Anna Pandoulas
My role sits within the Communications team, so both written and verbal communication skills are essential. Engaging with stakeholders from industry and across Westminster/Whitehall is a big part of this role; as such, strong interpersonal skills are also key. It’s important to have good judgement and due to the busy nature of the job, to be flexible and quick in producing high-quality work.
Best: Working closely with the Exec team and senior Government and industry stakeholders, knowing that my work is really key to building RDG’s reputation and helping the organisation (and its members) being heard at the right places at the right time.
Most challenging: With politics, there is a lot of change – what may apply one day, may not apply the next. This can be difficult at times; especially when you have to rebuild relationships from scratch.
Lauren Martin
- Work in partnership with our Operations, Fleet, Safety and Support functions (such as HR and IT) to design and deliver effective, engaging internal communications that enable the successful implementation of business change programmes and major projects
- Build robust communication plans for programmes and projects, with different levels of detail depending on the stakeholder
- Lead the organisation and management of our Long Service and Retirements award events, held up to five times a year
- Support with the organisation of our annual Employee Excellence Awards, including the nomination period and award event itself
- Support in the development and on the day management of functional conferences
- Provide design support for internal projects, including booklets, posters, pull up banners and social media graphics
- Create and edit in-house video content for our internal communication channels
- Manage and upkeep our internal digital communication screens, including updating content and providing training to local teams
- Collaborate with the External Communications Team to support joint communications, especially around events and times of disruption which affect both colleagues and customers
- Support with leadership communications to the business where required, including stand-alone emails and vlogs
- Deliver communications-based training to line managers across the business to support the upskilling of our people
- Manage of EMR’s internal reward and recognition scheme, Friends and Family tickets and employee charity support scheme
- Moderate EMR’s internal We Are EMR Facebook page for colleagues, answering colleague questions and sharing content
- Strong verbal communication skills
– To engage confidently with stakeholders of all levels from around the business - Strong written communication skills
- To craft clear, concise and considerate communications to the wider business at all levels - Organisation and time management
– To coordinate multiple projects, deadlines and priorities at any one time - Stakeholder management and relationship building
– To develop strong partnerships with internal stakeholders as part of the business partner role
- To be comfortable communicating with all levels of the business, including senior leaders and frontline colleagues - Attention to detail
– To ensure all communications are correct, both grammatically and with the correct information included - Event planning and coordination
- To manage logistics, budgeting, supplier coordination, and on-the-day execution of events - IT skills
– To use multiple IT systems seamlessly, including external email software and digital screens - Design and multimedia skills
- To be able to use design software to a proficient level, and film and edit short videos - Collaboration
- To work well as part of the comms teams and wider functional teams - Adaptability
- To be comfortable working in a dynamic environment with changing priorities and deadlines
Common pathways into the role include progressing from roles in external communications, marketing or customer service management roles, that involve a previously high level of written communication.
I previously worked in a marketing and communications role in the entertainment industry, before stepping into my Internal Communications Business Partner role at East Midlands Railway.
One of the best things about this role is that you get to meet and speak to so many different people within the business and wider railway, as well as get involved with lots of different projects and campaigns. Personally, I really enjoy the event management side of the role, especially organising and managing our Long Service and Retirement Events and the positivity and recognition this brings.
The role requires lots of attention to detail and to be able to juggle lots of different projects, stakeholders and priorities at once. Throughout one day, I could be working on 20 different tasks, from sending out an email from our MD, to ordering flowers for an event, to filming a vlog for a campaign. Every day is so different, and you never know what you’re going to be working on from one day to the next – however, this is also one of the reasons I enjoy the role so much.