Meet the team: Internal Communications Specialist, Helen Edwards
Our latest interview is with TCE’s Internal Communications Specialist, Helen Edwards who joined the company in June 2018.
- What does your role involve?
My role involves facilitating the company-wide communications process. I am responsible for communicating internal messages to all TCE team members and supplying our external comms consultants, Conker Communications, with relevant material for external usage.
- How did you get into Internal Comms & where did you work previously?
I worked at Shell UK for 15 years and during my time there I worked in Information Risk Management and I was the Application Support Desk Lead for Europe. However, within all my roles I was involved in communications in some capacity, communicating globally across all our sites and business areas. Communications is what I love, so when this role at TCE came up I jumped at the opportunity!
- What do you enjoy about your job?
I love the varied nature of the role as genuinely no two days are the same! One minute I can be interviewing a colleague, the next I am liaising with local community representatives or even boarding Concorde – as was the case recently at the Make it in Enterprise final which we headline sponsored.
I also love the people aspect of my role. It’s important to get to know the people you’re communicating on behalf of and the people you’re communicating with and this is something I love!
For me, job satisfaction is knowing that because of effective communication, an important message has been relayed and understood and that as a result people are happy and motivated.
- What are the key initiatives that you’re currently involved in?
I’m involved in a range of different initiatives including British Salt’s 50th anniversary preparation, our apprenticeship programme, the Make it In Enterprise scheme, the creation of 10 new golden safety rules, our company CSR activities with St Luke’s and the creation of internal publications/newsletters.
- How do the Internal Comms activities ‘make a difference’ within TCE?
As TCE is a split site, multi business unit organisation, it’s important that everyone feels connected and aligned. With staff working at different locations, it’s easy for people to become disconnected from what’s going on in a company. I’ve been conducting an internal comms review to identify improvement opportunities. In this digital age we have a lot more tools now but we need to be flexible to the varying needs of the team.
- What have been your biggest challenges in delivering an internal comms programme?
Understanding the different sites and business units’ requirements. It can be difficult for people to recognise the importance of good internal comms, but a few minutes of my colleagues’ time can have a real impact on the quality and relevance of our comms material. It can be hard to gather all the information to meet deadlines when people are so busy, but it’s the nature of the role!