Internal Communication Director, Europe, The Netherlands
Hardly any other company can rival Unilever's opportunities for communication specialists. We're currently undergoing a major change programme and it offers fantastic professional challenges given our size and global position.
I joined three years ago as Internal Communications Manager in our Czech & Slovak operating company. It was a new role and a chance to prove that good internal communication can make a difference to employee engagement. We successfully re-launched our internal magazine, started a new intranet and made senior leaders' communication more pro-active and visible.
Five months later I became Corporate Communications Manager, which also covered media & external relations, social responsibility and crisis & issue management. Over two years in this role I led the local implementation of Unilever's new corporate brand and launched our new Vitality mission both internally and externally.
It involved managing our corporate reputation during a major restructuring project and was, by any standard, the most complex task of my career at that point.
Then in January 2006 I become Director Internal Communications Europe and everything changed for me. I moved from Prague to Rotterdam and the scope of my job greatly increased. I now co-ordinate activities across 18 operating companies and stay close to the detail, whether that’s setting up a press conference or organising a big employee meeting or event.
On a day-to-day basis I work closely with local communications teams. And I'm passionate about ensuring we deliver our mission: to have a clear voice and strong message every time we talk to Unilever people.
