Stop broadcasting.
Start connecting. 

Why ‘old-school’ internal comms has to die
Lee Smith

Minutes
6th August 2025
People-First Internal Comms
Human centred
Employee experience

It’s time for a wake-up call.

Despite decades of effort, internal communication is still fighting the same old battles: disengaged employees, leaders who can’t communicate, too many channels, no seat at the table and not enough clarity. We’ve been tinkering around the edges for years—adding shiny tools and new job titles—but deep down, the way we do internal communication hasn’t changed much in the last fifty years.

Meanwhile, the world of work has changed beyond recognition. Today employees expect a consumer-grade experience. AI is automating the basics. And here’s the brutal truth: if IC doesn’t evolve fast, we’ll become irrelevant.

The good news? There is a way out. It’s called People-First Internal Communication—and it’s the antidote to old-school comms.

This isn’t a gentle tweak. It’s a revolution.
Here are five big shifts you can no longer ignore:
1. Audience → Actors
Old-school IC: Employees are passive “audiences” to be managed.
People-first IC: Employees are collaborators. You stop talking at people and start creating communication with them.

If you’re still calling them an “audience”, you’re already behind.

2. Information → Connection 
Old-school IC: Churning out updates, campaigns and newsletters.
People-first IC: Prioritising human connection, trust and meaning.

If you think a slick intranet article equals engagement, you’re missing the point.

3. Control → Facilitation
Old-school IC: Leaders and comms teams hoard control over the message.
People-first IC: IC pros become facilitators, not gatekeepers—helping leaders and teams have honest, human conversations.

If your goal is to “control the narrative”, you’ve already lost it.

4. Transactional → Transformational
Old-school IC: Focused on outputs—emails, town halls, campaigns.
People-first IC: Focused on experiences that change culture and behaviour.

Comms isn’t a service desk. It’s a catalyst for change.

5. Channels → Moments That Matter
Old-school IC: Measuring success by clicks and open rates.
People-first IC: Designing communication around the moments that matter most to employees.

It’s not about more. It’s about better.

The moment of truth.

AI will take care of the easy stuff.

If IC professionals don’t move beyond writing, distributing and managing channels, AI will do our jobs better and faster than we ever could.

Our future lies in what AI can’t do: creating human connection, trust and belonging.

👉 Join us in the People-First IC Movement and let’s kill off old-school internal comms for good.