Personal pronouns: She / Her / Hers
Role: Founding Owner of Radiant Communications, Cohost of Internal Miscommunications
Home: Central Arkansas, USA
Which do you think an internal communicator should focus more on: employee engagement or employee experience?
We should pay attention to both yet, on the whole, employee experience seems too broad while employee engagement seems quite narrow. We need to focus more on the gap between the two. Employee experience is the umbrella—the comprehensive story of our interactions with a given company from recruitment to retirement. Employee engagement is the mood ring—the constantly changing levels of how we show up—and are actively engaged or disengaged—at work.
There’s a space between experience and engagement we, as internal communicators, need to be talking about more: employee involvement. This is largely where we already operate in terms of partnering with leaders and managers to help them better inform employees about company goals, strategies, and metrics. Then, measuring it. Experience and engagement often seem intangible, or “squishy.” Using more accurate language about how our specific roles [positively] influence the company, along with data to support our work, adds credibility and value.
What was your first experience with internal communications?
In my early twenties, I was the editor of an employee newsletter at a large healthcare system. Sharing stories about how employees gave exceptional care and how they got satisfaction from seeing advancements in medical treatments help their patients was a joy. (Plus, I still love the smell of freshly printed paper.)
What should be the mascot for internal communicators and why?
The Underdog. Usually the spotlight is on other teams, leaving internal communicators to work on our craft outside the watchful eyes of others. When the focus shifts to us, we shine and take others completely by surprise.
What are you hoping to give to ICology and get from it?
I hope to help ICology be a welcoming space for fellow internal communicators as we seek to elevate the profession as whole. Seeing it come to fruition has been a joy. (And I’m a self-selected member of the PR and marketing team.) I hope to continue making connections with peers, gaining deeper insights, and even talking about making employee Involvement more prevalent.
What is your favorite word?
Synchronicity. I love when the same thing pops up in different areas of life in surprising ways that don’t seem to go together at first. Whether it’s an idea, book, or a person, it feels like God, or the universe is trying to get our attention to draw deeper connections in our minds.
What is your least favorite word?
Squishy. Ha. And, yes, I do see the irony here.
If you attended in-person communication conferences whats something that you wish was there and has always been missing?
Connecting with others in lively chat sessions during virtual events has been insightful—and entertaining. That level of sharing in real time at in-person conferences would be interesting, yet potentially awkward for speakers.
What is the one book you recommend everyone should read?
“Tuesdays with Morrie.” This gift from Mitch Albom is still my favorite. The life lessons Morrie shares with Mitch, his former student, are timeless. Their relationship feels more real to me now than it did when I read it 23 years ago. I am profoundly grateful to the individuals who have been a “Morrie” to me, and I hope to do the same for others.
What’s a podcast you listen to that inspires you?