Cravenhill Publishing and Communicate magazine are proud to announce the winners of this year’s Internal Communications and Engagement Awards winners, which recognises the impact internal communications and employee engagement have on their company. All the winners represent those setting the standards for excellence in internal communications.

This year was notable in that it highlighted companies that have responded to the Covid-19 crisis with remarkable work. The 'Best internal communications during the Covid-19 pandemic' has highlighted groundbreaking internal communications strategies in the toughest of circumstances.

Beyond the landscape changed by coronavirus, internal communications and employee engagement have become crucial to an organisation’s success. The Internal Communications and Engagement Awards recognises the impact these communicators have on their company’s and the creativity with which they have deployed business-critical strategies.

With a gold in ‘Best use of storytelling,’ the Metropolitan Police picked up the ‘Grand prix’ awards for its ‘Celebrating 100 years of Metropolitan Police women’ campaign. The project, which was able to reframe the conversation around women in police force both within and outside the organisation, was lauded by the judges for its excellent use of storytelling and ability to leverage current and historic stories to engage the audience in an authentic way.

“This year’s awards shows an internal communications community that has deployed digital technologies, film content, user-generated content, leadership communications and branded content to great success,” says Brittany Golob, editor in chief of Communicate magazine. "All of this year’s winners are truly exemplary as they have set the standard for excellence in internal communications. Congratulations to everyone who takes home an award."

Sinéad Meckin won the ‘CIPR Inside internal communicator of the year’ award for her work as the leader of Virgin Atlantic’s internal communications and facilitator of an IC practice with Hanover Communications. The judges were also impressed by GVC, which swept up three gold, four silver and three bronze awards, in addition to many other highly commended, in different categories ranging from ‘Best internal communications campaign’ to ‘Best use of video and animation.’ The Office of the Public Guardian took home the 'CIPR Inside best internal communications team' award for its redevelopment of an internal communications strategy from the ground up.

Winners were announced last night through the first virtual event of the awards’ history. 

To hear more about internal communications during the Covid-19 crisis – including work from some of this year's awards winners – register for our free 23 November conference.

The full winners list is as follows:

Best internal communications campaign
Gold - GVC
Silver - BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions and Home
Bronze - Methods
Bronze - Office of the Public Guardian
Highly commended - Avanti West Coast
Highly commended - Dentsply Sirona and Gauly Advisors and LINGNER.COM
Highly commended - VGZ and PROOF internal and employer branding

Best ongoing commitment to internal communications
Gold - Irwin Mitchell
Silver - MyCSP
Bronze - Barnardo's
Bronze - VGZ and PROOF internal and employer branding
Highly commended - NatWest Group and McCann Synergy
Highly commended - Royal Mail Group and Linney

Best internal communications campaign across multiple markets
Gold - Hogan Lovells and MadeVision
Silver - Coats
Bronze - GVC

Best communication of change or business transformation
Silver - adi Group and Promontory
Bronze - East Midlands Railway
Bronze - Methods
Highly commended - Delft University of Technology and PROOF internal and employer branding

Best intranet
Gold - Sony PlayStation Europe and Interact
Gold - Voyage Care and Interact
Silver - NSPCC and Interact
Bronze - The Hyde Group
Highly commended - Emperor
Highly commended - Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Interact

Best use of mobile or apps
Gold - William Hill and Sequel Group
Silver - Jaguar Land Rover and DRPG
Bronze - Aldi and McCann Synergy

Best use of video and animation
Gold - Avanti West Coast
Gold - Royal Mail Group and Linney
Silver - Community Integrated Care
Bronze - Dentsply Sirona and LINGNER.COM
Bronze - GVC
Highly commended - Post Office and Webvid

Best use of social media
Gold - Coats
Silver - GVC
Bronze - Royal Mail and AB Communications

Best event
Gold - Carlsberg UK and Allman Communications
Gold - GVC and DRPG
Silver - Sir Robert McAlpine
Silver - Slido
Bronze - BT Consumer and DRPG
Bronze - Dentsply Sirona and Gauly Advisors and LINGNER.COM
Highly commended - Barclays
Highly commended - The Hyde Group
 
Best internal publication: Print
Gold - MyCSP
Silver - Methods
Silver - Smart Energy GB
Bronze - Emperor
Bronze - Royal Mail and AB Communications
Highly commended - VGZ and PROOF internal and employer branding

Best internal publication: Digital
Gold - Nestlé Global and Sequel Group
Silver - White & Case and Sequel Group
Bronze - Serco and Big Button

Best innovation
Gold - Unilever and Edelman
Silver - Arvato CRM Solutions UK
Bronze - GVC
Bronze - NatWest Group and McCann Synergy
Highly commended - Dentsply Sirona and Gauly Advisors and LINGNER.COM
Highly commended - NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group
Highly commended - SUEZ recycling and recovery UK with Macmillan Cancer Support and adart.design

Best alignment of internal communications with external messaging
Gold - GVC
Silver - Stedin and PROOF internal and employer branding
Bronze - MyCSP

Best evaluation process of internal communications
Gold - Serco and Big Button
Silver - GVC

Best use of content
Gold - McDonald's and blue goose
Silver - GVC
Bronze - NatWest Group and Sequel Group
Highly commended - Direct Line Group and DRPG

Best use of data
Gold - Irwin Mitchell
Silver - Unilever and Edelman
Bronze - Adevinta and Home

Best engagement of brand ambassadors
Gold - Wiser
Silver - Elsevier
Bronze - Carlsberg UK and Allman Communications
Highly commended - Royal Mail and AB Communications

Best use of storytelling
Gold - Metropolitan Police Service
Silver - Volkswagen UK and Promontory
Bronze - Direct Line Group and DRPG
Bronze - Ministry of Justice
Highly commended – GVC

Best internal communications during the Covid-19 pandemic
Gold - Eversheds Sutherland
Silver - An Garda Síochána
Silver - McDonalds and blue goose
Bronze - Leeds Building Society

CIPR Inside internal communications team of the year
Gold - Office of the Public Guardian
Silver - GVC
Bronze - NatWest Group

CIPR Inside internal communicator of the year
Winner - Sinéad Meckin, Hanover Communications
Runner up - George Kenning, NatWest Group

Grand prix
Winner - Metropolitan Police Service