Lock up your sons: women mean business
It was the 2007 First Women Awards last night in London, and a selection of the UK's businesswomen were heralded for their top notch approach to business. The press release suggests the awards recognise "women who are trailblazers and pioneers in business – genuine 'glass ceiling breakers'." Sounds slightly alarming.
Looking through the press release, I was obviously scanning for comms-related accolades to shout about on the Internal Comms Hub (currently undergoing an enormous redesign upload so check back later or tomorrow if you can't access it) but unfortunately there wasn't a suitable category. Perhaps next year. But it got me thinking, if there were an award for 'First Woman of Internal Comms', who would you nominate, and why?
Soundtrack for the blog post: "Girls" by the Moments and Whatnots
This is causing a bit of debate in the UK office - we all have a few strong contenders in mind from our neck of the woods, but what about those practitioners and consultants worldwide - who has been making a name for themselves?
Posted by: Annie Waite | June 14, 2007 at 05:16 PM
At the recent Employee Engagement conference I really enjoyed Ann Hood's presentation (Ann heads up internal comms at Scottish and Newcastle). She had some really refreshing approaches to getting buy-in from senior leaders and expressed some amusing views on cultural communication issues - especially the directness of Australians (which as an aussie I found particularly amusing!).
There's also Nicole Dempster, head of internal comms at Guardian Media - who spoke recently at the Hub's breakfast briefing on the challenges of communicating with such a media savvy audience.
Spoilt for choice really...
Posted by: Katrina Andrews | June 14, 2007 at 05:32 PM
I would nominate Sue Dewhurst. I've worked with her many times and she's truly fabulous at what she does. Her style is approachable in helping you understand things and she gives great guidance and referrals. I've always thought that she's a credit to the Internal Comms profession.
Posted by: Alex Garforth | June 14, 2007 at 05:39 PM
My vote goes to Dawn France, the colleague engagement manager at Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS).
Why? Because of all the engagement people I've met, she's definitely the most engaging!
Dawn is fantastically outgoing, and never afraid to step forward and lead, as she proved at the recent Melcrum annual employee engagement conference. Plus, she has pioneered an innovative program at HBOS to help its employees feel their company genuinely values them.
Full of energy, commitment and enthusiasm for her role, Dawn is definitely my pick.
Posted by: James Brown | June 15, 2007 at 01:31 PM
There's been talk of Angela Sinickas and Naomi Cohen round here too. More suggestions please!
Posted by: Annie Waite | June 15, 2007 at 01:43 PM
There are so many Internal Comms "superheroes"! But I have to say I think I agree with James, Dawn France at HBOS has so much energy and is defintely passionate about what she does, I've interviewed her for a Melcrum Podcast and like James said she is indeed very engaging. At the Employee Engagement conference she was so enthusiastic about the crazy activities and really was generating positive energy! And she's done some admirable work at HBOS...
Dawn..... you'll have a fan club at this rate!
Posted by: Sona Hathi | June 15, 2007 at 01:59 PM