Strengthening Communication Collaboration and Colleague Voice Across Comms and Marketing

Background

The 2025 Communications & Marketing (C&M) colleague survey identified several areas where colleagues wanted to see improvement. Whilst satisfaction with local managers was exceptionally strong, colleagues expressed concerns about organisational change, communication across the wider service, career development and whether their voices influenced decision-making.

To better understand these issues, service-wide focus groups were conducted. These revealed recurring themes around information gaps, inconsistent communication during periods of change, limited awareness of colleagues' roles, and a desire for more opportunities to contribute ideas and develop professionally.

Key actions included:
• Introducing monthly Coffee & Conversation sessions to improve knowledge sharing and provide opportunities to hear from colleagues and stakeholders across the university.

• Moving all-staff Q&A sessions into an in-person format to encourage greater interaction and connection between teams.

• Publishing strategic plans and service priorities on Teams to improve transparency.

• Increasing visibility of organisational structures and role information.

• Delivering manager development focused on effective PDR conversations.

• Creating protected development time for teams.

• Increasing opportunities for colleagues to share successes and learn about work taking place across the wider service.

Feedback from across the Service indicates that colleagues are experiencing stronger collaboration, greater visibility of leadership and improved communication across the service. Many colleagues also describe a stronger sense of belonging and identity as a unified service following the integration of teams with more "joined up thinking", "more collaboration between teams" and feeling that C&M is increasingly operating as "one service".

Summary

The experience demonstrates that relatively simple interventions can have a significant impact when they are directly informed by colleague feedback.

Three factors appear to have been particularly effective:
1. Increased visibility and accessibility of senior leaders, helping colleagues better understand decisions and feel connected to the wider service.

2. Creating regular opportunities for colleagues to come together, both virtually and in person, strengthening collaboration and belonging.

3. Providing clear evidence that feedback has resulted in action, helping build trust and confidence in the survey process.