CWC: Internal comms needs coaching

THE WHO:

Amber Walcker?is a transformational internal communications leader with expertise in driving complex programs and projects, leveraging 10+ years of experience as an influential business partner, strategic coach, C-level advisor, and disruptive change agent. Born in the Midwest of Ohio, she currently lives near Seattle, WA with her partner, two sons, and dog.

THE Q&A:

Q: I’d love to talk about internal comms and how you found yourself focused in that area.

I went to college for art and art history. But when I started my career, I started in the financial sector, and that was right around the same time as the 2008 housing and financial crisis. I was immediately pulled into not just the marketing, but also the communications.

Then throughout the rest of my career, I started taking on pieces of internal communications, partnerships, social media marketing, and trade show engagements. Slowly but surely, I started caring more about the people, the employee.

That care grew more deeply when I was at the University of Washington, working cross-collaboratively with different university units and creating those internal communications. My focus was getting individuals the information they need, understanding their objectives, knowing when to celebrate and amplifying those celebrations, and leveraging university/company values that exist. By strategically leveraging those things, I was able to enhance every single internal communication opportunity.

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Q: Internal comms has had more of a media moment lately. I'd be interested to hear your perspective on that or if there are any things that have stood out to you?

I believe the pandemic created a huge shift in how we talk about the internal employee experience - both internally and externally. Internal communications brings everything together - it’s like the internal marketing of the company. More importantly, if leadership is doing something specific and externally talking about it, but not internally, there becomes a gap. In my opinion, with everyone working from home it was very noticeable that the external and internal messaging was not aligned.

With everyone working from home, I believe the power shifted from the company to the employee. With that empowerment, more employees leveraged all sorts of channels to share their employee experience. That forced internal communications to take the spotlight.

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Q: What do you think is a critical skill to being successful in internal comms?

First and foremost, building relationships with people. You can do all the internal comms things, but if you don't have strategic partners and nurture those relationships, you're not going to go very far.

The second is always process. Take the time to understand good process and how best to internally communicate in your organization so that your message is meaningful, engaging, and amplifies the culture.

And finally, technology and tools. Take the time to understand the technology your organization is already using and become an expert in those tools. That can be things like an intranet or Slack. Employees will take notice and start to leverage not just your knowledge but your internal comms skills.

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Q: With all the competing channels from Slack to company intranet to social media, you have all these different places to check and stay up on – how do you break through the noise?

I believe this is one of the biggest challenges. This is where you ruthlessly prioritize. Clarify and simplify your message and not just for the week, but for the quarter. Make sure your people hear it from their leaders, at team meetings, see it on the walls, everywhere. Get your people to champion those messages. Then refer to back to when people heard it last by saying “you heard me in the last meeting…” This is constant affirmation for everyone. Then, focus on how you are measuring it. All in all, it comes down to repeat, repeat, repeat.

In my experience, I’ve found that no more than three messages per quarter works best. It helps everyone stay focused, especially when you want your people to still do their every day job.

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Q: Also tell me about what the leaders’ roles are when it comes to internal comms?

This is an area I’m super passionate about. I do communications coaching with leadership and strategic partners to help them better communicate in an authentic way that’s true to who they are. This includes a large focus on understanding their core values and who they want to be as a leader. Then we can focus on their communication style by leveraging their strengths and areas for improvement. Once my leaders know their core values, I can coach them more effectively. I take the time to understand how those core values show up, both positively and negatively, so that I understand each person’s balance. It’s really great to understanding when a person’s core values are out of balance so you can coach them back to their sweet spot.

For any of your readers who are early in their career, one of the best exercises you can do for yourself is a core values exercise. Understanding what is most important to you as a person is so important. You build self awareness which results in you becoming a stronger communicator and leader. I could literally go on all day about this topic!

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Q: Can you take me through a specific internal comms scenario you’ve experience?

Let’s talk about company layoffs or a reduction in force. This is a tough time for everyone especially leaders who really care about their people but have to make sure the larger business is still successful. It’s about finding the “right” things to say in an authentic way and never forgetting that your people deserve the best communications possible. Every time I’ve experienced this in my career, I coach leaders through “what do you really want to say? And what should we actually say?”

In these challenging moments leaders face a lot of “don't say anything that's going to jeopardize the business,” and I completely understand that, however, your employees, your people, they deserve more. A mentor of mine, Stacey Burke, made it a mantra that ‘our employees are so deserving of good communications’. So as much as I can, I champion that.

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Q: What is the relationship between internal comms and company culture?

Wow, they have this really interesting relationship, almost like siblings. I don't believe one is more important than the other but rather a perfect balance to each other.

I find that culture is ever growing and ever changing as people come and go, as leadership changes, as priorities shift, etc. I find that internal comms works like an older sibling or nurturer for all of the culture, either to amplify it, or to guide a shift when change is needed. In my experience, change management, internal comms, and culture all go hand-in-hand.

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Q: What’s your work life balance like?

I actually don't believe in work life balance. Now, hear me out!

I am a firm believer in showing up at work just like you do at home. It takes less energy to be one person. So really, it’s not work life balance. It’s actually boundaries. You need to know your boundaries and communicate those. If you're not establishing good boundaries, boy, that is really going to impact your level of energy. We only have a maximum of 100% to give on a daily basis and you get to pick on where you spend that energy. Have healthy boundaries and communicate them often. Some may veer away from the word boundaries because it can sound a bit off-putting, but I think it’s a powerful word and tool.

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QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS

Q: Coffee, mocktail, or cocktail?

I love a good mocktail. There’s a restaurant in Seattle that makes a cucumber collins I love.

Q: Print or online?

Oh, well, that's a complex question because it really depended on the stage in my career that I was in.

Q: What is your most used word or phrase in communication?

I tell people stop watering dead plants all the time. (Thank you, Kristin Graham!)

Q: Do you think AI will take your job someday?

I don't believe so. People are complex, and I don't believe the AI will fully understand the emotional side that makes us human.

Q: Do you have a guilty pleasure?

My guilty pleasure is I randomly will add things to an Amazon wish list or to my cart. It's almost like I'm like going shopping without actually going shopping.

Q: What would be one word or a phrase that your family and friends would use to describe you?

Nurturing. I'm totally a nurturer.

Q: What's your most used emoji?

Probably the cry laughing with the head tilt. ??

Q: When do you feel most creative?

Oh, I have to say when I'm when I'm hanging out with my five-year-old son. He sparks a curiosity in me that is just incredible!

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