Manager, Employee Engagement & Communications

Role Purpose & Context

Role Summary

The Manager, Employee Engagement & Communications, is responsible for shaping our company's internal narrative and ensuring our people feel connected, valued, and understood. You'll lead a small team, overseeing everything from how we gather employee feedback to how we communicate major company changes. Essentially, you're making sure our internal brand is as strong and authentic as our external one. This role sits right at the heart of our People and Communications functions, acting as a crucial bridge between leadership's vision and the day-to-day reality for our employees. You'll translate complex business strategies into clear, compelling internal messages, and turn raw employee sentiment data into actionable plans that actually make a difference. When you get this right, our employees feel heard, morale stays high, and we keep our best people. Get it wrong, and you'll see disengagement, higher regrettable attrition, and a company culture that feels disconnected. The tricky part is balancing employee advocacy with business needs, often navigating conflicting priorities. The reward? Honestly, it's building a place where you're genuinely proud to work, seeing your programmes directly improve people's working lives, and knowing you're helping us keep our talent.

Reporting Structure

• Reports to: Director, Employee Experience & Internal Comms
• Direct reports: Typically 3-5 Employee Engagement Specialists/Coordinators
• Matrix relationships: Head of Employee Experience, Senior Manager, Internal Communications, Culture & Engagement Lead,

Key Stakeholders

Internal:

• HR Leadership Team (CHRO, HRBPs)
• Senior Leadership Team (CEO, C-suite)
• Marketing & Brand Team
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Council
• Product & Engineering Leadership

External:

• Employee engagement platform vendors (e.g., Glint, Culture Amp)
• External communications agencies (for employer brand support)
• Industry peer groups and networks
• Recruitment marketing partners

Organisational Impact

Scope: This role directly influences employee morale, retention rates, and overall productivity by ensuring a positive and transparent internal environment. You'll shape the company's employer brand from the inside out, which, in turn, helps us attract and keep top talent. Your work directly impacts our ability to execute on strategic objectives by fostering a motivated and informed workforce.

Performance Metrics

Quantitative Metrics

1. Metric: Company-wide eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score)
2. Desc: The overall likelihood of employees recommending our company as a place to work.
3. Target: Increase eNPS by +5 points annually (e.g., from +30 to +35).
4. Freq: Annually (census survey) and quarterly (pulse surveys).
5. Example: If our eNPS was +32 in Q4 2023, you'd be aiming for +37 by Q4 2024, showing a clear upward trend in employee advocacy.
6. Metric: Regrettable Attrition Rate Reduction
7. Desc: The percentage decrease in employees leaving voluntarily who we would have preferred to keep.
8. Target: Reduce regrettable attrition by 2% year-on-year across the organisation.
9. Freq: Quarterly, reported to the HR Leadership Team.
10. Example: If regrettable attrition was 10% last year, you'd aim for 8% this year, directly linking engagement programmes to talent retention.
11. Metric: Manager Action Plan Completion & Effectiveness
12. Desc: The percentage of managers who not only complete their team's engagement action plans but also show measurable improvement in their team's scores.
13. Target: Achieve 90% action plan completion, with 70% of those teams showing positive score shifts on key drivers.
14. Freq: Bi-annually, post-survey cycle.
15. Example: After the annual survey, 90 out of 100 managers submit their plans, and 63 of those teams see their 'My Manager' scores improve by at least 3 points.
16. Metric: Internal Communications Reach & Impact
17. Desc: The effectiveness of our internal communication channels in reaching employees and driving desired actions (e.g., event attendance, policy understanding).
18. Target: Maintain >70% average open rate on all-company communications and >40% attendance at key internal events.
19. Freq: Monthly for comms, per event for attendance.
20. Example: A company-wide newsletter gets 75% opens, and the quarterly town hall sees 45% live attendance, indicating strong message penetration and engagement.

Qualitative Metrics

1. Metric: Leadership Trust & Buy-in
2. Desc: How much senior leaders rely on your insights and actively champion engagement initiatives.
3. Evidence: Leaders proactively seek your advice on organisational changes, regularly reference engagement data in executive meetings, and allocate budget/resources based on your recommendations. You're invited to strategic planning sessions, not just asked to report metrics.
4. Metric: Authenticity of EVP (Employee Value Proposition)
5. Desc: How well our stated EVP aligns with the actual employee experience, as perceived by employees.
6. Evidence: Qualitative survey comments (themed through sentiment analysis) consistently reflect the positive aspects of our EVP. Focus group feedback echoes the EVP pillars, and Glassdoor reviews mention specific, positive cultural elements. Employees feel like 'we walk the talk'.
7. Metric: Cross-functional Collaboration & Influence
8. Desc: Your ability to work effectively with other departments (e.g., HRBPs, DE&I, Marketing) to embed engagement principles.
9. Evidence: You're regularly co-leading projects with other teams, they're coming to you for advice on employee-facing initiatives, and you see engagement metrics integrated into other departmental goals (e.g., DE&I reporting). You're seen as a go-to expert, not just 'the survey person'.
10. Metric: Team Development & Mentorship
11. Desc: The growth and effectiveness of your direct reports.
12. Evidence: Your team members are taking on more complex tasks, receiving positive feedback from internal stakeholders, and demonstrating clear professional development. They feel supported, challenged, and see a clear path for their own careers, often moving into more senior roles within the company.

Primary Traits

• Trait: Empathetic Diplomat
• Manifestation: You're the person who can genuinely listen to someone vent about a frustrating policy, validate their feelings, and then calmly explain the 'why' behind it, or even better, suggest a path for their feedback to be heard. You can take a really cynical employee comment from a survey and rephrase it constructively for a senior leader without losing its core message. You're brilliant at building bridges between sceptical business units and HR initiatives that might feel like 'more work' to them.
• Benefit: Honestly, this role is the organisational glue for our culture. Without genuine empathy, all our engagement programmes just feel like corporate propaganda, and employees will see right through it. Without diplomacy, you won't get the buy-in from leaders needed to actually make changes, which means all your brilliant data analysis becomes useless. You're the human face of our internal efforts, and that face needs to be trusted and understanding.
• Trait: Influential Storyteller
• Manifestation: When you present a deck on declining engagement scores, you don't just show charts and numbers. You weave in anonymous employee quotes, maybe a short video clip, to create an emotional impact that makes leaders sit up and pay attention. You can persuade a time-strapped VP of Engineering to prioritise manager training by directly linking it to their team's regrettable attrition and product delivery velocity. You can make 'culture' feel like a business imperative, not a 'nice-to-have'.
• Benefit: As a manager in this space, you don't have direct authority over most of the people whose behaviour you need to change. Influence is your only currency. You've got to transform raw data – like 'Recognition score is 58%' – into a compelling narrative that forces leaders to feel the urgency, understand the 'so what', and take ownership of the solution. If you can't tell a story that resonates, your programmes will just gather dust.
• Trait: Unflappable Resilience
• Manifestation: You can calmly field aggressive questions from executives after presenting a drop in company-wide engagement scores, without getting defensive. A flood of negative survey comments doesn't make you take it personally; instead, you see it as data to work with. You maintain a positive, forward-looking attitude even when progress is slow, budgets are tight, and bureaucratic hurdles feel impossibly high. You're not easily rattled by criticism or setbacks.
• Benefit: Let's be real, you're the designated recipient of a lot of the organisation's anxieties, complaints, and frustrations. Burnout is extremely high in roles like this if you don't have a thick skin. Without resilience, you'll quickly become cynical, and that's absolutely toxic to a role centered on championing company culture and employee wellbeing. You need to be the steady hand, even when things feel a bit chaotic.

Supporting Traits

• Trait: Politically Astute
• Desc: You can read the room, understand unspoken dynamics, and navigate complex stakeholder relationships without stepping on toes. You know who to talk to, when, and how to frame your message for maximum impact.
• Trait: Data-Literate
• Desc: You're comfortable with statistics, able to distinguish correlation from causation, and can confidently interpret complex data sets. You don't just report numbers; you understand what they actually mean.
• Trait: Utterly Discreet
• Desc: You build trust by handling sensitive, confidential employee information with absolute integrity and professionalism. What's said in a focus group stays in the focus group (anonymised, of course).

Primary Motivators

1. Motivator: Making a Tangible Difference in People's Lives
2. Daily: You thrive on seeing your initiatives lead to happier, more engaged colleagues. This shows up in how you analyse feedback, always looking for the 'so what' and the practical steps we can take. You get a real buzz from hearing positive anecdotes about a programme you launched.
3. Motivator: Solving Complex Organisational Challenges
4. Daily: You're energised by the puzzle of understanding why engagement is low in a particular department or how to communicate a difficult change effectively. You enjoy digging into data, talking to people, and then crafting a multi-faceted solution.
5. Motivator: Building and Nurturing a High-Performing Team
6. Daily: You genuinely enjoy coaching, mentoring, and developing your direct reports. You're invested in their growth, celebrate their successes, and provide clear, constructive feedback. You see your team's success as your own.

Potential Demotivators

If you need every single initiative you launch to be a resounding success, or if you struggle with bureaucratic processes and slow-moving change, you'll probably find this role frustrating. You'll often be the one pushing for change, not the one making the final decision, and that can be tough.

Common Frustrations

1. The 'Manager Accountability Black Hole': You can produce the world's most insightful report, but if managers don't act on their team's feedback, you have zero impact and often take the blame for static scores.
2. Being the 'Chief Feelings Officer': Constantly fighting the perception that your work is 'soft' or 'fluffy' and having to justify your existence with hard ROI metrics like attrition reduction.
3. The 'Action Planning Charade': Spending too much time chasing hundreds of managers to fill out a mandatory action plan in a system, knowing full well many are just ticking a box.
4. The 'Frozen Middle': Dealing with middle managers who are resistant to change and fail to champion engagement initiatives, blocking progress from the top.

What Role Doesn't Offer

1. Instant gratification or quick wins on every project. Organisational change takes time.
2. Direct authority over all aspects of employee experience; much of it is through influence.
3. A quiet, predictable work environment; you'll be dealing with people and their varied reactions.

ADHD Positives

1. The varied nature of projects, from data analysis to communication strategy to programme design, can be stimulating and keep your interest high.
2. The need for creative problem-solving and generating fresh ideas for engagement programmes can align well with divergent thinking.
3. The role often involves periods of intense focus (e.g., deep-diving into survey data or drafting a major comms plan) balanced with more interactive, social tasks.

ADHD Challenges and Accommodations

1. Managing multiple projects and deadlines simultaneously can be overwhelming; we can help with structured project management tools and prioritisation frameworks.
2. The 'chasing managers' aspect of action planning might feel tedious; we can explore automation or delegate some administrative tasks to specialists.
3. Long, unstructured meetings can be difficult; we encourage clear agendas, time limits, and pre-reads to keep discussions focused. Feel free to use fidget toys or take notes actively.

Dyslexia Positives

1. Strong verbal communication and storytelling skills are highly valued, often a strength for dyslexic individuals, especially when presenting complex data.
2. The ability to see the 'big picture' and connect disparate pieces of information (e.g., linking survey data to business outcomes) is crucial and often a dyslexic strength.
3. Empathy and understanding of human behaviour are key, which can be enhanced by different processing styles.

Dyslexia Challenges and Accommodations

1. Proofreading detailed communication plans or survey questions can be challenging; we use collaborative editing tools with built-in spell/grammar checks and encourage peer review.
2. Reading through vast amounts of qualitative survey comments might be tiring; AI tools for sentiment analysis and theming can significantly reduce this burden.
3. Complex written reports can be adapted into more visual, infographic-style presentations where appropriate.

Autism Positives

1. The analytical aspect of the role, particularly with survey data and statistical analysis, can be a strong fit for systematic thinking.
2. A deep commitment to fairness and ensuring all voices are heard (a core part of engagement) can align well with strong personal values.
3. The ability to focus intently on specific projects and deliver high-quality, detailed outputs is highly valued.

Autism Challenges and Accommodations

1. Navigating complex, unspoken social dynamics and 'office politics' can be draining; we can provide clear expectations for stakeholder interactions and support in understanding organisational nuances.
2. Unexpected changes or 'flavour of the month' initiatives can be disruptive; we aim for transparency and advance notice wherever possible, and you'll have a role in shaping these changes.
3. Sensory overload in open-plan offices or during large events; we offer flexible working arrangements, quiet zones, and noise-cancelling headphones.

Key Responsibilities

Experience Levels Responsibilities

1. Level: Manager, Employee Engagement & Communications (L5)
2. Responsibilities: Set the overall strategy for employee listening across the organisation, including annual census surveys, pulse checks, and lifecycle feedback (onboarding, exit). You'll decide what we ask, when, and why.
3. Lead, mentor, and develop a team of 3-5 Employee Engagement Specialists and Coordinators. This means regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and helping them grow their careers.
4. Own the budget for employee engagement platforms and programmes (typically £500K-£1M annually). You'll manage vendor relationships, negotiate contracts, and make sure we're getting value for money.
5. Translate complex engagement data into clear, compelling narratives and actionable recommendations for the C-suite and senior leadership. You'll present to them regularly, so expect tough questions.
6. Design and implement company-wide internal communication campaigns for major organisational changes, new policies, or key strategic updates. This involves crafting the message, choosing the channels, and measuring the impact.
7. Partner closely with HR Business Partners, DE&I, and Marketing teams to embed engagement principles into all people programmes and ensure a consistent, authentic employee experience.
8. Act as the primary point of contact for our engagement platform vendors (e.g., Glint, Culture Amp), ensuring the tools meet our evolving needs and we're getting the most out of our investment.
9. Supervision: You'll report to the Director, Employee Experience & Internal Comms, with monthly strategic alignment meetings. For the most part, you'll be self-directed, owning your team's roadmap and deliverables.
10. Decision: You have full authority over your team's day-to-day operations, programme design, and internal communications strategy. You can approve programme spend up to £50K without further sign-off and make hiring decisions for your direct reports. Budget allocations above £50K and major vendor changes will require Director approval.
11. Success: You'll know you're succeeding when company-wide eNPS consistently increases, regrettable attrition decreases, and senior leaders proactively seek your team's input on strategic initiatives. Your team will be thriving, delivering high-quality work, and growing professionally.

Decision-Making Authority

• Type: Employee Engagement Programme Design
• Entry: Proposes initial ideas for a small programme, subject to full review.
• Mid: Designs and executes specific programme elements (e.g., a recognition campaign) within established guidelines, with manager review.
• Senior: Leads the design of a full engagement programme (e.g., manager feedback training), making technical decisions, with Director input on strategic alignment.
• Type: Internal Communications Strategy
• Entry: Drafts content for specific channels (e.g., intranet post, newsletter snippet) following templates.
• Mid: Develops multi-channel communication plans for routine announcements, with manager approval.
• Senior: Designs and executes communication cascades for significant changes, making recommendations on messaging and timing to leadership.
• Type: Vendor Selection & Management
• Entry: Researches potential vendors and compiles comparison data.
• Mid: Manages day-to-day relationship with an existing vendor, ensuring service delivery.
• Senior: Evaluates new vendor proposals against requirements, makes recommendations for selection, and negotiates initial terms with oversight.
• Type: Team Management & Development
• Entry: No direct reports. Focus on personal development.
• Mid: Provides informal guidance to new joiners or interns.
• Senior: Mentors 1-2 junior team members, providing technical guidance and feedback.

Competency Requirements

Foundation Skills (Transferable)

Beyond the specific technical skills, there are fundamental abilities that underpin success in any leadership role, especially one as people-centric as this. These aren't 'soft skills' in the fluffy sense; they're critical behaviours that enable you to influence, lead, and adapt.

• Category: Leadership & People Development
• Skills: Coaching & Mentoring: Providing clear, constructive feedback and guidance to your team members, helping them develop their skills and navigate challenges.
• Delegation: Effectively assigning tasks and projects to your team, empowering them while ensuring quality and accountability.
• Performance Management: Setting clear expectations, conducting regular reviews, and addressing performance issues fairly and effectively.
• Conflict Resolution: Mediating disagreements within your team or between stakeholders, finding constructive paths forward.
• Category: Strategic Thinking & Planning
• Skills: Vision Setting: Translating high-level company goals into a clear, inspiring vision for employee engagement and communications.
• Prioritisation: Deciding which initiatives will have the biggest impact, especially when resources are limited, and communicating those trade-offs.
• Problem Solving: Identifying root causes of complex organisational issues (e.g., low engagement in a specific department) and designing multi-faceted solutions.
• Risk Management: Anticipating potential negative impacts of communications or engagement programmes and planning mitigation strategies.
• Category: Communication & Influence
• Skills: Executive Presence: Confidently presenting complex information and recommendations to senior leaders, holding your own in challenging discussions.
• Stakeholder Management: Building strong relationships with diverse internal groups (HRBPs, C-suite, DE&I) and external partners, managing their expectations and gaining their buy-in.
• Negotiation: Securing resources, budget, or buy-in for your programmes, often in competitive environments.
• Crisis Communication: Developing and executing clear, empathetic communication plans during challenging organisational periods (e.g., redundancies, major incidents).
• Category: Adaptability & Resilience
• Skills: Change Agility: Navigating frequent shifts in business priorities or employee sentiment, adapting your strategy and programmes accordingly.
• Emotional Intelligence: Understanding and managing your own emotions, and accurately perceiving and responding to the emotions of others, especially when dealing with sensitive employee feedback.
• Stress Management: Maintaining effectiveness and a positive outlook under pressure, especially when dealing with critical feedback or demanding deadlines.

Functional Skills (Role-Specific Technical)

These are the specific methodologies, technical tools, and industry knowledge that you'll need to apply day-to-day to drive our employee engagement and communications strategy.

Technical Competencies

• Skill: Employee Listening Strategy Design
• Desc: Designing a multi-channel, continuous feedback architecture that includes annual census surveys, quarterly pulses, lifecycle feedback (onboarding, exit), and qualitative methods like focus groups. This isn't just about running surveys; it's about asking the right questions to the right people at the right time to get actionable insights.
• Level: Expert
• Skill: EVP (Employee Value Proposition) Articulation & Activation
• Desc: Translating our external brand promise into an authentic internal reality. This involves defining the core pillars of our employee experience (e.g., career growth, impact, community) and embedding them into all internal communications and programmes. You'll ensure our 'walk matches our talk'.
• Level: Expert
• Skill: Internal Communications Cascade Planning
• Desc: Architecting how key messages travel from leadership to all employees, ensuring consistency and clarity. This involves creating tiered messaging, manager talking points, and feedback channels to prevent information vacuums and ensure everyone is on the same page.
• Level: Advanced
• Skill: Change Management Frameworks (e.g., ADKAR, Kotter)
• Desc: Applying structured approaches to manage the people side of change during reorganisations, M&A, or strategy shifts. The goal is to build awareness, desire, and knowledge to minimise resistance and maintain engagement through disruption. You'll lead these efforts.
• Level: Advanced
• Skill: Qualitative Data Analysis & Sentiment Theming
• Desc: Moving beyond simple keyword clouds to systematically code and theme thousands of open-ended survey comments. This skill uncovers the 'why' behind the quantitative scores and provides rich, actionable insights that truly resonate with leaders.
• Level: Expert
• Skill: Statistical Driver Analysis & Interpretation
• Desc: Using statistical methods (e.g., correlation, regression) to identify which specific elements of the employee experience (e.g., 'my manager', 'recognition', 'career path') have the most significant impact on overall engagement. You'll interpret these findings and translate them into focused investment areas.
• Level: Advanced

Digital Tools

• Tool: Glint, Culture Amp, Qualtrics EX, Peakon (Workday)
• Level: Strategic
• Usage: Leading vendor selection (RFP process), managing enterprise-wide platform integration with HRIS, and setting the global 'employee listening' architecture. You'll define how we use these tools.
• Tool: Firstup (SocialChorus), Poppulo, Simpplr, SharePoint Online
• Level: Strategic
• Usage: Owning the internal communications channel strategy, governing the platform's use across the enterprise, and integrating it into the broader comms ecosystem. You'll ensure consistent messaging.
• Tool: Slack, MS Teams
• Level: Strategic
• Usage: Defining the role of real-time versus asynchronous communication in our company culture and making platform-level decisions regarding their effective use for internal comms cascades.
• Tool: Tableau, Power BI
• Level: Strategic
• Usage: Defining the key executive-level metrics for human capital insights and designing the C-suite dashboard to tell a compelling story with engagement and attrition data.
• Tool: Workday HCM, SAP SuccessFactors, BambooHR
• Level: Strategic
• Usage: Partnering with the HRIS team to ensure data integrity and create seamless data flows between HRIS and engagement platforms for robust analysis and reporting.
• Tool: Bonusly, Achievers, Awardco
• Level: Strategic
• Usage: Selecting the platform and designing the enterprise-wide recognition philosophy, ensuring its connection to our total rewards strategy and company values.

Industry Knowledge

• Area: Current Trends in Employee Experience (EX)
• Desc: Staying abreast of the latest research, best practices, and emerging technologies in employee engagement, wellbeing, and internal communications to ensure our programmes are competitive and effective.
• Area: Organisational Psychology & Behavioural Economics
• Desc: Understanding the psychological principles that drive employee motivation, behaviour, and decision-making, allowing you to design more impactful and persuasive engagement initiatives.
• Area: Employer Branding & Recruitment Marketing
• Desc: Knowing how internal employee experience impacts our external employer brand and working with recruitment teams to ensure a consistent and attractive narrative for prospective talent.

Regulatory Compliance Regulations

• Reg: GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
• Usage: Ensuring all employee data collected through surveys and engagement platforms is handled in full compliance with GDPR, particularly concerning data privacy, consent, and anonymisation. You'll be accountable for your team's adherence.
• Reg: UK Employment Law (relevant to communications)
• Usage: Understanding the implications of employment law on internal communications, particularly around sensitive topics like redundancies, policy changes, or employee relations issues, ensuring all messaging is compliant and legally sound.

Essential Prerequisites

• Proven experience (at least 5-8 years) in an Employee Engagement, Internal Communications, or HR Business Partner role, with a track record of leading complex programmes.
• Demonstrable experience managing and developing a team of at least 2-3 direct reports.
• A strong understanding of statistical analysis and the ability to interpret complex data sets to drive actionable insights.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a portfolio of successful internal communication campaigns or engagement reports.
• Experience presenting to and influencing senior leadership teams, including the C-suite.
• A deep understanding of at least one major employee engagement platform (e.g., Glint, Culture Amp) at an advanced user level, including survey design and reporting.

Career Pathway Context

We're looking for someone who has already 'done the doing' at a Senior or Lead level and is now ready to step up and own the strategy and the team. You'll have seen what good (and bad) engagement looks like and be ready to build something truly impactful here.

Qualifications & Credentials

Emerging Foundation Skills

• Skill: AI-Powered Employee Insight Generation
• Why: AI tools are rapidly evolving beyond basic sentiment analysis to offer predictive insights into employee behaviour, potential attrition, and even optimal communication channels. Managers who can harness these tools will gain a significant strategic advantage.
• Concepts: [{'concept_name': 'Predictive Analytics for HR', 'description': 'Using AI to forecast future employee trends, such as attrition risk or engagement fluctuations, based on historical data patterns.'}, {'concept_name': 'Generative AI for Comms Personalisation', 'description': 'Leveraging LLMs to create highly tailored internal communications for different employee segments, ensuring messages resonate more effectively.'}, {'concept_name': 'Ethical AI in HR', 'description': 'Understanding the biases and ethical considerations when using AI for employee data analysis, ensuring fairness and privacy.'}, {'concept_name': 'Automated Feedback Loop Optimisation', 'description': "Designing systems where AI can help identify when and how to 'close the loop' on employee feedback most effectively, preventing survey fatigue."}]
• Prepare: This quarter: Attend a webinar or online course on 'AI in HR' or 'Predictive Analytics for People Teams'.
• Next 3 months: Experiment with an AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude) to draft internal comms for different personas or summarise qualitative feedback.
• Next 6 months: Lead a small pilot project using an AI-powered tool to gain deeper insights from existing engagement data, presenting your findings to the Director.
• Next 12 months: Develop a business case for integrating a new AI-powered insight tool into our engagement tech stack.
• QuickWin: Start using generative AI today to draft first versions of your internal emails, meeting summaries, or even initial ideas for engagement programme names. It's free, easy, and will save you time.
• Skill: Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Design
• Why: As hybrid work becomes the norm, the digital tools and platforms employees use daily are becoming central to their overall experience. Understanding how to optimise this 'digital workplace' is crucial for engagement.
• Concepts: [{'concept_name': 'Employee Journey Mapping (Digital Touchpoints)', 'description': 'Mapping out all digital interactions an employee has, from onboarding systems to collaboration tools, to identify pain points and opportunities.'}, {'concept_name': 'Intranet & Portal Optimisation', 'description': 'Designing internal platforms (e.g., SharePoint, Simpplr) to be intuitive, engaging, and a central hub for information and resources.'}, {'concept_name': 'Digital Wellbeing Strategies', 'description': "Developing programmes and policies that promote healthy digital habits and prevent burnout in an 'always-on' work environment."}, {'concept_name': 'Personalised Digital Nudges', 'description': "Using technology to deliver timely, relevant information or prompts to employees (e.g., 'don't forget to take a break', 'here's a relevant learning module')."}]
• Prepare: This quarter: Review our current internal digital platforms (intranet, comms tools) from an employee's perspective, identifying 3-5 pain points.
• Next 3 months: Research best practices in DEX from other companies, especially those with strong hybrid models.
• Next 6 months: Partner with IT and HRIS teams to propose a small pilot project aimed at improving a specific digital touchpoint in the employee journey.
• Next 12 months: Develop a 'DEX scorecard' to regularly measure the effectiveness and satisfaction with our core digital employee tools.
• QuickWin: Conduct an informal 'digital audit' of your own team's daily tools. What works? What's clunky? Share your findings with IT and suggest small improvements.

Advancing Technical Skills

• Skill: Advanced Data Storytelling & Visualisation
• Why: As data becomes more complex, the ability to distil it into a clear, compelling narrative for non-technical executive audiences becomes paramount. It's not just about charts; it's about influencing decisions.
• Concepts: [{'concept_name': 'Narrative Design for Data', 'description': 'Structuring presentations to build a compelling story around data, leading to a clear call to action.'}, {'concept_name': 'Executive Dashboard Design', 'description': 'Creating high-level, intuitive dashboards that provide critical insights at a glance, without overwhelming detail.'}, {'concept_name': 'Impact Quantification', 'description': "Translating qualitative and quantitative engagement data into tangible business outcomes (e.g., 'this programme saved us £X in attrition costs')."}]
• Prepare: This quarter: Take a course on advanced data visualisation or storytelling (e.g., from Tableau or a reputable online provider).
• Next 3 months: Redesign one of our existing engagement reports, focusing on executive-level impact and a clear narrative.
• Next 6 months: Seek feedback from C-suite members on the clarity and impact of your data presentations, actively incorporating their suggestions.
• Next 12 months: Mentor your team on best practices in data storytelling, elevating the overall quality of our reporting.
• QuickWin: Before your next presentation, ask a trusted colleague (outside your team) to review your slides and tell you what story they see. Adjust based on their feedback.
• Skill: Strategic Vendor & Ecosystem Management
• Why: The HR and Comms tech landscape is fragmented. As a manager, you'll need to think about how all our tools (engagement, comms, HRIS) work together seamlessly, not just as standalone solutions.
• Concepts: [{'concept_name': 'HR Tech Stack Integration', 'description': 'Understanding how different HR and comms platforms can and should connect to create a unified employee experience and data flow.'}, {'concept_name': 'RFP & Procurement Leadership', 'description': 'Leading the end-to-end process for selecting major new technology partners, from requirements gathering to contract negotiation.'}, {'concept_name': 'Vendor Relationship Optimisation', 'description': 'Moving beyond basic account management to truly partner with vendors, influencing their product roadmaps and ensuring maximum ROI.'}]
• Prepare: This quarter: Schedule meetings with our current HRIS and IT teams to understand their roadmaps and integration capabilities.
• Next 3 months: Research emerging HR/Comms tech solutions, looking for gaps or opportunities in our current ecosystem.
• Next 6 months: Lead a review of one of our existing vendor contracts, identifying areas for negotiation or improved service.
• Next 12 months: Develop a 'future state' vision for our employee engagement and communications tech stack, including integration points and desired capabilities.
• QuickWin: Map out all the digital tools your team currently uses for engagement and comms. Identify any redundancies or obvious integration opportunities.

Education Requirements

• Level: Minimum
• Req: Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Communications, Organisational Psychology, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Alts: Equivalent practical experience (e.g., 4+ additional years of relevant experience beyond the minimum requirement) will be considered. We value what you can do, not just where you studied.
• Level: Preferred
• Req: Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Organisational Development, HR Management, Communications).
• Alts: N/A

Experience Requirements

You'll need roughly 12-16 years of progressive experience in employee engagement, internal communications, or a closely related HR function. This should include at least 5-8 years specifically focused on designing and implementing company-wide engagement strategies and programmes. Crucially, you'll need at least 3-5 years of direct people management experience, leading and developing a team of specialists. We're looking for someone who has genuinely owned significant engagement initiatives from concept to delivery and can show the impact they've had.

Preferred Certifications

• Cert: CIPD Level 5 or 7 (Associate/Advanced Diploma in People Management)
• Prod: CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development)
• Usage: Demonstrates a strong foundational knowledge of HR principles, including employee relations, learning and development, and organisational design, which are all critical to effective engagement.
• Cert: Change Management Certification (e.g., PROSCI ADKAR)
• Prod: Various (e.g., PROSCI)
• Usage: Shows a structured approach to managing the people side of change, which is a frequent requirement when implementing new engagement programmes or communicating organisational shifts.
• Cert: Internal Communications Specialist Certification
• Prod: Various (e.g., Institute of Internal Communication - IoIC)
• Usage: Validates expertise in developing and executing effective internal communication strategies, a core component of this role.

Recommended Activities

• Regularly attending industry conferences and webinars on employee experience, internal communications, and HR technology.
• Subscribing to leading HR and communications publications and thought leadership (e.g., Harvard Business Review, Ragan Communications).
• Participating in peer networking groups for employee engagement professionals to share best practices and challenges.
• Engaging in continuous learning around data analytics and visualisation techniques to enhance reporting capabilities.

Career Progression Pathways

Entry Paths to This Role

• Path: Senior Employee Engagement & Comms Specialist (L3/L4)
• Time: 3-5 years in previous role
• Path: HR Business Partner (Senior level)
• Time: 5-7 years in HRBP roles
• Path: Marketing or Brand Manager (with internal focus)
• Time: 7-10 years in marketing/brand roles

Career Progression From This Role

• Pathway: Director, Employee Experience & Internal Comms (L6)
• Time: 3-5 years in this Manager role

Long Term Vision Potential Roles

• Title: VP, Global Employee Experience & Communications (L7)
• Time: 5-10 years from this role
• Title: Chief People Officer (CPO) / Chief HR Officer (CHRO)
• Time: 10-15+ years from this role
• Title: Chief Communications Officer (CCO)
• Time: 10-15+ years from this role

How Zavmo Delivers This Role's Development

DISCOVER Phase: Skills Gap Analysis

Zavmo maps your current competencies against all requirements in this job description through conversational assessment. We evaluate your foundation skills (communication, strategic thinking), functional skills (CRM expertise, negotiation), and readiness for career progression.

Output: Personalised skills gap heat map showing strengths and priorities, estimated time to competency, neurodiversity accommodations.

DISCUSS Phase: Personalised Learning Pathway

Based on your DISCOVER results, Zavmo creates a personalised learning plan prioritised by impact: foundation skills first, then functional skills. We adapt to your learning style, pace, and neurodiversity needs (ADHD, dyslexia, autism).

Output: Week-by-week schedule, each module linked to specific job responsibilities, checkpoints and milestones.

DELIVER Phase: Conversational Learning

Learn through conversation, not boring modules. Zavmo uses 10 conversation types (Socratic dialogue, role-play, coaching, case studies) to build competence. Practice difficult QBR presentations, negotiate tough renewals, and handle churn conversations in a safe AI environment before facing real clients.

Example: "For 'Stakeholder Mapping', Zavmo will guide you through analysing a complex enterprise account, identifying key decision-makers, and building an engagement strategy."

DEMONSTRATE Phase: Competency Assessment

Zavmo automatically builds your evidence portfolio as you learn. Every conversation, practice scenario, and application example is captured and mapped to NOS performance criteria. When ready, your portfolio supports OFQUAL qualification claims and demonstrates competence to employers.

Output: Competency matrix, evidence portfolio (downloadable), qualification readiness, career progression score.