From audit to award-winning internal comms
A leading UK sporting body set out to take its internal communications to gold‑medal standard. The goal: to use insight to create a people‑first strategy that transformed how employees thought about, experienced, and engaged with internal comms.
What happened
Things kicked off with a listening approach — a tried‑and‑tested communications audit method that gave more than 75% of the organisation the chance to share their views, from people out on the road right up to the CEO.
What came through loud and clear was that multiple channels were creating noise and confusion about where to find information. While there was strong understanding of the organisation’s strategy and sustainability priorities, many had lost touch with the spark that had brought them there in the first place - sport. And there was also a huge demand for a single, reliable place to go for essential updates, tools and resources.
Those insights shaped a strategy designed to drive meaningful change — one that centred on building pride in the organisation, creating clearer lines of communication, and launching an intranet people would actually want to use.
The focus was on three main areas:
Storytelling: Reconnecting people to purpose — bringing the emotion and energy of sport back into everyday communications.
Sharpening channels: Understanding what worked, reducing noise, and helping people get the messages that mattered.
Building a go‑to intranet: Using insight and user feedback to create a home for information that felt intuitive, useful and worth returning to.
The impact
Within a year, the team made huge strides:
50% increase in people feeling connected to the organisation’s impact
70% increase in employees knowing where to find information
The new intranet became the #1 preferred channel, with 80% daily usage
33% increase in relevance of communications
25% increase in perceived quality of communications
And the cherry on top? The team’s work was recognised with ‘Best Ongoing Commitment to Internal Communications’ at the 2025 Internal Communications and Engagement Awards.