In her career so far as a communications professional, it’s the need to be flexible enough to work under the gaze of lots of different departments that has become the crucial factor for Laura Carter, communications director at Homes for Students.
“During the four years I was internal communications (IC) manager at parcel delivery firm Yodel, internal comms sat squarely with – and reported to – the HR director,” she says. “But in my next role, as comms head at shopping centre Liverpool ONE, marketing was very much in charge,” she continues, adding that now it’s completely different again: comms and internal comms being its own entity in the business, working with HR and marketing/PR but reporting to neither.
For many communications professionals, this hat-changing requirement will barely be a surprise. Carter’s CV brings sharply into focus the perennial question of where internal communications rightfully sits and reports to, and how standalone it should be.
“To me it seems this is a question that is only getting harder to answer,” offers PR professional Anthony Monks, who has himself held internal comms roles at Airbus, the Federation of Small Businesses – where he sat as part of the media team – and an NHS trust. “HR has historically been the custodian of internal communications, seeing it as the dissemination arm for staff benefits, policies and surveys,” he says. “But I see HR as increasingly the wrong place.
“Internal communications is now much more than simple employee messaging,” he adds. “It’s become a strategic linchpin. It’s not just writing memos. It powers employee alignment, trust, culture, and even the bottom line. When communications is itself evolving from being top-down announcements to being dynamic, feedback-rich dialogue; it’s about time internal communications was its own discipline.”
Different set-ups
It’s a prescient view. According to Gallagher’s 2025 ‘State of the Sector’ report (canvassing 2,000+ internal communications professionals across North America and the UK/Europe), just as many internal communicators now see their role as directing company-wide ‘strategic alignment’ of the business as they do driving the more HR-imbued ‘culture and belonging’.
In fact, in the UK it found 40 per cent of IC professionals’ activities were now based on delivering messaging concerning organisational change, integrations or M&As – up seven percentage points on last year. Yet 27 per cent of internal communicators still report directly to HR (a hangover from where it’s historically always been located, according to some), with 11 per cent of internal communicators described as being ‘survivors’ rather than ‘thrivers’ – that is, working in environments with limited structures, channels and leadership direction.
“At Yodel, you just slotted in, because that’s where it had always been,” recalls Carter. “The IC role was more responding to the people agenda, and it probably meant other areas were neglected. At the time, you just didn’t know any different. Looking back, though, I can now see areas where we could have been better.”
IC’s ‘place’ reflecting business priorities
To be fair, admits Carter, where IC ‘sat’ did tend to reflect the priorities of the different businesses she was in. Yodel is heavily unionised, so HR took the lead; while at Liverpool ONE, the marketing function suited the more consumer behaviour focus it took. But some might argue that HR has itself morphed more into the areas of employee experience, onboarding, engagement and wellness (aligning corporate values to employee values); so should HR perhaps be reasserting itself once more as the natural ‘home’ of internal comms?
“It’s undoubtedly the case that HR has evolved, and there’s a whole new added layer to internal comms – beyond just the factual dissemination of information,” agrees Sarah Hargrave, chief executive of Porter Novelli (EMEA) and former head of corporate communications at Pernod Ricard – where IC was part of corporate comms, with HR having more of a partnership input. “But to me, this only increases the need for a dedicated internal communications function – one which has the additional skills around knowing how best to reach people, and through which channels.”
“I think HR’s core skill is around people and regulation,” she adds, “and it’s comms professionals that can take HR messaging and be really creative with it.”
But here’s the thing. This notwithstanding, it’s also Hargrave’s view that as long as all the relevant departments have access to each other, and can call on each other’s respective skills when needed, perhaps debating where IC sits is irrelevant, and even an unwarranted distraction. “Comms professionals typically add the consistency part,” she believes. “And a certain amount of flair. But what I will say is that I’ve seen IC do well sitting in various places. The reason things break down, though, is always the same: lack of collaboration and coordination. As long as you have these, I’d argue it’s almost irrelevant where it sits.”
To some this is a very welcome breath of fresh air.
“In my view, the ‘where IC sits’ debate just needs to move on,” says Ghassan Karian, chairman of Ipsos Karian and Box, who served as director of internal communication for British Gas, ICI and Rolls-Royce.
“Typically, a third of IC professionals sit in HR, a third sit in corporate communications, and the rest in operations. But no single model has ever been proven to be more successful than the other. At Centrica I reported to both HR and corporate comms at different points, simply because that’s how it suited the business at the time. But what was always important was the relationships you had with each department.”
What’s really important is simply good communication
“There are some that like to suggest internal comms and employee comms are different,” Karian continues, “but this is trying to create a distinction that, to me, doesn’t exist. It’s attempting to over-complicate what should just be a simple focus on good communication. Anything more than this, and you’re getting into the zone of sophistry.”
At communications agency Media Zoo, which produces employee-related internal communications campaigns on behalf of clients, it is one step even further removed. But the associate director of social media and internal communications there, Catherine Anderson, says the work she produces is proof that with good collaboration, good comms can happen – even when it’s been outsourced. “We always have comms stakeholders in the room in meetings. We don’t mind who we report to, as long as we can see the bigger picture.”
What Anderson does accept, though, is that sometimes it is difficult for HR to have the dominant voice in a room – typically because they’re not experts in how different communication strategies land. This contrasts, she says, with those who live and breathe communications and can often transform stale messages into more exciting ones. “That said,” she adds, “we can’t – and shouldn't – operate in a vacuum, either. We all have our roles to play.”
Back at Homes For Students, Carter says being her own distinct unit does mean she is able to take the lead in establishing what she calls “a backdrop of trust, creating communications that make employees feel valid” – something she feels gives her much more purpose.
“Our CEO said she didn’t want someone who just slotted in with HR, but instead wanted someone who could take a more helicopter view,” she says. But Carter also says this doesn’t mean she won’t liaise with HR or marketing, or even PR where necessary. “I don’t want there to be a disconnect between our internal and external messaging, and luckily our marketing and people directors are both aligned to this.”
So do different departments just need to get better at working together, and worry less about the exact chain of command? “There’s a lot to be said for working together,” says Anderson. “I think it would be great for someone in HR to shadow someone who works in communications. HR folk shouldn’t think they can’t be experts in communications. There’s space for us all to learn from each other.”
Photos: Andy Ryan/Rafael Ben-Ari/J Studios/Getty Images