s Board recommending the offer to completion of the deal, with several twists and turns along the way.

With a workforce of 70,000 employees in 80 countries, SABMiller was challenged with not only having to keep their employees engaged and motivated during such a long period of uncertainty, but also to prepare them for life after the deal.

During this session, SABMiller’s former Director of Group Communications and Reputation, Christina Mills, will share her experiences of how the company stepped up its internal communications and engagement strategy during this time, and the remarkable results they achieved in doing so.

Christina Mills, former Group Head of Communications and Reputation, SABMiller

Lose the talking heads - creativity in video

Case studies

Done well, video could prove to be the secret weapon in your internal comms arsenal. During this session, find out how to really grab people’s attention with creative and innovative internal communications videos.

Deborah Smith, Head of Internal Comms, Skyscanner

How to equip leaders and line managers with the tools to become good storytellers and inspire others

Presentation

This session will look at the important role of storytelling in keeping employees engaged, and the role of leaders and line managers, with a focus on practical ideas and tools you can use to help them do this effectively.

Sara Vogt, Head of corporate communications, Ministry of Justice