Employees are at the heart of corporate communications and should be recognised as the organisation’s most valuable assets. The Internal Communications and Engagement Awards celebrates brilliance in internal comms as it is integral to building, maintaining and supporting employee relationships, wellbeing and engagement.

Despite being the third year of the Internal Communications and Engagement Awards, tonight’s awards are the first to be hosted in person at the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in Central London. Nonetheless, this year has seen a record number of impressive entries, which were judged by a panel of internal comms experts using various criteria to identify the very best.

From the ‘Best internal communications campaign’ and ‘Best communication of change or business transformation’, to more specific best use of data, storytelling and engagement of brand ambassadors, every angle of internal comms has been honoured.

In addition Communicate’s main awards, CIPR Inside announced Nicola Lally as the winner of its ‘CIPR Inside Communicator of the Year’ award, while O2 took home gold for the ‘CIPR Inside Internal Communications Team of the Year’.

Andrew Thomas, founder of the Internal Communications and Engagement Awards and publisher of Communicate magazine, says, “The pandemic has caused immense tragedies, difficulties and problems at both individual and corporate level. But, it is clear that internal communications professionals have faced those difficulties head on. The challenges this year have been immense but time and time again we saw submissions that placed their employees centre-stage and have managed to pull through the strongest within their sector.”

If you'd like to enter the Internal Communications and Engagement Awards 2022, we launch our call for entries on 19 July. 

The winners of the Internal Communications and Engagement Awards 2021 are as follows:

Best internal communications campaign

Gold - JTI and Ignis

Silver - Dignity and Sequel Group

Silver - Royal Boskalis Westminster

Bronze – Bupa and 313y

Highly commended - Wheatley Group

 

Best ongoing commitment to internal communications

Gold - Slater and Gordon

Gold - The Kraft Heinz Company, International

Silver - NatWest Group and McCann Synergy

Bronze - JTI and Ignis

Highly commended - London North Eastern Railway

 

Best internal communications campaign across multiple markets

Gold - Mondelēz International and Fresh Communication

Silver - The Kraft Heinz Company, International

 

Best communication of change or business transformation

Gold - Johnson Matthey and The Culture Club

Silver - Philip Morris International

Silver - SIX Financial Information and Hill+Knowlton Strategies

Bronze - de Volksbank and PROOF AGENCY

Highly commended - Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego

Highly commended - LSEG and Bladonmore

 

Best internal communications in a crisis

Gold - Royal Boskalis Westminster

Silver - SUEZ recycling and recovery UK

 

Best intranet

Gold - Citizen

Silver - FARFETCH

Bronze - Indeed and Interact

Highly commended - Livv Housing Group

Highly commended - Nestlé and Hill+Knowlton Strategies

 

Best use of mobile or apps

Gold – Rakuten

Silver - FARFETCH

 

Best use of video and animation

Gold - DWP Digital

Silver - Ericsson and Harleys

Bronze - Howdens and DRPG

Bronze - Livv Housing Group

Highly commended – Bupa and Aspect

Highly commended - Dentsply Sirona and LINGNER.COM

 

Best use of social media

Gold - NBCUniversal

Silver - Elsevier

 

Best event

Gold - Nursing and Midwifery Council

Silver - BT Consumer and DRPG

Bronze - Irwin Mitchell

Bronze - KPMG and Owl Live

Highly commended - Direct Line Group and DRPG

Highly commended - DWP Digital

 

Best internal publication: Print

Gold - Southeastern Railway and Words&Pictures

Silver - Livv Housing Group

Bronze - Karbon Homes

Highly commended - de Volksbank and PROOF AGENCY

Highly commended - Vetter Pharma-Fertigung GmbH & Co. KG

 

Best internal publication: Digital

Gold - Emperor

Silver - White & Case and Sequel Group

Bronze - de Volksbank and PROOF AGENCY

 

Best innovation

Gold - Royal Boskalis Westminster

Silver - NBCUniversal

Bronze - London North Eastern Railway

Highly commended - Crown Worldwide Group with FathomXP and Insight Agents

 

Best alignment of internal communications with external messaging

Gold - MyCSP

Silver - Sanne and Emperor

Bronze - Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN) and PROOF AGENCY

Highly commended - Irwin Mitchell

 

Best evaluation process of internal communications

Gold - Crown Worldwide Group with FathomXP and Insight Agents

Silver - West Midlands Combined Authority

 

Best use of content

Gold - London North Eastern Railway

Gold - Royal Boskalis Westminster

Silver - JTI and Ignis

Silver - Philip Morris International

Bronze - Deutsche Bank AG

 

Best engagement of brand ambassadors

Gold - FARFETCH

Silver – Wiser

 

Best use of data

Gold - Crown Worldwide Group with FathomXP and Insight Agents

 

Best use of storytelling

Gold - Ericsson and Harleys

Silver - Cadent and The Surgery Design and Digital

 

Best internal communications during the Covid-19 pandemic <1000 employees

Gold - West Midlands Combined Authority

Silver - Social Work England

Bronze - Axiad

Bronze - MyCSP

 

Best internal communications during the Covid-19 pandemic >1000 employees

Gold - British Heart Foundation

Silver - Irwin Mitchell

Silver - Practice Plus Group – Health in Justice

Bronze - Lloyds Banking Group

Highly commended - BDO LLP

Highly commended - SUEZ recycling and recovery UK

Highly commended - The Hyde Group

 

CIPR Inside internal communications team of the year

Gold - O2

Silver - Lloyds Banking Group

Bronze - BDO LLP

 

CIPR Inside internal communicator of the year

Winner - Nicola Lally, BDO LLP

 

Grand prix

Winner - Crown Worldwide Group with FathomXP and Insight Agents