Internal Comms Started With Employees
FrequencyJune 01, 202600:10:04

Internal Comms Started With Employees

Fresh from the History of Internal Communications Conference and Professor Michael Heller's opening keynote, Jenni brings the part that stuck. Internal comms didn't start with leaders deciding employees needed to hear from them. It started with employees. The first known UK company magazine, Prudential's Ibis Magazine, appeared in 1878 with roots in sports clubs and people sharing content for each other; Lever Brothers' 1895 Port Sunlight Monthly Journal literally said it was "written for and by employees."

The thread runs all the way through — wartime editions to keep contact with employees on the front, the 1949 BAIE that became today's Institute of Internal Communication, company-magazine readership hitting 17 million by 1965, then intranets, email, and Slack. Across every era, communication stayed a social activity, not just a business function. Chuck asks the real question: if practitioners treat IC as a young discipline while ignoring 150 years of history rooted in social connection and publishing, is that ignorance holding the profession back?

https://historyofinternalcomms.org/

Jenni's speech — Valuing internal communication:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/valuing-internal-communication-from-tactical-function-jenni-field-jhgpe/