ggelf IC has had a reinvention and is now The IC Citizen. What The IC Citizen stands for isn’t a 'stupid idea'. It’s important for all of us that work in internal communication and who are serious about doing a good job and becoming better at what we do. A compass guides the way.
There are lots of gaps that are barriers to ‘getting on’ in internal communication. The practice vs. theory gap, the career expectations and reality gap, the geographical opportunity gap, and perhaps the biggest, the gap between professional frameworks and recruitment. Mind the gap.
Internal communicators are often on the receiving end of a litany of unintentional disrespect which seems to know no bounds. It would be unthinkable to ask a colleague in accounting to ‘Just finance this up’ or a lawyer to ‘Just legal this up’ or a HR practitioner to ‘Just people this up’. So, why is it acceptable to ask an internal communications professional to ‘Just comms this up’?
Volunteers are the real powerhouse of a professional body like CIPR, and are fundamental to changing the perceptions of IC amongst employers, recruiters and leaders. This is why I am a CIPR volunteer helping to take IC towards a better place.
What was the point of the CIPR Inside ‘Changing The Conversation’ internal communications conference in Birmingham on 8 October 2019? As a CIPR Inside Committee member, I think this was about internal communicators finally taking control of their destiny.
The IC Citizen movement needs a manifesto. A statement of intent which sets out what the movement stands for and what those who follow can do to support it. I invited other internal communicators to have their say about what should go into the manifesto in a short survey. Here are the results.
It’s just two weeks since I unleashed The IC Citizen and it seems that there’s a lot of enthusiasm for the movement within the internal communications community. A movement needs a manifesto, so Phase 2 of The IC Citizen will be about asking internal communicators what they think should be in our manifesto. The link to the manifesto survey is included at the end of this blog.
I’ve started a revolution, or more accurately a small movement. Since I published my blog about the concept of an IC Citizen, I’ve been astonished at the positive reception for the idea. It seems that the blog and concept have resounded with many other internal communicators. Before I move on to Phase 2 of developing the concept further, here’s some more information about it and how it could help the internal communications profession face up to a challenging future.
IC citizenship is about being supportive and giving something back to the internal communications profession as a whole. It is the very essence of the power of our collective and what makes us unique. Here are a few tips on how to be a good IC Citizen. Join the movement by following @theICcitizen.
The IC Citizen 