Internal Communications & Engagement Manager

Internal Comms & Engagement Manager

***This position offers a mixture of office and home working***

We are happy to consider any location in the UK

What an exciting unique opportunity!

The people function within The Works is going through an exciting transition phase and we have an amazing opportunity in a newly created role as Internal Communications and Engagement Manager reporting into the People Director.  We have an ambitious people agenda in order to support our business plans and we are looking for a talented team player to join in and contribute to our evolving business. 

About the Role
We are looking for an experienced individual to own, design, develop and execute our internal communications and engagement strategy to our 4000 colleagues across 530 locations (UK & ROI) covering Retail Stores, Warehouse and Support Teams (who do work from home a lot). We already have a special culture at The Works that we are extremely proud and protective of and as such, you will be an ambassador and gatekeeper of all things culture, purpose and values building on this foundation.  You will create and lead the execution of a strategy that brings our employer brand and people promise to life through the entire colleague lifecycle through exposure and working collaboratively with stakeholders across the entire business.  You will be the internal voice of our fun and inviting brand, continuing to build brand loyalty amongst our 4,000 colleagues creating communities and connections by engaging them with creative content, and innovative interactions.

We are also looking into new communication channels and platforms and this role will play a key part in deciding how we progress forward with future investments and plans.

In order to be successful you will:

• Design and deliver our internal communications and engagement strategy and manage our communications and events calendar.
• Create an effective communication channel strategy that delivers the right information, to the right audiences, through the right channels, at the right time.
• Communicate the great work we do with our charity partnerships (currently Mind and CRUK) as well as building relationships with other external partners and providers to help build and develop our ‘Giving Something Back’ work stream.
• Lead our Engagement Survey (currently through Best Companies) work stream and strategic internal engagement projects to continuously listen to colleagues and work on their feedback.
• Help create and co-ordinate our rewards and recognition initiatives with our values and behaviours at the heart of everything we do.
• Oversee as well as plan, schedule, copy write, collate and coordinate cross functionally all of our internal communication channels and platforms, including; Employee & Manager Self Service, intranet, email, video, colleague Facebook group, noticeboards and newsletters ensuring content is relevant, easy to engage with and interactive.
• Enjoy creating captivating and effective content and work with stakeholders and colleagues across the business to collate content ensuring clarity, consistency, tone of voice and quality of content across every touchpoint.
• Management of internal campaigns for initiatives covering ESG, Diversity & Inclusion and Mental Health Awareness, as well as supporting on project launches and key business updates.
• Seek feedback and continuously evaluate by analysing the effectiveness of channels to improve colleague communications and provide insights on the most effective ways to reach colleagues. 
• Partner with and develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders across the business, including working closely with the leadership team to develop news and stories and best practice from across the business.

About You
Although you will work collaboratively with many people across the business to ensure success, this is a newly created standalone role and so we are looking for an innovative, dynamic and enthusiastic person to take up this really exciting role to really make a difference to our colleagues and our business and carve the path for the future of internal communications and engagement at The Works.

• A brand ambassador and someone who can adapt to our FUN tone of voice and live and breathe our Crafty, Caring and Can Do values.
• Previous experience working in internal communications, PR or Social Media and/or other relevant experience.
• Evidence of delivering campaigns and colleague experience activities to wide and varied audiences.
• Ability to think at both a strategic and tactical level.
• First class copywriting skills with ability to adapt tone of voice dependent on audience, with flawless grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Creativity and imagination, but with a sharp eye for detail.
• Work collaboratively with strong ability to build relationships, influence and collaborate constructively with stakeholders always listening and building on feedback.
• Ability to distil complex projects or concepts into simple, relatable communications to keep colleagues (at all levels) abreast of company activity and ongoing business changes. 
• Ability to prioritise with good organisational skills and time management.
• Ability to multitask leading different projects and work under pressure, with changing priorities, tight deadlines and budgets.
• Experience with Microsoft Office, particularly Microsoft PowerPoint.
• A team player who embraces the company culture and gets involved.
• Ability to remain positive and motivated and inspire those around you.
• Solution driven, inquisitive and always looking to learn new and improved ways of delivering.

Finally, the bit "About The Works"

We are people who do!

Here at The Works, we are building a working environment that’s fun, friendly, and supportive - all at the same time. It’s somewhere that’s designed for people who love getting busy, whether that’s helping customers, meeting new challenges, or building a rewarding career.

It’s a place for people who know how to roll their sleeves up, get creative, and put their passion and imagination to work…People who do!

We are the UK’s leading family friendly retailer of value gifts, arts, crafts, toys, books and stationery. With over  500 stores nationwide together with a brilliant online store, we’re here to offer our customers a unique and enjoyable shopping experience, built on our core principles of value, variety and quality. You will find our stores in a huge and diverse range of locations; on high streets, in shopping centres, on retail parks, and as concessions (usually in garden centres). We are also one of the few value retailers with a full featured online store that helps our customers to shop how they want, when they want, 7 days a week.

Oh....and we are super proud  to be a Best Companies, Best Big Company to work for in the UK in 2021

It all means that we have built the kind of working environment that is the perfect place for people who love our products to build a career. It is somewhere you can put your proud and passionate, inclusive and accessible, confident and honest, fun and creative, and nimble and driven approach to work.

And if you can roll up your sleeves, get on with any job, and meet any challenge, it’s also somewhere you can thrive.

Internal Comms & Engagement Manager

***This position offers a mixture of office and home working***

We are happy to consider any location in the UK

What an exciting unique opportunity!

The people function within The Works is going through an exciting transition phase and we have an amazing opportunity in a newly created role as Internal Communications and Engagement Manager reporting into the People Director.  We have an ambitious people agenda in order to support our business plans and we are looking for a talented team player to join in and contribute to our evolving business. 

About the Role
We are looking for an experienced individual to own, design, develop and execute our internal communications and engagement strategy to our 4000 colleagues across 530 locations (UK & ROI) covering Retail Stores, Warehouse and Support Teams (who do work from home a lot). We already have a special culture at The Works that we are extremely proud and protective of and as such, you will be an ambassador and gatekeeper of all things culture, purpose and values building on this foundation.  You will create and lead the execution of a strategy that brings our employer brand and people promise to life through the entire colleague lifecycle through exposure and working collaboratively with stakeholders across the entire business.  You will be the internal voice of our fun and inviting brand, continuing to build brand loyalty amongst our 4,000 colleagues creating communities and connections by engaging them with creative content, and innovative interactions.

We are also looking into new communication channels and platforms and this role will play a key part in deciding how we progress forward with future investments and plans.

In order to be successful you will:

• Design and deliver our internal communications and engagement strategy and manage our communications and events calendar.
• Create an effective communication channel strategy that delivers the right information, to the right audiences, through the right channels, at the right time.
• Communicate the great work we do with our charity partnerships (currently Mind and CRUK) as well as building relationships with other external partners and providers to help build and develop our ‘Giving Something Back’ work stream.
• Lead our Engagement Survey (currently through Best Companies) work stream and strategic internal engagement projects to continuously listen to colleagues and work on their feedback.
• Help create and co-ordinate our rewards and recognition initiatives with our values and behaviours at the heart of everything we do.
• Oversee as well as plan, schedule, copy write, collate and coordinate cross functionally all of our internal communication channels and platforms, including; Employee & Manager Self Service, intranet, email, video, colleague Facebook group, noticeboards and newsletters ensuring content is relevant, easy to engage with and interactive.
• Enjoy creating captivating and effective content and work with stakeholders and colleagues across the business to collate content ensuring clarity, consistency, tone of voice and quality of content across every touchpoint.
• Management of internal campaigns for initiatives covering ESG, Diversity & Inclusion and Mental Health Awareness, as well as supporting on project launches and key business updates.
• Seek feedback and continuously evaluate by analysing the effectiveness of channels to improve colleague communications and provide insights on the most effective ways to reach colleagues. 
• Partner with and develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders across the business, including working closely with the leadership team to develop news and stories and best practice from across the business.

About You
Although you will work collaboratively with many people across the business to ensure success, this is a newly created standalone role and so we are looking for an innovative, dynamic and enthusiastic person to take up this really exciting role to really make a difference to our colleagues and our business and carve the path for the future of internal communications and engagement at The Works.

• A brand ambassador and someone who can adapt to our FUN tone of voice and live and breathe our Crafty, Caring and Can Do values.
• Previous experience working in internal communications, PR or Social Media and/or other relevant experience.
• Evidence of delivering campaigns and colleague experience activities to wide and varied audiences.
• Ability to think at both a strategic and tactical level.
• First class copywriting skills with ability to adapt tone of voice dependent on audience, with flawless grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Creativity and imagination, but with a sharp eye for detail.
• Work collaboratively with strong ability to build relationships, influence and collaborate constructively with stakeholders always listening and building on feedback.
• Ability to distil complex projects or concepts into simple, relatable communications to keep colleagues (at all levels) abreast of company activity and ongoing business changes. 
• Ability to prioritise with good organisational skills and time management.
• Ability to multitask leading different projects and work under pressure, with changing priorities, tight deadlines and budgets.
• Experience with Microsoft Office, particularly Microsoft PowerPoint.
• A team player who embraces the company culture and gets involved.
• Ability to remain positive and motivated and inspire those around you.
• Solution driven, inquisitive and always looking to learn new and improved ways of delivering.

Finally, the bit "About The Works"

We are people who do!

Here at The Works, we are building a working environment that’s fun, friendly, and supportive - all at the same time. It’s somewhere that’s designed for people who love getting busy, whether that’s helping customers, meeting new challenges, or building a rewarding career.

It’s a place for people who know how to roll their sleeves up, get creative, and put their passion and imagination to work…People who do!

We are the UK’s leading family friendly retailer of value gifts, arts, crafts, toys, books and stationery. With over  500 stores nationwide together with a brilliant online store, we’re here to offer our customers a unique and enjoyable shopping experience, built on our core principles of value, variety and quality. You will find our stores in a huge and diverse range of locations; on high streets, in shopping centres, on retail parks, and as concessions (usually in garden centres). We are also one of the few value retailers with a full featured online store that helps our customers to shop how they want, when they want, 7 days a week.

Oh....and we are super proud  to be a Best Companies, Best Big Company to work for in the UK in 2021

It all means that we have built the kind of working environment that is the perfect place for people who love our products to build a career. It is somewhere you can put your proud and passionate, inclusive and accessible, confident and honest, fun and creative, and nimble and driven approach to work.

And if you can roll up your sleeves, get on with any job, and meet any challenge, it’s also somewhere you can thrive.