Scott McKenzie

As a teenager I spent the summers going to work in my Dad’s office. I would sit in the passenger seat as we made the 45 minute commute through the Berkshire countryside. He ran his own medium-sized business and so I would listen intently as he talked to clients, suppliers and employees. What struck me was the absolute clarity of his thinking. The way he listened, played back and then summarised what needed to be done. He was the consummate communicator.

I can now look back at my career and recognise my father’s influence.

I am passionate about communications. I studied the discipline at University. And I have spent my whole career honing my understanding of communications. Looking for best practice. Applying theories and ideas to real-life business challenges.

Since joining H&K in June 2006 I have been fortunate to work across a range of sectors and clients on a number of major change communications projects. From Oil & Gas (Shell, StatoilHydro) to Technology (Yahoo!); Healthcare (Solvay, KCI) and Engineering (Rolls-Royce, Rio Tinto, Knauf) to NGOs (City & Guilds).

I also believe that my 10 years in-house experience (at NatWest, RBS and Lloyds TSB), allow me to fully empathise with the challenges my clients face. I have been in their shoes. So I am able to advise them in a way which is solid, sensible and pragmatic.

This breadth and depth of my experience allows me to provide a genuine view on what constitutes best practice in engaging employees, something I am very passionate about. And why I am also Chair of CIPR Inside - the only trade body for Internal Communications with chartered status.

But none of these represents my biggest communications challenge. Having recently become a father myself I now find myself thinking about how to communicate with my daughter. And what lessons can I learn from my father’s approach.

I have my father to thank for my passion for communications. I only hope I am applying what I learnt on those car journeys effectively.