Comms In A Nutshell

Why do we still work five days a week, when we could be working four? And can you actually make it work in your organisation? This podcast episode is a result of the latest UK pilot study of the four day week. In this episode Vic & Scott will be : What do you think? Can the four day week become a reality by 2030? Does you company do it already and how is it going. If you'd like to get in touch with thoughts and ideas please email victoria.mcewan@oak.com Resources: 4 Day Week Global UK Pilot Results Joe Ryle Guardian Podcast Hays Study Unilever: Four Day week (NZ & AUS) Microsoft Japan four day week Trio Media 4 Day Week Planner

We’re well underway with our second season of Comms In A Nutshell, a brand new look, a new episode format (episodes are now more appropriately nutshell sized) but all the same great internal communications insights you all know and love. For this next episode we’re joined once again by Jenni Field but this time we’re talking about all things organisational change, specifically… Why are we so resistant to change? And what can businesses do to help guide employees through organisational change successfully. In case you haven’t heard our other episode with Jenni, you can listen here to discover how you can create psychological safety in the workplace. 75% of change initiatives fail because of resistant company culture. Human brains are naturally resistant to change because they crave stability. But change is inevitable in the workplace, and done correctly can lead to leaps and bounds of progress and growth in your business. In an ideal world, changes would happen just as we want them to, but you’re dealing with a whole host of people and emotion. This can make change tricky. Which is why we're back with Jenni Field who walks us through: Reading & Resources: It’s not disengagement, it’s distrustThe Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes EverythingRedefining Communications WebsiteRedefining Communications with Jenni Field (Podcast)

Hello everyone, we’re back and better than ever with a second season of Comms In A Nutshell! A brand new look, a new episode format (episodes are now more appropriately nutshell sized) but all the same great internal communications insights you all know and love. To mark the first episode back we’ve got a great guest. She is an international speaker, author, podcaster and business communications strategist and having worked in communications for almost 20 years she specialises in helping teams and leaders use communication to take people, and organisations from chaos to calm. We're joined today by Jenni Field who we're going to be chatting to about how to create safe spaces for employees within your organisation. Creating safe spaces is incredibly important when ensuring employees feel safe at work and feel like they can talk about their feelings and experiences. In our latest report with our partner, If U Care Share, we found that on average 58% of respondents have suffered mental or physical stress as a result of work in the past two years and we want to explore how businesses can deal with the factors that impact mental health in the workplace from creating a safe culture to the importance of values. In this episode Vic, Scott & Jenny cover: Reading & Resources: Digital Body Language - Erica Dhawen Communication Channel Matrix Template Harvard Business Review: It's time to take a fresh look at your company's values - John Coleman Start with Why - Simon Sinek Inclusion on Purpose - Ruchika Tulshyan Rebel Ideas: The Power of Diverse Thinking - Matthew Syed Redefining Communications Website Redefining Communications with Jenni Field (Podcast)

Employee Experience is crucial in the world of business, it has a huge impact on your company culture that attracts top tier talent who become employees and confirm that the culture that appealed to them is genuine. Employee experience and company culture have an overall impact on your employer brand, a concept which is becoming hot on the radar for many employers. Having a strong employer brand helps businesses to bag the best talent and establish your brands credibility. In this episode we're joined by Dan Sodergren, Dan is a digital marketing and technology expert who studies and trains companies in how the future of marketing, work and technology will change our world. He is a TedxTalker, Keynote speaker, Ex marketing agency owner and serial tech startup co-founder. Having appeared on BBC Breakfast, BBC new channels, BBC Watchdog, the One Show, RipOffBritain and on countless radio shows, Dan's is an expert with 20 years of experience on all things tech and the future of work. Dan is also the founder of Your Flock, a team engagement platform that helps to build relationships within teams, develop company culture and ensure hybrid working, works. In this episode Dan gives us his insight and advice on how companies can create a successful employee experience which will in turn, impact their employer brand. References and links: Dan Sodergren, The Future of Work: Ted X Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiZJkod7h-4 Your Flock: https://yourflock.co.uk/ High Performance Podcast with Ben Francis, Founder of Gymshark: https://www.thehighperformancepodcast.com/podcast/benfrancis

In this episode Vic & Scott are chatting to Kate Isichei, Managing Director of Where to look communications who has over 15 years of experience in the world of internal communications and who also has her own podcast ‘Engagement Express’. Kate is a lover of intranets, tech, employee apps and the subjects of leadership, strategy, collaboration and in this episode we spoke about all things future of work focusing on flexible working, hybrid work and work life balance. We covered: Articles referenced: https://www.oak.com/blog/wfa-new-employee-benefit-is-it-worth-it/ https://www.oak.com/blog/diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace-a-complete-guide/

Want to know the secrets to engaging internal communications, connecting your workforce and getting 99% of your workforce using your internal communications app? Vic & Scott are chatting all things intranets with our customer Five Guys to get the scoop on the success of their employee engagement app. Vic & Scott sat down with Five Guys’ Communications Manager, Bastian Bauermeister to discuss: highFrom games and competitions to communications secrets and methods that you might not have heard of, this interview should spark inspiration and show you just how important it is to have an internal communications strategy.

Comms In A Nutshell is your go to place to listen to discussions with industry experts, global brands and our hosts Vic McEwan & Scott Ritchie about the most pressing topics surrounding the world of work and internal communications. You might have noticed Adaptive Intelligence on our website, you might have seen that we’ve transformed NatWest’s employee experience through our new Adaptive Intelligence or you might not have heard of it at all but you’re curious. What is it? How does it work? How can it help internal communicators, HR professionals and more? In our latest podcast episode Vic & Scott sit down with of Director of Product, Dave Ferguson who teaches us all about: Listen to the interview below, and be sure to subscribe to Comms In A Nutshell on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast player for all the latest episodes and discussions.

Comms In A Nutshell is your go to place to listen to discussions with industry experts, global brands and our hosts Vic McEwan & Scott Ritchie about the most pressing topics surrounding the world of work and internal communications. It’s safe to say boohoo are making the most out of their intranet. They’re using their intranet ‘boohooforyou’ to host their internal company podcast, have used the in-built feedback tools to engage with their workforce about their celebrity designed collection with Megan Fox and use their intranet as an onboarding tool to welcome new starters and instantly become part of the boohoo family. With over 350k content views on their homepage, it’s safe to say they’ve got their internal communications strategy down and their content has got their employees engaged. In this latest challenges by industry episode Vic & Scott chat to boohoo’s Internal communications manager, Madison Birtwistle about: Enjoy this episode and why not check out some of our other interviews with big brands, HR journalists, wellbeing experts and more!?

In light of Mental Health Awareness week, Vic and Scott are talking to Aoife O’ Brien, Founder of Happier at Work. Aoife has 20 years of experience working in the FMCG and market research space and has worked in places all around the globe from Dublin and London as far as Perth and Sydney. Four years ago Aoife left the corporate world and set up her own business Happier At Work. Aoife is all about helping medium sized businesses create a happier working environment and become more people focused through data driven decisions and works with leaders and managers to facilitate creating these better working environments. Aoife also has her own podcast Happier at Work, a weekly podcast for business and HR leaders that focuses on the topics of leadership, wellbeing at work, diversity and inclusion, and the future of work. Aoife’s podcast is available on all major podcast platforms. Here’s what you can listen to in this months episode: We hope you enjoy this episode and if you have any thoughts you'd like to share with us don't hesitate to message us on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn!

In this month's episode Vic & Scott are talking about all things company culture. As The Great Resignation powers on and as employee experience becomes more of a priority for businesses, having a healthy company culture is essential to the smooth running of your business and making your company somewhere that employees want to work. Vic & Scott spoke to Tamara Littleton, CEO & Founder of The Social Element and Lisa Seagroatt, Founder/ Director of HR Fit For Purpose. Both guests have a wealth of experience with company culture and are sharing their stories with us and talking about: Listen below, and subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your favourite podcast player for all the latest episodes and discussions! Referenced Material: 5 Dysfunctions Of A Team, Patrick Lencioni https://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Dysfunctions-Team-Leadership-Lencioni/dp/0787960756 BBC Article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59134371

In this episode Victoria & Scott speak to Kate Jones (Head of Internal Communications & Corporate Affairs at Tarmac), Charlotte Offord (Internal Communications Manager at Vistry Group) and Georgia Williams (Internal Communications Manager at EKFB) about the communications challenges that those in the construction industry have faced since the pandemic.

Welcome 2022! January is upon us and what better time to consider what challenges we might face in the coming year. In this month's podcast episode Vic & Scott chat to Daniel Cave. Daniel has up until recently worked as the Head of Content for HR Grapevine, an award winning publication, to be an independent HR journalist covering HR, employment and work. Daniel was voted HR Journalist of the Year in 2020 at the Willis Tower Watson Virtual Media Awards and in this episode we asked Daniel what his predictions were on the challenges that those in HR & Comms will be faced with as we enter 2022. This episode sees us discuss 5 areas and how businesses can prepare for these challenges. We found one overarching theme when chatting about trends throughout this episode... Employee Experience - not a trend but more of an integral element for business success today. Listen to this episode to discover how you can enhance your employee experience in your organisation.

Christmas is different for everyone, it can be a time of mixed emotions and it can sometimes be very high pressure environment in the workplace. Workers have the added combination of work deadlines, gift giving, increased social demands, family demands and the holiday spirit to juggle and navigate. So how can businesses help in supporting their employees during this time? In this episode Vic & Scott chat to Oak’s People Co-ordinator Bryony Solly who gives: And as you can't beat a bit of fun and joy in December, Bryony is given some quick-fire fun and festive questions to spread some holiday cheer and get into a festive mood.

In this Future of Work P2 episode we carry on the discussions around the four day week in an interview with Cara De Lange, Founder & CEO of Softer Success. Cara de Lange is an international burnout expert, wellbeing consultant and the Founder & CEO of Softer Success, empowering some of the world’s leading organisations and their employees to proactively prevent burnout. With over 20 years’ experience in fast-paced multi-national companies and having experienced burnout herself, Cara is passionate about helping people look after their wellbeing & live a more balanced and joyful life. Cara is a sought-after keynote speaker on the subject of burnout and is regularly invited to speak at organisations such as Google, Box and the United Nations. Her book Softer Success: Prevent Burnout, Find Balance and Re-Define Your Success, published in 2019 and is available via Amazon, Waterstones and Barnes & Noble. In this episode we spoke to Cara about her top tips for preventing and managing burnout and why and how the four day workweek works for Softer Success.

For years we've been accustomed to our normal 9-5 working hours and we've never really know any different. However more recently we're experiencing a shift, a change in attitudes and ideas. Around the globe countries and companies have been trialing the four day week, with major successes in Iceland and New Zealand and Scotland also announcing that they will be trialing this new concept in a bid to give people a better work life balance, prevent burnout and experience a supposed increase in productivity. As well as the four day week, the five hour day has also been trialed by various companies in America and has shown that we can improve our work life balance and still be productive. In this two part episode, Part 1 see's hosts Vic & Scott discuss the Four Day Week & Five Hour days and the benefits they supposedly bring, as well as discuss findings from Oak Engage's internal experiment. For this podcast episode employees in the New Business & Marketing teams within Oak were given the chance to test out a four day week and five hour days and the results make for an interesting discussion. What are your thoughts on the future of work? Send your thoughts to either victoria.mcewan@oak.com or scott.ritchie@oak.com If you want to learn more about the four day week, listen to part two where we interview Cara De Lange - wellbeing expert, author and Founder/CEO of Softer Success, a wellbeing consultancy who operate on a four day week. Sources: BBC

In this first ever Oak Engage Podcast episode hosts Vic McEwan & Scott Ritchie are discussing the current issues of the return to the office and how we can adapt to a new normal. Pre-pandemic, our working week has traditionally been a 9-5, Monday to Friday. COVID19 has transformed the way that we work and as a result, created a shift in how we view our working world and what we are capable of. In this episode Vic & Scott discuss the origins of the 40 hour work week and why we're starting to stray away from this. They discuss the current state of the workplace and how different business across different sectors are approaching the impending return to the office and what the new normal potentially looks like for business. Our hosts also compare how employees' views differ working from home and the pros and cons of working remotely from its impacts on productivity, mental health and keeping your company culture alive, with a focus on how you create a successful hybrid working environment using an Intranet. If you want to get in touch to share your views and opinions please email victoria.mcewan@oak.com or scott.ritchie@oak.com