Client Spotlight: Elliott Davis
This month we hear from Elliott Davis, Internal Communications & Engagement Manager at Yorkshire Water, we asked Elliott to share some of his key insights in this months five questions.
What’s the one thing on top of your mind as an internal comms leader right now?
A key trend appearing across the sector is the level and constant nature of change. We’re seeing a blend of business-as-usual communications and change communications and we’re being tasked with not only distinguishing the two but also finding innovative ways to engage people about them.
This could include AI, which is challenging our longstanding channels and processes, leading to a growing appetite to review the tech and methods we’ve relied upon for years.
Tell us about the success of Drive to Thrive and its role in galvanising and aligning colleagues?
There’s a lot of pressure in our industry right now to improve how we serve customers and protect the environment and our Drive to Thrive was exactly what we needed to get people behind our plan and help them connect their day-to-day jobs to our vision. It’s become our golden thread across our internal communications and it’s the backbone of our annual plans. Being able to easily explain why we do what we do helps us land our important updates.
What value does working with an external partner bring to your team and role?
Beyond skills, time and expertise in areas you might not be lucky enough to have in-house, external partners allow for an outside perspective on ideas or plans for improvements. I’m a big believer in looking outside to inform what happens inside and working with external partners allow us to do that for some of our most important deliverables as a team. In my role as a leader, getting an outside perspective also provides me with insights into how other teams effectively manage high workloads in a creative space.
We have won two awards together and we have just been shortlisted for another three. What do awards mean to you and why do you think they are important?
We’re not often the type of team to shout about what we do, so winning those awards was a remarkable feeling. It was such a great surprise to see another 3 for this year and it gave my team and I a feeling of success. Personally, I set myself the goal of creating an award-winning internal communications and engagement team back when I took on the role of manager. Knowing your team is delivering something worthy of national recognition is a reminder that we do some incredible work for a small team, and it’s given us more drive to thrive in years to come (pun-intended!).
How would you describe your experience of working with WPA Pinfold in five words?
Productive. Collaborative. Speedy. Reliable. Fun.