Client spotlight: Liz Harkins

This month we hear from Liz Harkins, Head of internal communications at Wales and West utilities, we asked Liz to share some of her key insights in this months five questions. 

Are there any new trends in internal brand communications you’re excited by?

I’m really pleased to see an even greater focus on the power of creating employee influencers. Here at Wales & West Utilities, we always talk about striving to make sure that our colleagues’ communications experience at work is as close as possible to the one they have out of hours. In truth, it’s an incredibly high bar that most of us who work in Internal Communications can only dream of reaching (!) – but there is no harm in aiming high, I say.  Whether it’s social media, Breakfast TV or your favourite morning Radio show, we are all being engaged and influenced every single day via various communication channels. All of us respond to that human approach and are looking for opportunities for two-way communication. I know I’m more likely to buy into something if I truly relate to the person who’s talking to me – and if I get some engagement from them. And we should be mirroring this approach in our internal communications. This isn’t to say that Leadership and Top-down communications don’t have their place, because they do and always will – but I think we can definitely get smarter at considering who may be the best ‘messenger’ – and it may not always be the person we originally thought of…

What’s the one thing on top of your mind as an internal comms leader right now?

Change. Without a doubt – business evolution and communicating change is top of the priorities for us here at Wales & West Utilities. As a gas distribution network, we know that change is ahead of us so that we can help to drive a greener energy future – but we don’t yet know what that will look like. We want to make sure that our people are fully engaged and informed about what may be on the horizon, whether that involves blending Hydrogen into our network, moving across to 100% Hydrogen or even ultimately decommissioning the network. Either way, we have a long and exciting road ahead of us – and we want to make sure that we’ve got a talented and enthusiastic workforce that’s fit for the challenge!

How important do you think hyper personalisation in campaigns and employee for employees right now?

It’s super important – but is also a really tricky one. Particularly when you have a business as diverse as ours. We understandably all want things the way we want them, on our terms and personalised. But when you have colleagues in such varied roles, in multiple locations, working a myriad of shift patterns, with various technology at their disposal, it can be a challenge. But again – for me it’s not about being able to nail this stuff 100%, it’s about giving it a good go. It’s about trying to understand your people as best you can by creating continuous listening opportunities - and then being prepared to flex what you’re doing and tailor your approach accordingly.

Why do you think story telling is so important in creating connections with your employees?

Story telling is at the heart of what makes us human. Everything boils down to a story. We are all living our own stories every day and constantly seeking out others’ stories to share with others – in books, films, news articles etc. At every stage in life, stories are powerful and can be hugely comforting – whether that’s being read a bedtime story as a small child or when hearing an uplifting and authentic eulogy at the end of someone’s life. Great stories tap into our authentic selves and move us in a way that nothing else can – and so for me, they are the best way to engage and inspire our employees.

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