Allen Putman, senior communications and engagement consultant at Forty1 North America, explains the importance of having an embedded internal communications specialist within your organisation.

Having an internal communications (IC) specialist embedded within your business is often needed for a variety of reasons and provides many benefits beyond the traditional agency-client relationship.

Where it makes sense
Truthfully, embedded consultants can make sense wherever there’s a communications need. Often this can include when existing in-house communications teams have more work than the group can deliver, when supporting functions or divisions are under-served by the company’s main communications function and even when special projects arise that span across the company.

Much of what an embedded consultant can do may not seem – at first – that different from working with an IC specialist agency: you’ve got a need or a project that needs communications support. But there are several unique benefits, especially when those embedded IC consultants are part of a broader network of communications, marketing and experiential experts.

The benefits of embedded IC consultants
Most importantly, embedded consultants become trusted insiders, functioning as part of your team, working with you…not just for you. This model gives companies experienced communicators who are fluent in your culture and ways of working. They speak your language, align with your values and they know the people, systems and channels to get things done for you – meaning less time and effort for you.

The results? More rapid, nuanced communications delivering content and experiences that inform, involve and inspire your people at every stage of the employee experience – and not just for the big moments typically associated with requiring outside help. Recommendations become more closely aligned with the actual reality within the organisation and the embedded consultant or consultants, can flex and scale as called for by your situation.

Imagine embedded+
With the benefits of an embedded consultant set up, what if there was an even greater “plus” to be had? Based on our experiences at Forty1, having our consultants embedded in an organisation allows our clients even greater possibilities. Think of the times there was a sudden change in leadership, or the company announced a significant reorganisation, or even when an unexpected acquisition became reality. Embedded consultants are already part of the team and can save you critical time, effort and money in ramping up a new partner because they’ve already hit the ground running.

Or how about when a critically important member of your in-house communications team is out on parental or medical leave? In those instances, our consultants have often stepped-in to backfill that role whilst the team member is out.

Think back to the pandemic when suddenly every organisation had out-sized communications needs overnight. Being already embedded in our client organisations allowed us to help them effectively meet the immediate expanded and ever-changing nature of their communications needs.

Armed with this knowledge and access, these consultants can easily call upon a huge extended team of specialist experts to provide just the support you need at the right times, when you have a major milestone, vital initiative or change program that needs extra support. For us, we become a weaver that can instantly bring in specialists to make captivating films, create impactful events, design comprehensive and customisable training, use strategic listening tools, and get counsel from specialised Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and behavioural science teams. You can’t get all that with one full-time employee (FTE).

In that spirit, engaging with embedded consultants is often an easier lift than hiring a full-time employee. They remain a variable/flexible cost, do not take part in the company’s benefits program and do not need as much supervision or professional development as an FTE.

Thinking of it this way, maybe you really can have it all...