2024 is a significant one for me.
๐ 10 years since I decided to leave my last in-house Internal Comms role at LV=
๐ 10 years since I swapped beach life in Bournemouth for city life in London
๐ 10 years since I thought Iโd give Internal Comms recruitment a try
๐ 25 years (?!) since my first Internal Communications role
Iโve very few regrets in my career, although I do remember messing up interviews to be an Air Traffic Controller. Maybe I was always destined to help people land jobs, not planes!
As colleagues and peers have said many times, the support and friendliness within the IC community is pretty special. Itโs a privilege to help organisations build their IC capability, and to help IC pros develop their careers. I still love what I do and have been fortunate to learn from so many inspiring people and interesting organisations from almost every sector over the years. (Take a look at some of our clients here.)
Recruitment is so much more than advertising jobs and arranging interviews. It takes a whole range of skills to be successful, but ultimately you need to constantly understand and adapt to the needs of the person youโre speaking to. Weโre dealing with a big part of peopleโs lives, so it costs nothing to show kindness and empathy at every opportunity.
I’m starting my next decade with a few commitments to those I already know and those Iโll get to know in 2024:
The Comma team and I willโฆ
โพwork in partnership with our clients to improve the candidate experience in the UK
โพalways provide a transparent and supportive approach
โพkeep on top of developments in key areas of interest, such as AI, Employee Experience, hybrid working, ED&I, ESG and IR35
โพshare regular insights into IC market trends and work with industry partners to add value to the IC community
โพcontinue banging the drum for salary transparency, like the US and EU
Who knows what 2024 will bring, but someone a little more qualified to give an opinion is the Chief Economist at PwC. In early January he said the outlook is far rosier for 2024 than expected 12 months ago, and the year the UK turns a page. However, we know many ‘known unknowns’ could change the trajectory of the UK, such as volatility in global energy prices and the forthcoming general election.
Thank you for your support over the last 10+ years, and hereโs to the next 10!
Andy
For more from Andy, be sure to follow him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andymacleod/
