The people shaping the conversations that matter
Every organisation runs on conversations. The big ones in leadership meetings. The everyday ones between colleagues. The difficult ones during change. The reassuring ones when uncertainty creeps in.
Behind many of those conversations are internal communications professionals, the experts helping leaders find the right words, helping teams understand what’s really happening, and helping organisations stay human when things get complicated.
This feels particularly worth reflecting on during International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, because internal communications is a profession filled with talented, thoughtful and influential women. Yet the impact of that work is often invisible. When communication works well, people simply assume the organisation is functioning smoothly.
Shout out to some brilliant women!
To mark the month, I want to recognise some of the brilliant women working across internal communications. Across sectors and organisations, women in comms are helping teams navigate change, build stronger cultures and make work clearer and more human. So a shout out to a few I have worked with recently.
Morag Macdonald, Communications Manager, Seaway7
Morag is an inspiration! I met her through the Institute of Internal Communications mentoring scheme. She is a quiet do-er, always having the backs of her team and the wider leadership, and it has been great to see her progress.
Carla de Souza, Transformation and Change Director, Chubb Fire and Security Group
Carla is fiercely brilliant, working in a very masculine environment, she brings a real human touch to the work she does and the organsiation benefits hugely from that.
My girls, Sophie and Grace, comms at Cosy Meerkat
I couldn’t not mention Sophie and Grace who work across our clients, providing deep, unflinching, challenging advice to our clients. The schizophrenic nature of agency life means that there are a lot of plates to spin and balls to juggle. Their ability to keep things going is immense and our repeat business is thanks to their great work.
Why this work is more than a support function
When you see the impact of people like Morag, Carla, Sophie, and Grace, it becomes clear that “support function” doesn’t come close to describing what they do.
Good internal comms professionals shape how organisations think, decide and act. They help leaders explain strategy. They help teams understand change. They help organisations listen as well as speak. And many of the skills that make someone great in communications, things like empathy, clarity, diplomacy, curiosity, are still too often labelled as “soft skills”.
In reality, they are true leadership skills. Those unspoken things like the ability to read a room, or to sense when something isn’t well received, for example.
When you look closely at the role internal communications plays inside organisations, several themes emerge.
1. Translators of strategy
Leaders often think in strategy, plans and objectives. Employees experience work through tasks, teams and day-to-day decisions. Internal communications professionals bridge that gap. They translate ambition into something people can understand and act on. Without that translation, strategy can easily remain a document rather than becoming reality.
2. The sense-makers during change
Most organisations today are in a near constant state of change. New systems, restructures, shifting priorities, economic pressures. IC teams help people make sense of that change. They provide context, reassurance and clarity when uncertainty is high, and they turn all that noise into deep understanding ensuring employees know what their role is during times of change.
3. Culture vultures
Culture is shaped by what organisations say, what they celebrate and what they choose to talk about. IC teams often play a central role in keeping values alive. They amplify the behaviours that matter and help organisations stay connected to their purpose.
4. Trusted advisors
Perhaps one of the most important roles internal communications professionals play is quietly advising leaders. Helping them think about how a message will land, and challenging language that may miss the mark. It takes confidence and judgement to do this well, and when it works, organisations benefit enormously.
What leaders can learn
If there is one lesson organisations should take from the work of internal communications teams, it is this: Communication is not something you do at the end. Too often, comms teams are brought in once decisions are already made, with the request to “send something out”.
But communication is most powerful when it is part of the thinking from the start. When leaders bring communications professionals into discussions early, three things happen. Decisions become clearer, messages land better and trust grows.
The organisations that understand this treat communications not as a task, but as a strategic capability.
One of the most striking things about the internal comms profession is the generosity within it. People share ideas. They recommend each other. They swap advice when a difficult moment arises. Women in communications, in particular, often create networks of support that help others navigate the pressures of the role. It’s a profession built not just on expertise, but on collaboration.
At Cosy Meerkat, we spend a lot of time thinking about how communication shapes organisations. The conversations leaders choose to have - and the ones they avoid - define how people experience work.
Women in communications are often the people making sure those conversations happen in the right way. So this month, celebrating the women around us, it feels right to recognise the women helping organisations communicate better every day, often behind the scenes, but always making a difference.
