CorpComms Magazine

Three in five internal communications departments are either growing or maintaining their headcount, according to a report by UK recruiters VMA Group.

The profession is also proving its worth at management level, with 68 per cent of respondents confirming their senior executive team are either generally supportive or active champions of the discipline, a 12 percentage point rise from 2008. This internal support is reflected in changing hierarchies of communication within firms. Heads of internal communications are increasingly reporting directly to chief executives and there is greater interaction with the heads of parallel departments such as marketing.

Nick Green, director of internal communications at BSkyB, insists this issue of line management is significant only in so far as it indicates a burgeoning respect for the power of communications. 'Internal communications as a profession has got to stop navel gazing. For example, it's not important where the function reports to - HR, Corporate Comms, Marketing. What's important is that the discipline has credibility throughout the organisation.'

However the public at large still need a little convincing: almost three quarters of internal communications professionals regularly have to explain what they do.

The recession seems to have spurred on many communications teams to make themselves indispensable by innovating and engaging with other departments. Helen Farrar, head of internal communications at Virgin Media, said: 'The amount of change that went on during the recession has forced chief executive officers to motivate and engage key employees in a way that they've never had to before. This has provided the platform for a big 'powerplay' for internal communication. We've had to be more creative due to tightened budgets.'

share me: del.icio.us | digg | reddit | Tweet