What is the current state of the internal communication sector? Now is the time for your voice to be heard.

Jenni Field, Chair of CIPR Inside and Director at Redefining Communications, interviews VMA GROUP's Executive Director, Andrew Harvey, to find out more about the survey and discover why IC professionals should take the time to complete Inside Insight 2018 survey.

Jenni: Can you tell me what your survey is and how long it’s been running?

Andrew: This is the 7th year that VMA GROUP has been running Inside Insight, an in-depth review / survey of the UK Internal Comms sector.

The survey focuses on the development of the sector in general terms, but also takes a look at the changing nature of skills in demand, professional development, career opportunities and other things that every IC professional wants to know – salaries and benefits paid to IC professionals in the market.

Over the last couple years our survey has focused increasingly on the IC Interim market which continues to grow in the UK and is a large part of VMA GROUP’s specialist service we provide to companies and teams in the sector.

Why do you run the survey?

We run the survey to provide some detailed and in-depth analysis of the sector, which we know is valued by a variety of stakeholders – IC professionals, Comms Directors, HR Directors and CEOs. It provides genuine research and insight, rather than just opinion.

VMA Group has been recruiting in the IC space for the last 40 years (although it probably wasn’t called IC when we started) and therefore we are passionate about doing everything we can to support the industry.

We know that our previous research into the IC market has helped individuals develop their careers and it has helped organisations improve their internal communications.

As you’ve run it for a number of years, what has been the most useful insight?

There are many pieces of useful insight in the report which focus on channel usage, budgets, team size, strategic development etc.

One of the most interesting trends over the last few years has been to track the ‘professional development of IC practitioners’ and understand what IC pros are doing or not doing which will impact the sector over the next 5 – 10 years.

Our research tells us that CPD within the IC profession is pretty low and I personally feel that CPD is one thing that could help boost the IC profession over the next few years. Equally a lack of CPD could be the one thing that holds it back from achieving its true potential.

How does the survey help the internal communication professional?

It provides genuine insight into the changing nature of the IC sector and for any aspiring IC professional it is a really useful report, which could support individual growth, knowledge and career development. Over the years we know it has been used by in-house professionals looking to build business cases for team growth, negotiation on their current role and more.

Why should people take the time to complete it?

We do this survey to support the IC industry. The more IC professionals that complete it, the more information, insight and data we will have to share with the IC profession. It only takes 10 minutes to complete, but used in the right way, the research could help propel someone’s professional IC knowledge and even their career. In addition, everyone that completes the survey will be entitled to a complimentary copy of the report and will be entered into a draw for a £150 retail voucher.

How can we complete the survey and when does it close?

The survey will be open until December 2017.

When will it be published?

We expect to publish the results in February 2018 we will run events across the UK covering the results. We can even come to you to present the findings to you and your team. To make sure you don’t miss out be sure to leave your details in the survey and we will be in touch once the report is published.

ABOUT INSIDE INSIGHT
Inside Insight now in its seventh year, is a comprehensive study designed to provide in-depth insight into the internal communications profession, examining key components; profile, team structures, channels, strategy, influence, budgets, remuneration, interim market, recruitment and personal development. This is an opportunity for industry peers to share their invaluable insight on the sector and the larger the response we receive, the more meaningful this report will be for the internal communications community to keep abreast of key UK sector trends.